The closing checklist

There is a closing checklist on a card behind the bar. I did not know about it for the first 3 weeks because nobody told me about it and I did not think to ask. I thought closing was just cleaning until everything looked clean.

The checklist has 14 items. Some of them are obvious: wipe down the bar, empty the portafilter, rinse the steam wand. Some of them are not obvious: check the valve behind the roaster, log Number Nine's temperature, leave the grinder burrs clear. There are reasons for all of them that I now know and did not then.

Della found out I had been closing without the card on day 22 and said nothing except to point at it. I have used it every night since. The closing I was doing before was probably fine. The closing I do now is definitely fine, which is a different thing.