Barista at The Warbler Hotel

Progressive HR Strategies • New Orleans, LA

17h • Onsite

About The Position

The Barista is the craft and tempo of Milly's Café: a skilled coffee professional who delivers exceptional espresso, thoughtful hospitality, and a refined all-day counter experience. The role balances exacting beverage standards with fluency in pastries, light breakfast and lunch offerings, retail items, full alcohol bar service, and hotel-guest needs. A Milly's Barista moves efficiently without making guests feel processed.

Requirements

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Six months of specialty-coffee, high-volume café, restaurant, or comparable beverage-service experience.
• Demonstrated ability to follow recipes, operate POS systems, handle cash accurately, and work safely with hot equipment.
• Availability for early mornings, weekends, and holidays.

Nice To Haves

• One or more years of specialty-coffee experience with semi-automatic espresso equipment.
• SCA coursework or comparable coffee education.
• Experience in a luxury hotel, independent roaster café, bakery café, or retail-focused coffee program.
• Espresso extraction, grinder adjustment, steaming and texturing milk, beverage sequencing, and machine-cleaning routines.
• Pour-over variables including ratio, grind, water temperature, bloom, pour pattern, and brew time.
• Basic food-allergen awareness, including cross-contact prevention for milks, pastries, and shared tools.
• Product merchandising, retail inventory awareness, and confident but non-intrusive suggestive selling.

Responsibilities

• Dial in espresso at opening and throughout service by adjusting grind, dose, yield, and extraction time in response to coffee age, humidity, and taste evaluation.
• Prepare espresso beverages, brewed coffee, tea, seasonal drinks, and non-alcoholic offerings to approved recipes, temperatures, presentation standards, and ticket times.
• Produce consistent latte art appropriate to beverage type and volume, while prioritizing drink quality, speed, and order accuracy.
• Prepare and present pour-over coffee using the café's designated brewers, recipe cards, water standards, and narration appropriate to the guest's interest.
• Describe roasts, producers, processing methods, flavor profiles, milk alternatives, and seasonal coffee selections in accessible language without lecturing.
• Receive, mark, sequence, and hand off café orders accurately; coordinate with pastry and kitchen colleagues so breakfast and lunch items arrive at the correct moment.
• Maintain fresh, attractive pastry and retail displays; follow dating, rotation, allergen-labeling, and product-merchandising procedures.
• Offer thoughtful retail recommendations such as whole beans, brewing tools, packaged goods, and gift items, using product knowledge rather than pressure.
• Keep espresso machines, grinders, brewers, refrigeration, milk stations, counters, and guest-facing areas clean, calibrated, stocked, and service-ready.
• Complete cash, POS, mobile-payment, comp, and room-charge transactions accurately, following hotel authorization and guest-verification procedures.
• Monitor par levels for beans, milks, syrups, cups, lids, pastry packaging, and retail stock; communicate shortages before they affect service.
• Support café opening and closing, including machine backflushing, grinder cleaning, safe food storage, temperature logs, waste reduction, and handoff notes.
• Acknowledge waiting guests immediately and provide realistic timing during rushes; maintain eye contact and an unhurried tone at handoff.
• Learn repeat guests' established preferences only through respectful, approved recognition; reconfirm changes rather than assuming an order.
• Present beverages with clean cups, accurate names, and a brief description when useful; remake promptly and graciously if quality misses the standard.
• Keep attire, hands, nails, and station presentation immaculate; the bar is a visible part of the luxury experience.
• Protect hotel guest privacy when processing room charges and avoid calling out room numbers or personal details.

Benefits

• Team Members are eligible to receive benefits based on average hours worked and advancement opportunities.
• [State/local food-handler certification]
• [Allergen-awareness training]
• [Responsible alcohol-service/TIPS or state equivalent, if café alcohol service is assigned]

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED