Fast and
Fabulous
Bar Snacks Don’t
Need To Be Difficult N
o, those big, Bavarian-
style soft pretzels at
South Barrington, Ill.’s
— Quick ‘n’ Easy The Lucky Monk aren’t made
from scratch in the back every
Treats with Signa- morning, but they are finished
ture Flair are Low- in house ovens and served hot
with three house-made cheesy
Cost, High-Profit dips. And yes, tortillas come in
Winners to Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap
in Chicago ready-made, but
By Monica Rogers staff deep fries the tortillas into
chips, and the layers of BBQ-
sauce-slathered, slow-smoked
brisket, pulled pork, veggies
and dairy goodness that top
them to make Jake’s BBQ
Nachos are lovingly prepared
in-house.
In this world of artisanal/
36 Nightclub & Bar Magazine | J U L Y 2 010
FOOD
hand-crafted everything, it
helps to have a few quick and
easy bar snacks that can be
prepared in a snap but still man-
age to deliver signature flair
— all while impressing guests
without killing your bottom line.
“Times are tough and kitchens
can’t afford extra labor,” says
Brian Massie, executive chef
for The Light Group, based in
Las Vegas. “So it helps to have
some fast items at the bar that
don’t sacrifice quality.”
But what makes bar snack
ideas go from daunt-
ing to doable? Some
chefs say it’s best
to stick with easy
albeit delicious
items — popcorn, raw veggies,
potato chips, nuts, edamame
— that can be made and signa-
ture-ized in minutes. Gonpachi
at the Miyako Hybrid Hotel in
Torrance, Calif., for example,
makes edamame its own by
tossing the meaty soybeans
with sesame oil, garlic and soy
sauce. Served warm, the Garlic
Edamame (a $3 happy hour
snack or appetizer) pairs well
with Japanese beer, sake or
Gonpachi’s Moshiso cocktail,
created with vodka, fresh mint,
shiso and lime juice ($10).
Other operators make
snacks that can be built on
high-quality pre-made or pre-
prepped-to-spec platforms.
The Light Group produces
some of its most successful
bar snacks at its STACK and FIX
restaurants. “We try to simplify
our kitchen, farming out food
pre-prep that is too tedious
or labor-intensive, as long as
it doesn’t impact our [food
quality] performance,” Massie
says. The “pigs” (sausages)
for STACK’s top-selling Pigs in
a Blanket ($14) are made ac-
cording to a proprietary recipe
by The Light Group’s meat
company, rather than being
made in-house. Before service,
the kitchen staff wraps the
sausages in dough, bakes them
and — voilà — serves them, of-
ten pairing the “pigs” with the
Ginger Mint (Level Vodka, gin-
ger beer, fresh ginger and mint;
$14). And the Kobe Beef Prime
Rib French Dip ($16) on FIX’s
“Late Night Fix” bar menu
makes savvy use of the Kobe
prime rib surplus from nightly
dinner service in the restaurant
area. Ready-made components
include the baguette and
the rich red wine demi glace
served as the “dip.” To build
the sandwich, FIX employees
spread light truffle butter on
baguette slices, top those with
prime rib and serve with Asian
togarashi-spiced French fries.
Chef Massie’s favored cocktail
pairing for the French Dip: The
Cucumber Essence (Stolich-
naya elit, cucumber essence
and fresh lime; $14).
Popcorn and Pretzels
Mean Possibility
Popcorn is perhaps chefs’ fa-
vorite fast-and-easy bar snack.
There are plenty of possibilities:
Salt & Vinegar popcorn ($3) at
Atlanta’s The Porter Beer Bar
is very popular, “which is great
for us, because it makes you
very thirsty,” says owner Molly
Gunn. To give the snack its
tasty tang, staff members toss
fresh-popped corn in brown
butter, salt and vinegar powder.
Gunn’s beverage pairing is a
Dale’s Pale Ale from Oskar
Blues Brewery ($3.75).
To create his meltingly rich
Bacon Popcorn ($5) at the
Lobby Lounge in Chicago, Chef
Christopher Karl renders out
Nueske bacon to make meaty,
soft-textured lardons, which
are a nice textural contrast to
the crunch of the popcorn. Also
in Chicago, Chef Rick Gresh
does Truffle Popcorn drizzled
with white and dark chocolate,
a touch of cayenne pepper and
a seasoning of truffle salt at
the James Hotel’s Jbar. (Gresh
likes this fancy corn with an Old
Fashioned; $10.)
The popcorn possibilities
are seemingly endless. At
BLT Steak in Los Angeles,
Executive Chef Brian Moyers
varies daily popcorn flavors
Many operators are putting their
own signature twists on pre-made
bar foods, including (clockwise, from
left) Pigs in a Blanket at STACK in Las
Vegas; BBQ Nachos at Jake Melnick’s
Corner Tap in Chicago; Bacon Popcorn
at the Lobby Lounge in Chicago; and
(opposite) Asian-style Trash at Shinsei
in Dallas. By adding their own style to
a pre-made dish, bars set themselves
apart from the competition at a low
cost and with little hassle.
(complimentary for guests sticks go well with Lynchburg
at the bar) depending on Lemonade, which mixes Jack
his mood, ranging from hot Daniels with lychee fruit,
cayenne to complex Cajun to house-made sour mix and
smoked salt. And at Graham Sprite ($10).
Elliot in Chicago, Chef Graham Lynae Fearing and Tracy
Elliot Bowles’ gratis popcorn Rathbun, co-owners of Dal-
is tossed with freshly grated las’ Shinsei restaurant, serve
parmesan cheese, fresh- an addictive complimentary
cracked black pepper, sea salt snack mix that’s an Asian-in-
and a drizzle of truffle oil. The spired retread of ’70s cereal
suggested sip is the Wine and mixes. Dubbed “Asian-style
Roses cocktail (Prosecco, Koval Trash,” it combines corn,
Rosehip Liqueur, Pinot Gris and wheat and rice cereal, wasabi
fresh lemon; $11). peas, cashews, pretzels and
Popcorn, though delightfully bagel chips, tossed with
simple, isn’t the only fast treat granulated onion and garlic,
bars are selling. Also crunchy Worcestershire and soy sauc-
and complimentary: Chili-oil- es and butter. Rathbun says
infused Japanese “pocky” a wonderful pairing for the
pretzel sticks at David Burke’s mix is the Shinsei Sangria,
Primehouse Lobby Bar and which, for $10 a glass, mixes
Jbar, both at Chicago’s James sake, white wine and vodka
Hotel. To make them, bartend- with chopped pineapple, a
ers simply set the pretzels in Granny Smith apple, orange
chili-infused olive oil. The spicy and lychee.
J U LY 2 0 10 | Nightclub & Bar Magazine 37

Nuts to You
If popcorn and pretzel mixes
leave you wanting more, nuts
are another inexpensive snack
that satisfies the hungry con-
sumer. At the Highland Kitchen
in Somerville, Mass., Chef
Mark Romano roasts peanuts,
almonds and pistachio nuts in
a brown sugar, rosemary, cay-
enne, salt and butter mixture to
make Spiced Nuts ($3.95), “our
own version of a salty-spicy-
sweet ’70s party classic.” While
the nuts go well with many
quaffs, Beverage Manager
Joe McGuirk likes them with
the $6.50 Dorchester cocktail
(vodka, triple sec and pink lem-
onade), which he describes as a
“very summery and refreshing
complement to the spicy nuts.”
Also a quick hit? The Spicy Mar-
cona Almonds at Aquariva in
Portland, Ore. While Chef Andy
Arndt says about 99 percent
of his menu is made in-house,
this is the exception: It’s “one
of two items we bring in [at] an
almost-finished state.” To spice
the pre-roasted nuts, Arndt
tosses them in a smoked papri-
ka/cayenne/fennel spice blend
with olive oil, roasting them for
about 10 minutes. Arndt says
the finished product
has a good kick and
38 Nightclub & Bar Magazine | J U L Y
Wonton strips, originally a side to Ben
Pao’s Dim Sumwiches (left), now stand
alone at the bar. The Shinsei Sangria
(above) pairs with Asian-Style Trash.
works well with draft beer like
Captured By Porches Invasive
Species IPA ($7 a pint) or the
Pinot Noir and Syrah blend
of Penner-Ash Rubeo from
Oregon ($11 a glass).
Looking for an alternative to
the salty snacks? Breads are
a versatile departure platform
for any bar snack menu. For his
Warm Pretzel Trio ($9.95) at
The Lucky Monk, chef Matt Mc-
Millin gets large soft par-baked
pretzels from the same baking
company that prepares his
hamburger buns. He finishes
baking them in Lucky Monk’s
ovens and serves with three
creamy dips: Wisconsin Ched-
dar and Beer Fondue, Tomato
Fondue (sweet plum tomatoes,
cream, basil, olive oil, onion and
parmesan cheese) and Honey-
Mustard Butter. Paired with a
wheat beer, this cost-saving yet
savory snack is Lucky Monk’s
biggest-selling bar app.
Also under the bread
umbrella are toasted pitas; this
seemingly clichéd choice be-
comes especially popular when
dandified dips make them spe-
cial. At Zaya in Atlanta, general
manager Richard Smuck says
hot toasted pitas with house-
made muhammara
(spiced dipping
blend of
lemon
2 010
juice, extra virgin olive oil,
chili paste, pepper jelly and
pomegranate molasses) is the
craveable gratis snack guests
like with Almaza Lebanese beer
($6) as a prelude to meals.
Dips, Strips & Chips
House-made dips also can el-
evate even the most pedestrian
potato chip. At his two Chicago-
area Dunlay’s restaurants,
owner Doug Dunlay says it’s
the blue-cheese bechamel
sauce that makes his restau-
rants’ Blue Cheese and Chips
($8.50) such a hit. Kettle chips
are smothered in the sauce and
topped with fresh blue cheese
crumbles and a few shakes of
Tabasco sauce (Buffalo style).
Sometimes the most popu-
lar snacks are the easiest to
make and the most cost effec-
tive. A little innovative thinking
goes a long way for operators
who can turn a side into a
bonafide moneymaking ap-
petizer or transform pre-made
fare into creative dishes. Ben
Pao, a Lettuce Entertain You
concept in Chicago, keeps rav-
enous customers satisfied by
offering ready-made, eaten-by-
the-handful wonton wrappers,
cut into strips and seasoned.
Offered as a side to the
restaurant’s Dim Sumwiches,
the wonton strips have proven
so popular that partner Ed
Culleeney now serves them at
the bar on their own.
And rather than make tor-
tillas by hand, Executive Chef
Bob Andrea at Jake Melnick’s
Corner Tap in Chicago cuts
them into wedges and deep
fries chips to form the
base of his BBQ Na-
chos ($10.95). Since
the barbecued
meat is
made for other dishes served
in the restaurant, using it to top
a snack at the bar requires no
extra labor, skill or skus. Chef
Doug Weston uses the same
creative cross-utilization of
gourmet ingredients at Vertical
Wine Bistro in Pasadena, Calif.,
to make his Not ‘Cho Supreme
$9 gourmet nachos: tortilla
chips topped with pork ragout,
Epoisses cheese, tomato and
a fried egg. (The tony snack
goes down well with an Old
Fashioned; $7.)
An unconventional ingredi-
ent that’s an inexpensive
retro treat shines in the Spam
Fries at Violet Chan’s Rack &
Rye Gastropub in Denver. For
Chan, who grew up in Malaysia
and ate Spam regularly, the
crunchy-rich fries ($5) are a nos-
talgic revival. To make them,
she cuts low-sodium Spam
into French-fry-sized spears,
dredges them in self-rising flour
and deep fries until crispy. She
serves the fries with a spicy,
sriracha/ketchup blend and Thai
Sweet Chili aioli.
Obviously, bar food has
many iterations, from nachos
to French fries, nut mixes to
popcorn, but it doesn’t have
to be difficult, and it certainly
doesn’t have to be boring.
By adding some easy treats
to your menu, you’ll keep
guests happy and keep them
longer. And that’s something
to which guests should raise
(another) glass. NCB
Monica Rogers writes about culinary
and beverage trends and operations
from Evanston, Ill. Visit her
vintage-recipes-revived
website at www.
lostrecipesfound.com.