Embrace your Culture! with Denzel Heath! [ENG]

"ONE Legend with Legendary People in a Legendary Bar from a Legendary Place, means Legendary Moments!"

Hey guys!

This week I’ve been invited by the kind folks from Breasla Barmanilor to participate at this incredible masterclass held by Denzel Heath from South Africa.

I knew Denzel from quite some time and finally we got the chance to meet in person for a few minutes last year at BCB, so I’ve been very excited to spend more time with him.

Denzel is a very cool dude, very humble, and eats, sleeps, dreams and breaths bar tending. He is all about family and culture and what I loved the most about him is that he was 100% genuine. No filters, no bullshit, just plain Denzel!

His masterclass was very interesting, as it involved a lot of things about his African culture and his 16 year bar experience.

He told us about his achievements but also his failures and the mistakes that he made so that he can be a better man today.

As for his guest bartending, which was held one day later at Charlie in Cluj, I think that numbers speak for themselves:

“120 cocktails in 105 minutes”

He had four well balanced cocktails which were inspired from his African landscape. They were absolutely amazing and what I liked about his guest shift is that he took time and explained everything to everyone, he was very nice to everyone, smiled a lot, thus making him a great host!

Even though there were 3 hectic days for Denzel, we got the chance to do a small interview for the ones who unfortunately could not attend his masterclass. Here is how it went:

Please introduce yourself and tell us more about yourself and your bar tending career.

Hey! It’s me, Denzel Heath, aSouth African travelling bartender, currently based in Dubai and here is a bit more about my bar tending career:

Even though today I am not working behind the bar, I’ve actually been in the liquor business for nearly 16 years now. I’ve started at a tinder age by working in a service bar *illegally*, however, after that I’ve managed to work in many bars around the world. I’ve spent two years working in Long Island over in New York, I lived for a short time in Florida too, and currently I am residing in Dubai, where do I get to make drinks occasionally, design new menus, offer consultation, train bartenders, and also share my love as well as my  passion for bar tending with bartenders from pretty much all over the world since Dubai is being such a diverse and cultural market.

We know a lot of things about you throughout internet and Facebook but how is Denzel Heath in real life?

So, who’s the man behind the man…:)  I think that surprisingly I am like most of the bartenders out there. We are forced to socialize a lot when we are working around people because we are giving up ourselves and whilst this is getting us energy in return, it becomes tiring. Basically, I am a calm and relaxed person, not the crazy person you see partying in a bar, on the stage or in the outgoing presentations. I am naturally an extrovert, but I do enjoy spending time by myself, I enjoy watching series, especially the ones from Netflix, reading and not the least, I like to spend time with my beautiful daughter and my amazing wife.

You already rocked the bar scene in South Africa so what made you move to Dubai and start all over again?

I think every time someone moves, is a new fresh start. It was a no-brainer for me to move, because I was motivated by many things, not only financially. It was a good move for my family as well, our future and it was a good opportunity to learn more and develop myself. Dubai is also a travel hub and it allows me to easily travel to many different places and make short fosters. It was a difficult start over but I think the transition was very successful in the end. I’ve managed to build a lot of relations in a reasonably short period of time with the bar trade in Dubai. They’ve been very welcoming and I am very appreciative for this, especially since I was newly coming to their market.

Dubai is diverse in terms of bar scene and it is very different to what I was used to in South Africa which is yet another reason why I accepted the challenge. I am always trying to push myself to learn more and the Dubai market was the logical next step to my career. Sometime in the future I would like to settle down back to South Africa, because there is where my heart is. 

We know that during your stay in Dubai, your little girl, Jaden, was born. How did this influence your bartending life?

So, yes, the Jadybug! My daughter is the most amazing gift that I could ever receive. It made my life a hell of a lot more difficult. You never can be ready for having a child. We work in a trade where we are sleep depraved, we are always busy, we live crazy lifestyles and all of that gets turned on its head when you have a child, ‘cause you sleep less.  You are worried more, you have to provide for an extra person but it is the most amazing blessing, the most amazing gift. In the beginning it is very challenging but it is so rewarding. I joke a lot around with my wife by saying: “its 70 percent effort and 30 percent return in matter of fun, but it is quite the opposite: 30 percent worth effort and 70 percent of absolutely amazingness. Having a person that you’ve created, that is alike you and which thinks that you are the most important person in the world, even at such a young age, it’s such an incredible feeling.

It is said that behind every great man, there is a great woman. How did this worked for you and your wife, Amy?

As you know, the move from South Africa to Dubai was very difficult for many different reasons. We left our family, our beautiful home which we built up and we had obviously our two dogs which we had to leave behind. I have an amazing wife and I am telling this to everyone that I meet, you know, as you were saying, behind every successful man there is a strong, courageous woman. I am very privileged to have a wife that is completely supportive, completely understanding, especially in our trade when it is so difficult to maintain a relationship. She completely understands and knows that my loyalty lies with here and with my daughter and my hard work is for the two of them. They are my main focus and that is why I do what I do! Furthermore, she is always by my side, building me up, lifting up my spirit when I am down and she is always home when I come back from my long trips, always comforting me. 

We know that Dubai is a challenging market for our industry. How do you manage to stay on top?

Yes, Dubai is an extremely challenging market because of the ever-changing environment! We have a ton of bartenders joining the market on an-going basis which is good because we have fresh minds that bring new ideas into the mix. My role at the MMI Bar Academy is difficult but in the same time it is very good! I love to be challenged and it pushes me out of my boundaries so that I can always stay on top.  I am doing this by travelling all over the world, by continuing to learn and study. As we speak, our training manager Rakshit is at New York to complete the 5 day program at Bar Smarts, which I’ve been lucky enough to complete a couple of years ago. We keep pushing our boundaries wherever we can learn more, develop even more, where we can get better at what we do. This could be done by reading, by experimenting and sacrificing our time off to go and visit other bars. Never stop, never stop, never stop! 

You traveled the world, won competitions, learned things from the best and you work in one of the best places in Dubai. What is your next move? How is the future looking for Denzel Heath? What is your endgame for this craft?

This is funny because I never planned to leave Africa, I never planned to travel so much. I didn’t see the purpose in it, but the first time I traveled, I went to work in New York and it changed my life. It really opened my eyes to what world traveled people get to see and what get to experience. My next move is hopefully to continue to travel but do it more tactically. I think I take a lot of traveling, next month I am going to 6 different countries, this month I got two more countries to go and this is a part of my endgame.

My endgame is pretty simple. It is a full circle. I would like to go back behind the bar. At the moment I am not behind the bar every night, making drinks for people so I don’t get that much guest satisfaction which drives us as bartenders.

I am very happy that I get to do what I do, but I want to be behind the bar again.

Late this year, I will be opening a bar with an associate in Johannesburg, in South Africa. In spite of that, I will continue to stay in Dubai for the next couple of years then after I will go and be behind the bar. I also started an equipment business, “The Spirit Merchant Trading Company” which will cater bar equipment for Africa and also for the Middle East. This has grown and now it is a self-sustainable business which makes me proud because I am able to give a bit back to the community because we charge so great rates so that any bartender can be able to have premium equipment so that he can create great drinks.

I think another angle for which we all strive for is to owning our own brands. This is definitely on my cards, maybe one day I will end up as being a distiller, who knows?

What is the most rewarding experience that you’ve received as a bar tender?

So, I’ve been lucky enough to do a lot of travelling. I visited over 20 distilleries from across the globe: everything from Trinidad & Tobago to Ahus in Sweden. Everything has been a great blessing but the biggest reward for me as a bartender has always been to see bartenders flourish that I’ve had influence with. Any bartender that has worked with me or I had the opportunity to train or work with. Seeing them growing and developing is absolutely amazing and I keep in touch with everyone that I’ve worked with. It is such an important part of what we do. That’s why we do what we do. The drinks part is secondary, it is all about people. The human element is the most important thing and this is the greatest return that I can find in my career. It’s happy bartenders that are making a living the same way that I am, having fun, serving people and doing something that are passionate about.  

Tell us something about you that people don’t know but you would like for them to find out.

I am a devoted Christian, with a lot of flaws. I make a lot of mistakes, probably a lot more mistakes that everyone else who is not a Christian. I try to share this thing without being forceful, I love my God, I love Jesus, I know that he is my savior and everything I do is to glorify Him.  Maybe I don’t share it enough because I don’t have the opportunity to do that but that is something personal, something deep and close to my heart.

Last night (Monday) you had a bar tour in Cluj. What do you think about the local bartending scene? What about Dubai, do you know any Romanian bartenders that are working there?

What an awesome first night! I believe that we are going to see a lot more bars tonight. For me, the most important thing for a bar is the bartender and the environment that he creates. At the end of the day, it’s all about service. Bars aren’t there just to create great drinks. It is true that great drinks bring consumers to your bar, but people go out because they want to have a great time. They want to walk into a room and to be smiled at by the bartender, they want to be greeted, they want to feel comfortable and I really felt comfortable in all the bars that I’ve visited last night. Another positive thing is bartender owned bars and I was lucky to visit one last night and see for myself that it was about that service element. In all the bars from Cluj I’ve felt welcoming, I felt like home and that is the no. 1 reason why we go to bars.

Dubai has a lot of great Romanian bartenders and I would like to thank each and one of them for being there and continuously raising the bar!

At the end, what message do you have for the Romanian bartenders?

My message to Romanian bartenders is: stay true to who you are, invest in your bar culture, invest in yourself and this you are doing it already! The guild that you have (Breasla Barmanilor), the passion that they are showing and the bartenders that showed up today (Tuesday) represents a thirst for learning more, developing more. Make sure to tell your story, who you are, through your drinks and through your service. Don’t be shy from where you are from, don’t hide the fact that you are from Romania, talk about this thing, embrace the fact that you are from Romania. Use that, capitalize on that and make sure that it translates in everything that you do.

Photo credits: Gabriel Aldea & Lucian Mândru