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By Abby Taylor, General Manager of Urban Hearth
Prepping for this New Year's Eve experience was a multi day process. During the week leading up to NYE... you know, that no-mans-land of juggling work, visits with far away friends and family, and holiday parties between Christmas and New Years where you feel like your whole body has been transformed into a lump of butter and cheese... I started on some of the ingredients for our bar program and worked on our menu design and wine pairings. I spent Monday taking down our holiday decorations and hanging sparkly tissue paper lanterns on the ceiling, which somehow took nearly 3 hours and many trips up and down a ladder, along with batching out our mocktails for the non alcoholic pairing.
This pairing was a challenge for me specifically since I'm not a trained mixologist, but the feedback I got from all three of our chefs and from guests was all wonderful and I'm really proud of it. Proud that we took elements from our culinary menu to create a true beverage/food pairing and especially proud that we offered something completely bespoke, special and different for our alcohol free guests that isn't just expensive juice and soda and involved a lot of care and thought in its curation.
Tuesday I went in, set up the bar, pulling our regular offerings out and stocking up New Year's wines, beer and batching cocktails/mocktails. I unboxed extra wine and champagne glasses, printed and folded menus with extra inserts of a secret toast that one of our regulars had written to our team/chef, finished our floor plan, and went through the menu with our team before racing home to change into a sparkly outfit and walk the dog... oh and taking as many deep breaths as I possibly could before heading back, sprinkling glitter on the sidewalk, starting our playlist, and just like that... the doors were open.
It took us about an hour to really set into a service groove and there were some delays that caused a backup. We realized 3 crucial tables weren't going to turn in time and we were looking at a 30-45 min delay for some parties to wait (outside in the cold). That's when the GM and Chef take a deep breath and head outside with a fist full of flutes and start pouring complimentary champagne while entertaining guests with a combination conversation/comedy routine. Smiles and laughs were shared and hearts were warmed, despite the cold.
Somehow, against all odds, we were able to seat everyone eventually and somehow, against even more odds, everyone was so kind, gracious and patient with us. The parties that waited the longest out in the cold ended up leaving us the nicest, kindest reviews on OpenTable. Guests kept heading over to the kitchen to give them all high praise and huge thanks. I received many hugs and kisses from extremely pleased guests. We were blown away at the response from old and new guests alike.
At one point one table, a couple who had gotten married at UH a few months prior and are huge fans of us (they come every other week with a new guest), started chatting with another couple who were joining us for the first time and they were comparing favorite dishes and drinks and I actually said out loud to them "see... this is my favorite dish... what's happening right here... this is the good stuff" and I wasn't just saying it. It's my favorite thing about my job to watch new friendships being forged over food.
Somehow, despite all the division and tension of our current social/political status, despite all the stress and overwhelm of the holiday season, despite it all... people came out with kindness in their hearts and openness in their minds. People shared their joy with us, despite the fear, their hope for the new year to come, despite the hard road ahead.
I don't really know how to describe the exhaustion that one feels after pulling off a night like this. It's like a combination body and soul exhaustion. I fused myself to the couch for the first 4 hours of my 2025, making IG reel recaps, sipping a latte, with a puppy on my lap. Then I peeled myself off the couch, put on a fluffy rainbow unicorn onesie for adults and went to watch dumb movies and eat Chinese takeout with friends.
With our plans of expanding into a larger space, I'm not sure where we will be on NYE 2026. This New Year's Eve might have been the last one for us in this tiny 24 seat restaurant. And if it is? What a way to end it. Happy 2025, friends. I'm feeling weirdly optimistic about it, or at the very least, not as bad as I expected. ❤
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