Bars & restaurants: be comfortable in the uncomfortable

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This week's topic is a bit of a quick hitter (the interview clip is only like 3 mins long), but it's a bigger concept that's come up in almost every interview we've done for this newsletter: being comfortable in the uncomfortable.

Some folks have said it's key to have a "pivot" mentality. Others frame it as "you just do what you need to do." Still others have said you need to be able to "go with the flow."

Regardless of framing, it seems every person we talk to stresses how important this concept is, especially post-pandemic in our industry.

So this week there's no real advice in this segment aside from accepting that fact as the baseline and going from there: things aren't going to go right, and when that happens you need to figure out an effective solution.

Check out this quick interview clip from Josh Hurst for a pretty Zen discussion of how he thinks about this at the 13 Pies & Pints locations he manages as their Director of Operations and Hospitality.

With Guinness in the news this week (see the Industry Headlines section below), we figured we'd put together a little quiz about the brewery. Answers are at the bottom of the email. Good luck!

1. Let's start at the beginning. In what decade did Arthur Guinness sign the lease at the St. James Gate brewery in Dublin, where Guinness is still made today?

A. 1750s
B. 1810s
C. 1860s
D. 1870s

2. When Arthur signed that lease it was for a famously long period of time. How long was the lease for?

A. 900 years
B. 2000 years
C. 9000 years
D. One million years

3. Where did Guinness build its first brewery outside Ireland and the UK?

A. Nigeria
B. USA
C. Canada
D. Japan

4. When did Guinness begin using Nitrogen in its beer?

A. 1875
B. 1929
C. 1949
D. 1959

5. What temperature should Guinness be served at, according to the brewery?

A. 38.8 degrees F
B. 40.8 degrees F
C. 42.8 degrees F
D. 45.8 degrees F

It was a slow news week on the beat. We briefly saw some noise when a former music star made himself look small in an over-the-top, AR-15-heavy protest, but I'd rather not give that any more oxygen.

We'll be back with a fuller news slate next week!

• Guinness parent company Diageo announced plans to close its Relay, MD production facility, which only opened in 2018. A strange development, since Guinness plans to open a brewing facility and taproom in Chicago this summer.
• In Montana a 25-car train derailment resulted in massive amounts of Blue Moon and Coors Light spilling out beside (and into) the scenic Clark Fork River. Great fly fishing there. Hope the trout aren't harmed.

1. A. He signed the lease in 1759. Also that year: George Washington married Martha.

2. C. Really the only thing I know of that's 9000 years long.

3. A. It opened in Ikeja, NIgeria in 1962. Guinness got a foothold in Africa because of colonialism, and local enthusiasm there has only grown.

4. D, 1959. Can't think what it would taste like with CO2 instead.

5. C. 42.8 degrees F, though some folks obviously prefer it closer to room temp. Those people are bizarre.