Hi Marty Richardson here from chefmartyrich.com. Welcome back to our daily tip series. We have been focusing on entertaining this month. And today’s topic is setting up your self-service bar.

It’s Party Time!

One of your biggest “time vampires” at your party is going to be playing the bartender. I say this all the time, but “Pre-party Planning Prevents Panic”. So do yourself a favor, enjoy your own party and set up a self-service bar. It is customary for the host to serve the first round of drinks, but pretty soon, between answering the door, checking on the food, showing people where the bathroom is, etc., etc., etc., you are too busy to stand behind the bar to serve drinks.

Set the Bar

If you stock up a self-service bar, then you can leave the bar area and do all the other little tasks to make sure your party is going smoothly. What this entails is getting a five to six foot long table. You want this table to be up against the wall. You still have access to the table from three sides, but you also have the support of the wall to keep the table steady. You are going to be putting a whole lot of liquid and glass on top of the table. It is going to be very heavy.

Create Service Areas

So you want to organize your self-serve bar like I spoke about with regards to the food buffet line. You need to establish the flow. At one end, you want to reserve for mixed drinks. Start with napkins, ice and glasses. Now, right off the bat, I am going to tell you that you will probably not have enough napkins and you will probably not have enough ice. Get twice as much as you think you are going to need, so that you don’t run out. Then, the next area that is set up is your assortment of liquors, then your mixers, followed by whatever bar tools that you are going to need (maybe corkscrews, shot glasses, stirrers, your garnishes and things of that nature). That should take care of your mixed drink crowd.

Maximize Access

At the other end of the table, direct the guests to flow in the opposite direction by placing your napkins and wine glasses first, followed by your red and white wine bottles and champagne if you are going to serve it at this event. In a tub of ice, or maybe a cooler, positioned underneath the bar or at either of the far ends, put your bottle water, beer, sodas, and other single serving beverages as well. That way, you can have people access all these different types of drinks simultaneously. They can self-serve from the three sides of the table without having to get into one long line.

Re-Stocking

You need a garbage can handy but not in the way, obviously. There is going to be traffic in front of the bar, so you want to tuck it underneath the table. You should also put your supplies underneath the table as well, so that if you have to re-stock the bar (or someone else could help you restock the bar), all the backup items are right there handy. You don’t want to have to go into the kitchen, pantry, garage or storage area to find more beverages.

Hey Bartender!

This operation should service up to 15 or 20 guests. When you get over 20 guests, I suggest you either hire a bartender or designate one. Now what often happens with a designated bartender is that after a couple of rounds of drinks they get tired, they get chatty and they wander off. But that should be just fine, because you really only want to stem the initial rush of mixing drinks and serving people. After a couple of rounds of drinks, you start getting into the dinner hour and a reduced demand for more drinks at that point.

Prepare For Accidents

One other thing I want to caution you about, is have a towel or two handy for the inevitable spills. You also want to have a plastic sheet underneath your tablecloth in order to protect the surface of your table or your sidebar, or whatever you are placing your drink service on.

Ok, those are basic tips for setting up your self-serve bar.

Tomorrow we are going to get a little bit more into the particulars of what types of drinks should be in the bar and how much. Then after that, we are going to get into food and wine pairing for another day or two. Soon, we will be rolling into November, and we are going to be focused on food…all month! I hope you stay tuned for that and thanks for watching today and we will see you tomorrow.