This series highlights hospitality professionals who are responding to the industry crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic in particularly creative, conscientious ways.
“To be honest, the entire goal of this is just to get some money into the staff’s hands,” says Will Wyatt of his and his partners’ decision to turn their East Village cocktail bar, Mister Paradise, into temporary retail shop Paradise Wines & Liquor following the March closure of New York City’s restaurants and bars. “It was a little tricky, because I would love for the staff to just stay home—to lean into social distancing so we can come out of this faster. But the bartenders are bored. So this was a compromise.”
Posting their weekly changing menus on Instagram and taking orders by email, the team is offering delivery one day a week, using a two-person system to ensure maximum safety: One employee assembles the orders on site, the other makes the rounds. An alternating schedule keeps them home for 14 days between delivery cycles. The hope, says Wyatt, is that “we get enough constant orders to make it financially viable for the bartenders who are putting our orders together and sending them out”; admitting that he’s “not in a position to lose money,” he adds, “I’m OK floating for a bit.”
For all his seriousness about the dire circumstances underlying the new business model, however, it’s clear from the beverage lists he’s putting together that the lighthearted, freewheeling philosophy on which the year-plus-old Mister Paradise was built remains intact. In addition to build-your-own Highball kits, packaged beers, and wines marked down by as much as 50%, the bar has been sending out single servings of some of its most popular à la minute cocktails as well as large-format versions of more shelf-stable concoctions—consider the Party Lobster with tequila, mezcal, watermelon cordial, and fermented habanero brine or the whiskey-based Fight Milk with Green Chartreuse, caramelized banana, coconut, pineapple, citrus, and clarified Fruity Pebbles milk (whew). This week, it’s thrown a number of playful packages into the mix for $80 a pop. Among the three Movie Night Packages is the Clueless, which comes with all the makings for six gin-based Virgin Who Can’t Drive cocktails as well a bottle of rosé, popcorn, and Raisinets. Three different Binge Boxes, meanwhile, include the Tiger King: a bottle of bourbon, six canned beers, two liters of Mountain Dew, and a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
But any purchase is bound to bring cheer. With a glass-labeling machine, Wyatt and crew are giving “each bottle its own fun label,” he says. “We’re sending each cocktail with a fun little direction sheet about how to enjoy it. Every package also has a roll of toilet paper—we made a stamp with our logo so that each one is stamped. And we want to make sure everyone has snacks.” Frequent customers are likely to receive custom amenities. “Most of the people who are ordering are regulars, so we’re personalizing,” he explains. “We have one guy who always comes in from the gym, so we sent him some protein bars—just little extra things to brighten people’s days a bit.” Heck, even the gift cards Wyatt’s selling show that indomitably sassy New York spirit: They claim to be “good for one foot rub.” —Ruth Tobias
