Full Tilt Boogie

Most people think this is a reference to the 1997 Quentin Tarantino movie of the same name. Not so! It's all about Janis - Joplin that is - who spent the summer of 1970 touring with the Full Tilt Boogie Band. We are into Summer in New Zealand as you can see from the photo of our beautiful Pohutukawa trees in full bloom. And, like Janis, we are ramped up full tilt with cruise ships, punters and shoppers.

As expected, Prince's Wharf is going non-stop. Tyler and his latenight crew are really adding an 8th day to our week, with Saturday latenight sales totalling up another day's worth of revenue. They have been going since September non-stop, and even though the wear and tear are beginning to show, they amp it up every weekend for yet another party. I know he will be so happy when Ashley gets back after the 1st of the year.

We didn't know what to expect at Newmarket, but have been very happy with our increased shopper traffic. We are in the middle of the high fashion district, and the last-minute shoppers are discovering us and our vast array of Mexican beers. Manager Davey has found us some "piccolos" which are individual servings of champagne - a favourite among the well-heeled Newmarket shoppers. We have a regular crew of school boys who hang out and play cards in the afternoon - which prompted our cook Butters to come up with the idea of "High School Happy Hour." That will probably include mince (ground beef) tacos since that's what they all ask for.

Conor is head honcho for the new digital menu board install at PW. We had hoped to have it done before Christmas, but it's pretty tough to get anyone to work right now. It's their Christmas and summertime all rolled into the next 3 months. Kids are out of school and most people don't go back to work until January 15. So, he's working on putting together our big media launch - back of busses and radio - which will begin Jan 28. Jen's here for Christmas and touching up our training videos, and generally keeping Conor out of trouble.

Mike's little sister Emily joined us in November and is keeping busy hopping back and forth between PW and Newmarket. We love having her smiling face and awesome barista skills! With Jen, Emily and the boys, we will have a full house for Christmas Day. Our meat man dropped of some fowl thing with feet and head and eyes all intact, but JB promises me he can make it into Christmas dinner!