The Grog Tray

As a kid growing up on the Central Coast in the mid-80s, my idea of high-society dining was F. McLintocks steakhouse (RIP). While the adults were offered post-dinner liqueurs like Kahlua, Baileys, or Disaronno from a tray, us kids got a wooden treasure chest of cheap plastic toys. Naturally, I thought we were living like royalty. 

Fast forward 30 years and my social club, Wingtip, had a solid assortment of after-dinner beverage options: Cognacs, vintage Ports, Brandy, Fernet-Branca (popular in San Francisco). But my feeling was always that listing digestifs on a dessert menu is an invitation to politely decline.

The Psychology of Cart Service

Rolling out a dim sum-style cart loaded with vintage Cognac and crystal glassware? That turns a passive option into an irresistible experience.

And then, a book I was reading about butlers introduced me to The Grog Tray. After dinner, the ladies would retire to the parlor while the men would retire to a den where the butler would present them with after-dinner beverage options from the grog tray. In fact, the Telegraph wrote up the renewed popularity of the grog tray just a couple of years ago.

I was reminded about the grog tray when reading Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality. He talked about how Eleven Madison Park flipped the bill presentation from an awkward, transactional ritual to an eminently hospitable one. He does a better job explaining it than I can: 

This struck me as genius as I read it, especially if you know about bar & restaurant liquor economics (Cognac brands would be crawling over each other to be the brand poured). 

The Field Marketer’s Takeaway

Unfortunately, I was never able to bring The Grog Tray™ to life at Wingtip. I would love to travel with the concept as part of executive dinners, however, the patchwork liquor laws and the complexity of settling with the restaurant for liquor they didn’t buy, makes it a non-starter. We might not be able to wheel a gueridon cart full of Chartreuse into every restaurant, but the core lesson for Field Marketers remains: Don’t give your executive guests a menu when you can give them a moment.