Prep, stations and service

Mise en place means everything in its place before service. Juice squeezed and strained into labelled bottles. Syrups made and cold. Garnishes cut and kept covered on ice or in the fridge. Glasses polished and, for drinks served up, in the freezer. Ice in quantity, dry, with a scoop — never a glass, which can chip into the ice and has to be emptied of everything if it does.

The test is simple: once service starts, nothing should need cutting, opening, finding or making.

Batch what keeps and does not change with time; keep fresh what does. Spirits, liqueurs, vermouth and bitters can be combined days ahead, and a stirred drink can be fully diluted and frozen. Citrus goes in on the day. Anything carbonated goes in at the glass. Egg and cream are shaken to order.

Make the batches that keep longest first, and juice last. Label every bottle with the drink, what is in it (base only, or fully diluted), the strength if it is high, and the date. An unlabelled clear batch looks like water.

A station puts everything one person needs within an arm's reach, in the same place every time: ice well in the middle, the most-used bottles nearest, tools on a mat, a bin and a sink close. Every step away from the station costs time on every drink.

The bottleneck is usually the slowest drink on the menu, not the busiest. A drink that needs muddling, double-straining and a flamed garnish holds up everything behind it. A short menu of drinks that share bottles and methods serves far faster than a long one — which is also what the menu analyser measures.

Glassware matters too. One or two glass shapes for the whole menu means fewer to chill, wash and store, and fewer to run out of. A drink that needs a glass you own six of cannot be served to twelve people at once.

For a party, choose two or three drinks that share bottles, pre-batch the base of each, and set out one station with ice, glasses, the batches, the fresh juice and garnishes. A batched base plus a shake to order serves a room nearly as quickly as a bar does, and the party planner will give the quantities.