The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar within the Fairmont San Francisco lodge, which first opened its doorways in 1945, has lengthy been a Tiki establishment and immersive expertise. Tables encompass a big central “lagoon,” as soon as the lodge’s indoor swimming pool, whereas tropical rain, thunder and lightning storms often blow via and a band performs from a floating boat.
The lodge not too long ago determined it was time for a significant drink menu overhaul for Tonga Room, a BevX 2024 winner for Revolutionary Impartial. In 2023 it enlisted the beverage consultancy Liquid Kitchen to spearhead the hassle.
Whereas upgrading the beverage menu, it was essential to protect the theme and maintain the unique construction of the drinks, “including signature riffs on them with substances like our house-made orgeat syrup and Tonga Room’s orange Curaçao mix,” says Kathy Casey, president, Kathy Casey Meals Studios ─ Liquid Kitchen.
A noteworthy enhancement to the beverage menu features a description beneath every of the traditional Tiki drinks describing the historical past of the cocktail. “We additionally added a signature part to the cocktail menu with impressed Tiki cocktails created completely for the idea,” says Casey.
Having an alcohol-free part to the menu was additionally essential to incorporate, guaranteeing that households with kids can nonetheless come and revel in The Tonga Room. “We additionally wished these to be actually particular,” Casey notes.
Eye-catching but straightforward drinks
Casey’s crew targeted on creating drinks that the bar crew might put together rapidly and simply whereas delivering Instagram-worthy shows and distinctive style — encouraging friends to order a couple of.
To additional improve the visitor expertise, they launched cost-effective and artistic drink choices to exchange the “have your drink in a pineapple” improve, which had been carried out years prior however is extraordinarily time consuming in right this moment’s labor market.
As an example, the riffs on Tiki traditional drinks could be topped with the bar’s sizzling pink 151 dragon fruit float, “which is a enjoyable upsell and so visually vibrant and interesting,” Casey notes. “The newly added Colada can be accessible in a golden Tiki glass that friends should purchase and take dwelling as a memento.”
This system carried out a cocktail kitchen that prepares all menu drink batches and garnishes, in addition to a week-long intensive entrance and back-of-house coaching protecting all the pieces from gross sales methods to the fundamentals of bartending, batching protocols and bar group.
Casey additionally developed detailed coaching sources for every bar, together with precision cocktail recipes with presentation images, prep manuals and operational instruments.
Standard and worthwhile
The brand new cocktails have been embraced enthusiastically by each Tonga Room crew members and friends. Profitability has improved as effectively: Menu costing fell from the 30% vary to a mean drink price of 14.5%, whereas nonetheless serving spirit-forward and scrumptious cocktail profiles, Casey says.
The “Hand-Shaken Colada,” priced at $20 and made with Plantation pineapple rum, Bacardi Superior rum, Giffard pineapple liqueur, cream of coconut, recent lime, pineapple and orange juices, topped with a Cruzan black strap rum, emerged because the standout star of the brand new menu. The Fairmont San Francisco bought 11,566 Coladas from November 2023 to July 2024, says Sarah Sims, the lodge’s director of meals and beverage, producing about $255,000 in income.
What’s extra, the common verify elevated from $55.18 in the identical interval final 12 months to $59.18 this 12 months. “Even with San Francisco being just a little sleepier proper now, we nonetheless welcome a mean of 550 covers an evening,” says Sims.
