Minifactory (cafe & grocery) homes V Smiley Preserves (jam company) in downtown Bristol, Vermont. This hybrid restaurant, grocery and production model hums with daily activity. 16 Main St (our location) has operated continuously as a bakery/cafe for over 4 decades.

V Smiley Preserves makes honey sweetened preserves. We specialize in intricate textured flavors, making no-added pectin preserves, investing in our local foodshed, and supporting organic growing practices.

Bristol Vermont is located in Addison County. The area is agricultural and adjacent to the mountain communities of Lincoln and Starksboro. We are a 40 minute drive to Burlington, 25 minutes to Middlebury.

V Smiley Preserves and Minifactory are queer owned/run.

Beverage & Hospitality Lead FOR MINIFACTORY

Position Overview

We’re hiring an experienced coffee and service professional—a general beverage aficionado—to bring creativity, structure, and quality control to our beverage offerings at Minifactory; from morning shakes to tea, natural wine, and cocktails that harness and celebrate V Smiley Preserves and the seasons.

You…

• Bring a love for all things beverage & hosting 
• Hold deep coffee knowledge with both espresso, milk foaming and brewed coffee
• Possess a strong sense of flavor and balance
• Constantly strive to create that ineffable feeling of thoughtful service for our customer, meeting them where they are 
• Hold a strong background in (ideally both) either specialty coffee and alcohol 
• If you are missing knowledge in either coffee or alcohol, you are ready to deep dive and quickly get yourself up to speed 
• Independent, but collaboratively minded 
• Enjoy training staff and maintaining quality of product through teaching/mentorship
• Sweat the details but also know how to keep it moving 
• Warm & thoughtful 
• Get excited / energized by busy services 
• Driven to find efficiency of motion, communication, service, and staffing 
• Hustle, team player, leading by example 
• Possess floor vision (you toggle effortlessly from bussing tables, greeting customers, clipping sagging flowers from a bouquet, checking in with the kitchen, putting away dishes as you swing through the dish pit while delegating and encourage economy of motion in others)
• Work a combo of morning & evenings

Who You’ll Work With

• Minifactory Operations Lead
• Minifactory Retail Lead
• V Smiley
• Christine Mitchell Adams, VSP/Minifactory Marketing

You report to: V Smiley

ROLE

• Train new baristas on espresso drink fundamentals including latte art
• Quality control on drip & espresso program
• Spearhead seasonal drink changes on coffee menu
• Create small, easily executed (morning) frozen drink menu
• Coffee ordering
• Routine upkeep of coffee equipment with support from Brio Coffeeworks
• Curate & rotate tea menu
• Maintain inventory of syrups and flavorings for hot drinks and alcohol program
• Order alcohol & purchase spirits
• Execute slowly rotating cocktail menu (3-4 yearly shifts)
• Build new cocktail creations using V Smiley Preserves
• Write recipes
• Train staff on cocktail making & recipes
• Lead weekly inventory of all dry and fresh goods involved in our beverage program
• Research new products
• Rotate and quality check beverage stock
• Facilitate information flow on menu/changes to FOH staff
• Train staff on how to describe and sell our food & drink
• Grow & maintain warm, convivial guest experience
• Troubleshoot customer flow / customer experiences
• Raise our level of service
• Grow our staff knowledge about ingredients, dishes and general menu
• Bring new, achievable ideas to increasing the feel of hospitality at Minifactory
• Expand alcohol and food sales post 2pm
• Continue building out non-alcoholic drink menu

RESULTS

• Consistent & excellent coffee program
• Exceptional & memorable service
• Minifactory and V Smiley Preserves are bridged together via our menu and sales strategy
• Foster communicative and enjoyable work environment
• Contributes to stimulating excellence in both the individual and group culture of Minifactory
• Converting Minifactory sales into VSP growth – a big part of our job at Minifactory is using the customer experience to expand V Smiley Preserves reach and relevance – we’ll work with Christine Mitchell Adams to make sure this conversion is humming

REQUIREMENTS

• Proven record of leadership in coffee, beverage and service
• Minimum 3 years experience in restaurants / coffee shops or similar service environment
• Bartending knowledge
• Have excellent interpersonal and customer service skills
• A love for being part of a team and using a strengths based approach
• Highly organized
• Community minded

Compensation

• $25-29/hr DOE  
• 30-39 hrs/week
• Two weeks paid time off
• Staff meals / free food for home
• Employee discount