This series highlights hospitality professionals who are responding to the industry crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic in particularly creative, conscientious ways.
The mission statement of Los Angeles’ MiniBar, according to GM and Head Bartender Jeremy Allen, “is to be the best little comfy, cozy bar for our neighborhood, which happens to be the base of the Hollywood Hills—we get lots of musicians, actors, and writers.” When it opened nearly five years ago, the sense that many local establishments were taking that customer base for granted weighed on the MiniBar team, who sought to “make the switch from ego-driven bartending back to service-driven bartending,” says Allen. “Every day, someone says, ‘This place feels like home, an extension of my house.’ Yes, the drinks are great, but our focus was on the people.”
That focus hasn’t shifted with the citywide “Safer at Home” order issued last month. “Supporting the community as the community supports us” is still the goal, Allen explains, and selling alcohol for takeout and delivery “is a thing I’ve been trying to figure out for a while”—so when bars and restaurants received the green light to do just that, he thought, “‘Man, it’d be awesome if there was an ice cream truck filled with booze.’ I talked to the owners, and they were like, ‘Obviously, we can’t afford an ice cream truck right now.’”
Undeterred, Allen had a better idea: “Let’s hit up Coolhaus.” Having met one of the founders of the hugely successful ice cream company, CEO Natasha Case, at a dinner a few years ago, he decided to reach out. “I hadn’t realized how big they’d gotten in the last few years,” he admits, “but they said yes. It’s kinda crazy, but they were all about” the opportunity to put a few of their vans to use for the just-launched venture L.A. Bodega on Wheels. After all, he points out, “Their people are also out of work”; taking shifts as drivers “puts money in their pockets.”
Delivering to some 15 zip codes as of this week, the Coolhaus van is naturally stocked with ice cream as well as a variety of alcoholic offerings from partnering businesses: canned cocktails from Vervet, mini-bottles of Future Gin, and, of course, Allen’s batched cocktails. He’s keeping the lineup simple for the time being—think Dirty Martinis, Palomas, and Blood Orange Daiquiris—on the grounds that customers aren’t looking for adventure but rather comfort; as he puts it, “We want you to know what it is you’re getting. Everybody knows a Manhattan; everybody knows an Old Fashioned.”
But as the word “bodega” suggests, the inventory doesn’t end there: From MiniBar sibling 101 Coffee Shop—which has been serving as a mini-grocery store for some time now—comes an array of sandwiches as well as myriad household staples, from peanut butter, coffee beans, produce, and oat milk to the ever-elusive toilet paper. “The more people we can get to stay at home, the better,” says Allen—and the wider the selection they can offer, the more likely they are to succeed.
Indeed, he adds, “Everybody can use anything they can get right now”—not least his friends and colleagues in the beleagured hospitality industry. That’s why 10% of all the Bodega on Wheels’ proceeds are going to charities aimed at helping them and other workers, including Another Round Another Rally, Opportunity Fund’s Small Business Relief Fund, LA Regional Food Bank, and No Us Without You.
But for all the good Allen and his partners aim to accomplish with their new service, he admits he has just one tiny ulterior motive: “Once you start selling drinks to go, you realize there’s nothing wrong with it! It’s OK for a responsible adult to walk down the street sipping a Negroni so long as they’re not getting in their car.” Whether city officials will ever concur with that opinion remains to be seen, but if they do, he could have a booze-filled ice cream truck of his own one day—“with the bell and everything.” —Ruth Tobias
