“It all comes down to humility.”
I often ask bartenders what they think makes a great bartender. Oftentimes it’s hospitality, knowledge, passion — and that all makes sense.
But there seems to be another common thread.
There’s a moment in this week’s interview for Drinks At Work, where I’m talking to Luca Baioni about his career, and we get to talking about what sets the best bartenders apart from the rest. And we’re not talking about the very good bartenders — we’re talking about the ones who are world renowned, the all time greats.
We were talking about his time at the successful Rome bar, The Jerry Thomas Project, and how he got access to a very high calibre of bartender, travelled, and spoke about the bar in seminars at bar shows around the world.
“One thing that really stayed with me,” Luca says, “and I try to keep in my [approach] today, is the way very good bartenders — I’m not talking like bartenders like me and our friends, but the best of the world — how they are open to share things with other people, other professionals, young bartenders.”
Luca found that very best of the best were like open books when it came to knowledge sharing and mentoring — and that experience has informed the way he approaches his trade as a bartender ever since.
“I had bartenders of an international level — they’re still top 10 in the world — coming to me and showing me how to cut a garnish or how to improve my shaking or whatever,” Luca says.
“But that’s how it should be. It’s the beauty of learning so much and putting so much work in, and then be able to pass it down. Otherwise, what are you doing?”
And there might be more to it than simply doing good by the next generation.
“That tells you also that perhaps, and this is just a theory, perhaps having that approach helps you to become one of the best,” says Luca.
For this week’s episode of Drinks At Work, we’re in Adelaide, with a conversation I recorded with Luca — he’s a bartender, former brand ambassador, and now bar owner of Latteria in Adelaide, a bar and eatery that is now into its second year of trade. It’s one of my favourite spots in the city. Latteria is inspired by Luca and his business partner, Nicola’s experiences growing up in the north of Italy, and it’s a place with heart, great design, and some very good things to drink.
Below, there’s a lightly edited sample Q&A from this episode, but make sure you get the podcast to get the full chat.