03 — Services Five engagement types

By engagement
Scoped, not retainered

Five engagements.

Each package below is scoped and timelined. Pricing is by conversation.

One operator on every engagement
Twenty minutes to a clear answer

01

Opening Beverage Program

12 — 16 weeks pre-opening
+ 12 weeks post-opening optimization

Who it’s for. New hotel bars, hotel restaurant programs, and ground-up restaurant openings within six to twelve months of public launch. Best fit: concepts where the beverage program is a brand decision, not an operational afterthought.

What’s included
  • Beverage program concept and positioning, mapped to food, design, and brand voice
  • Opening cocktail menu (20–30 drinks), wine and spirits curation, NA program
  • Supplier negotiation and account setup
  • Prep-lab design and equipment specification — layout, batching workflows, HACCP-compliant SOPs
  • Opening-team training, two weeks pre-opening on-site, full team
  • Opening-week support — four nights on the floor, real-time corrections
  • 90-day post-opening optimization — menu review, costing pass, team check-in
What’s not included
  • Equipment purchase — pass-through at cost, you buy direct from suppliers
  • Liquor license consulting (referral on request)
  • Ongoing operations after the 90-day review — that’s the Advisory Retainer
02

Program Refresh

6 — 10 weeks end-to-end

Who it’s for. Existing venues with a beverage program that has gone stale, lost a head bartender, hired a new chef, or simply hasn’t kept pace with the food’s press cycle.

What’s included
  • Two-week audit — tasting the current menu, reviewing pour costs, observing service across at least three shifts, interviewing the bar team and front-of-house
  • New cocktail menu, 10–18 drinks, designed against the existing kitchen, ABV target, and price point
  • Team retraining — two days on-site, all bartenders
  • Costing pass on every new drink with target pour costs
  • Optional: signature-drink photography brief and naming workshop
What’s not included
  • Prep-lab build — that’s its own engagement
  • New equipment beyond smallwares the new menu requires
  • Wine list overhaul — separate scope
03

Prep‑Lab Design & Build

8 — 14 weeks, design through build supervision

Who it’s for. Multi-unit restaurant groups (three or more outlets) and hotels with centralized commissary potential. Currently solving central prep with bartenders in a corner of the kitchen at eleven at night.

What’s included
  • Site walkthrough and current-state assessment — equipment, workflows, throughput, food-safety posture
  • Equipment specification — rotovap, centrifuge, sous-vide, ultrasonic homogenizer, Spinzall, vacuum sealer, walk-in batching, glycol chiller — sized to your throughput, not a brochure
  • Room layout and electrical/plumbing requirements, delivered as architect-ready drawings
  • Batching SOPs and HACCP-compliant production protocols
  • Two-day on-site team training on lab operation and safety
  • 30-day post-launch troubleshooting
What’s not included
  • Equipment purchase — pass-through at supplier invoice
  • General contracting or build-out — we work alongside your GC, not in place of them
  • Permitting
04

White-Label & RTD Development

14 — 24 weeks, recipe through first production run

Who it’s for. Hotels that want a branded bottled-cocktail line for minibar, room service, or lobby-bar service-at-scale. Restaurant groups that want a take-home product. Independent brands launching a bottled cocktail and needing recipe, sourcing, and co-packer access. The most differentiated package — almost nobody else in the NYC consulting set runs production.

What’s included
  • Recipe development, 3 – 6 SKUs
  • Shelf-stability testing, ABV / serving-size targeting, label compliance review
  • Ingredient sourcing and co-packer introduction
  • Label and brand-direction work in partnership with your design team
  • Production planning and first-run supervision
What’s not included
  • Co-packer fees, paid directly to the co-packer
  • TTB / state liquor authority filings (referral)
  • Distribution — we introduce, we don’t represent
  • Design execution — we direct, your designer or a referred designer executes
05

Advisory Retainer

Monthly · Six-month minimum

Who it’s for. Restaurant groups and hotels with an internal beverage team that’s competent but wants senior eyes on the program quarterly. Not a substitute for a full engagement — a check-in.

What’s included
  • Monthly two-hour video call — menu review, hiring help, supplier conversations, problem-solving
  • Quarterly on-site visit — full day, tasting and observation
  • Slack / email access for fast questions
  • One annual half-day program audit
What’s not included
  • Active menu development — that returns to the Refresh or Opening package
  • Training — same
  • Hiring placement — we advise, we don’t place
Project that doesn’t fit one of these? Get in touch.

Get in touch