One thing that happens in Vegas isn’t staying there. Las Vegas is the epicenter of the growing practice of performance bartending shaking up the bar business. “Flair bartending,” as it is called, found a flashy, glitzy home in the hotels and casinos of the Strip and is now grabbing the spotlight in metropolitan and resort areas around the country and around the world.

The movie “Cocktail” reared its ugly head 17 years ago, but flip a bottle or lob a lime wedge behind your back and into a drink even today and the name “Tom Cruise” can still be heard whispered or giggled around the bar. The mind-blowing moves and show-stopping routines are miles beyond those used by Mr. Cruise, but many of the practitioners of the performance bar arts candidly confess the movie lured them into the bar show and admit that the flair style might not be around today without it.

“In reality, “Cocktail” is the reason we all got involved,” says Mike McLean, director of sales and marketing for the Ontario-based Flairco, Inc., supplier of performance bar equipment and disseminators of all things flair. “Without the movie, we wouldn’t be here ... but we can teach all the moves in the movie in just 20 minutes.”

The bartenders that have extended the entertainment side of bartending with juggling, flipping, and other gravity-and-common-sense-defying stunts have created an attraction for bars that otherwise might fall prey to lulls in business or the vagaries of the “in crowd.”

Flair bars benefit from the appeal of live entertainment, as well, without the expense and hassle of booking live acts. The bar service is the entertainment. With all of the dazzling shows in Las Vegas, flair bars—the Voodoo Lounge at the Rio, Carnaval Court at Harrah’s, Shadow at Caesar’s, and Kahunaville inside Treasure Island—consistently pack the house with world-class flair performers (who often make more in tips in one shift than the average working-person does in a week). Flair’s success is catching on, with Atlantic City’s casinos adding flair bars while Harrah’s will be opening at least one flair bar in each of their locations.

Working Flair
McLean asserts that world-class performance bartenders aren’t necessary to reap the benefits of the flair excitement. The real workhorse of flair styles is known as “working flair” (as opposed to “exhibition flair”), in which bartenders are trained to add stylish-yet-simple moves that can be “taught in a matter of hours.”

According to McLean, these are low-risk/highimpact flourishes—flashy, crowd-pleasing moves that are not potentially dangerous and won’t imperil your precious liquor and profits—that your entire staff should be able to master and that do not interfere with prompt service. In fact, he says, service speed tends to improve along with over-all sales.

To bring a flair program into your bar, you must first decide what level of expertise you want. Worldclass performance would take a lot of experience and expense if you were to train up your staff. Las Vegas hotels have spent large sums of money recruiting flair champions for their bars. A good working flair program, however, can be realized for $300-$500 of training per bartender and can show a rapid return on investment. Flair training organizations will evaluate the level of flair that best fits your operation, train staff in flair and product knowledge, and create a unique service routine for your bar, such as a flamboyant construction sequence for your specialty cocktail menu.

A performance bar staff can also be a great selling point for conventions, special events and marketing nights for spirits distributors. Flair proves more than a gimmick when it brings in incremental bar profits and new business from special events that also fill your rooms. McLean notes that flair bars are especially popular with liquor companies and distributors who want to roll out a new product in your market. If casinos have learned that profits from food and beverage can match their gambling take, then the average hotel should take note.

If you haven’t flipped for flair yet, maybe a test spin is the answer. Flair organizations are available to help you host special events and see how flair can improve sales and the desirability of your facility. Flairco and other flair groups have events teams that can provide flair displays for any occasion and test out your area. McLean claims his events staff and trainers have never met with disinterest after a performance.

Hosting a flair competition to bring the thrill of flair to your area might be the best way to gauge interest and create excitement at the same time.

“Everyone has one reason to go to a bar,” says McLean. “Flair gives people a second reason.” Whether you are a small market or large, high price point or moderate, giving guests another reason to come into your bar can never hurt.

Denny Lewis is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B EXECUTIVE.