Christopher Hickey, the proprietor and founding father of Draughtwood Cellular Bar in New York, has been a devoted a part of the restaurant and bar business since 1998.
Over time, he has taken on quite a few roles, together with barback, bartender, head bartender, supervisor, and common supervisor, earlier than founding his personal enterprise. Regardless of beginning out in quite a lot of positions, Christopher shortly realized there was a bigger imaginative and prescient at play.
Earlier than venturing into the world of cocktails, Hickey briefly pursued a profession in regulation enforcement inside corrections. Nonetheless, he quickly realized he was on the improper path, and every day felt like a wrestle. Whereas working within the jail, he started to conceive the thought of offering personal events and occasions at individuals’s houses or venues. Sadly, these he shared this concept with dismissed it, and it wasn’t till he suffered a career-ending damage in corrections that he was confronted with the problem of supporting his three younger kids with no earnings. This pivotal second pushed him to show his dream right into a actuality.
That is when Draughtwood Cellular Bar was born. Hickey’s imaginative and prescient was easy but impactful; to create a one-stop store that introduced all the pieces wanted for occasions on to purchasers, permitting them to get pleasure from their events as friends reasonably than worrying concerning the logistics. Launching Draughtwood through the peak of the pandemic posed its challenges, however Hickey and his group tailored. They centered on micro-weddings with 50 friends or fewer, securing a number of bookings. By way of social media, they linked with a neighborhood mother’s group, which helped them develop their enterprise.
As the primary luxurious cellular bar of their space, Draughtwood had the market to itself initially, however through the years, the cellular bar business has seen a surge. Many companies have adopted comparable pricing, decor, and choices. Nonetheless, Hickey believes that whereas others could copy the mannequin, they’ll’t replicate the eagerness and dedication that Draughtwood stands for, as “a replica of a replica lacks originality and worth.” Although the fixed inflow of latest cellular bars will be difficult, particularly with newcomers providing decrease costs, Draughtwood continues to face out by way of its years of expertise, distinctive service, contemporary substances, high-quality gear, and customized menu curation.
With the business altering quickly, Draughtwood has expanded their companies into crafted mocktails and cocktail courses and have even been employed for a brand new restaurant bar design. Hickey stays centered on development and constantly innovating.
“In the event you turn into complacent, you’ll be left behind!”
Whereas there are thrilling concepts on the horizon, Hickey is holding these plans below wraps for now, however one factor is obvious: him and Draughtwood Cellular Bar are solely getting began.
