Stories
Luis Lopes
My Story
Following The Dream
- Nationality: Portuguese
- Occupation: Bar Manager
- Workplace: Tivoli Lagos
- Favorite Cocktail: Negroni
- Favorite Spirit: Rum
What inspired you to become a bartender:
The inspiration came from back in the day, when my grandfather was a bartender. At that time he owned his own restaurant/bar near the beach in Algarve. It was actually a very busy place and I was seven years old watching him doing cocktails, coffees and serving beers at high speed. In the meantime, I was washing and drying the glasses and the bar material.
Tell me about your bartending journey and how you got to where you are now:
I started my journey when I was young and wanted to learn as much as I could. After 5 years of school, I thought that I was ready to take on the big challenge that was finding a job where I could use everything that I learned. When I found it, it was a small bar in a very busy village in Algarve, a lovely place. I did a few trainings such as mixology, Flair Bartending, the science of flavors, new techniques and with all of that my passion just grew. I went to London and did 15 trial shifts and everybody enjoyed my work and offered me a job except The Ritz. In my trial shift there, they made me make a mojito which I failed ridiculously in and they said that I had to improve in everything but they would give me a position as a barback. I took that with the goal that one day I was going to wear the iconic white jacket and be behind the bar. After a lot of studying and a lot of support from my team, I have to say that my Head Bartender at The Ritz was the most important person at the start of my career.
What stamp would you like to leave on the industry:
I would like to leave that nothing is impossible and with the power of will and can-do attitude you can do everything. When you have an idea of a cocktail that you think is impossible, just try and try and try till it becomes possible.
Can you explain your personal process for creating a cocktail:
It’s about knowing the Ingredients, they have secrets that we have to discover for the purpose of that cocktail and the idea of what you want in that cocktail. When I discovered calamansi juice, it had an amazing flavor for substituting the mix of clementine juice and lime. Doing the garnish in the way that the name, the flavor and history of the cocktail can be perceptible just by the way the cocktail looks, smells and tastes.
What is the most important part of what you do and what does it mean to you:
The most important part is training. I believe that training is an important part of your progress as a hospitality professional and every time you have training in any area, such as how to make, how to serve, how to behave, you become a better professional. It is also important to make mistakes because it’s like that that you discover how to make it better.
What do you think will be the future of the F&B industry:
I think the future of the industry will be very competitive, the guests will have a lot of choice of where to go, but they will probably go more where they feel safe, it’s going to be a difficult time because of the new laws about distance in service. I believe that the guests will be more thoughtful about what to drink and pay more attention to the way that we are working.
Anything that would you like to add?
I believe that the people that made me grow are all my fathers. I have to thank all of them for not leaving me on my own and helping me to go forward. A special thanks to Tiago Mira, Marco Ercolano, Francesco Rossetto, Carlos Lopes, Matteo Oggianu, Stefano Mereu, as well as a thank you to Bartender Stories for this opportunity.
Most bizarre client request:
The most bizarre order that I got so far was a draft beer with apple juice. The taste wasn’t that bad but it kind of tasted weird!