Bar Menus Are A Thing Of The Past, It’s Dealer’s Choice Now
Image credit: Flickr/ Thomas Hawke
Are you ready to step out of your comfort zone, and step into a bar with no menu? It’s a trend that’s establishing itself in Berlin at the moment, and can be found in bars across the US too: as patrons you’re invited to leave your decision-making skills at home and open yourself up to the possibility of a custom-made drink, inspired perhaps by your own childhood memory, current mood or feeling, stirred into a personalized cocktail. It’s like a mood ring in a cocktail glass.
Established bars like Rum Trader in Berlin have earned a reputation for spectacular service, and set the bar (literally) for the ultimate no menu experience. At Rum Trader if you’re one of the lucky fourteen patrons who has nabbed a seat inside, you’re invited to choose between gin or rum, and a drink is whipped up especially for you, based on your answer to a series of questions. Other craft cocktail bars in the city, like Schwarze Traube and Bar Marques, are adopting the no menu policy as well.
Florian Rupp is the Bar Manager at Bar Marqués, a somewhat hidden bar on Graefestr in Kreuzberg, Berlin. Head for the restaurant of the same name, and look for the stairwell which will take you to the bar in the basement. Rupp told us that at Bar Marqués, the no menu philosophy stems from their desire to provide the best service – it’s all about the guest. So how does that unfold at the bar?
“We are service-focused, and we want our guests to have a conversation with us. Hosting is everything at Bar Marqués and it starts when the guest arrives and ends when he leaves,” says Rupp.
“I think the problem often is that people don’t understand menus and might order the wrong drinks, because they misunderstand the description. So it’s our job to speak with our guests, find out how they’re feeling, and figure out which drink they are looking for. Atmosphere is as important as the drinks; we see it more as a service tool. And we can get nerdy about the cocktails from time to time, but that usually just happens if the guest is looking for that experience. Then we either make a suggestion or, through our discussion, we’ll just make something. It is our responsibility of course that the drinks are good – if not, we bring something else! In the end it’s about detail, and we are kind like translators.”
The Bar Marqués opened four and half years ago, and though it was initially run without a menu, over the years a menu crept in to the bar service. When Florian took over last September, he brought back the no menu philosophy.