How Bon Vivants Built a Craft Cocktail Culture in the Bahamas

Speaker A: Welcome to the Bar Hacks podcast. Engaging interviews, plus tips and strategies to navigate your bar or restaurant business towards sustainable success. Now, here's your host, hospitality industry veteran journalist and editor, David Klempt.

Speaker B: Hey, welcome back to the Bar Hack podcast. I hope you're well. I am talking to a guest who I believe is my first in this particular region, which is exciting, but I am talking to Kyle Jones, the founder of Bon Vivants, which is out of Nassau in the Bahamas. Interestingly, this is a bar that is a coffee house by day and it's a cocktail bar. And they earn number 50 this this year's World's 50 Best Bars list. And that is the first Bahamian bar to ever earn a placement. This is on the heels of being entered into their best bars Discovery Tool, which is very cool, like the discovery tool, if you haven't played with it, you should go check it out, see what's in your market, see if you're in the. In the market or your competitors. It's, it's just a really cool way for people who are curious to find your bar, even if you haven't yet gotten an official placement. The guests or, uh, the listeners who have heard episode 150 know that my friend Josh, who tours the world, his goal right now is to visit as many top 50 bars in the world as he can. So he likes the tool, he likes the list. Bon Vivants has also been nominated and won spirited awards. You know, best international cocktail bar, best international bar team. They've been finalists couple years now. I, uh, think it's actually since 2020 and 2024. It's. There's a lot of accolades. They're well earned, but. Kyle, how's it going?

Speaker A: I'm great, thanks, David.

Speaker B: Very excited to talk to you. I, Yeah, I don't think I have talked to a Bahamian bar on this.

Speaker A: Uh, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker B: So I looked you up, obviously, and I'm just curious, so your journey through bartending and bar ownership. I understand you were born in Pennsylvania, you went to school in Georgia, you tended bar in New York, and now you're in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. I'm just wondering how all of this came together.

Speaker A: Yeah, it was, it's a wild journey. I mean, kind of bouncing up and down north, south, north, south. But it's, it's, uh, it's been an incredible journey. It started off really as just, I bartended in Savannah, Georgia where I went to school. I just kind of got this love and passion for hospitality When I moved to New York City, it was right around 2005, 2006, when the kind of boom was happening. You know, Sasha opened up milk and milk and honey and all this stuff was happening in that time. And I got a job at John George's restaurant, Spice Market. And it was a restaurant. Obviously there weren't as many craft cocktail bars around, but it was this, you know, new boom of the craft cocktail world and restaurants were getting in on it and I just sort of caught the bug, I guess you would say, uh, and loved it and you know, had a lot of friends in the industry who were working as bartenders at that time with me and now are, you know, the mover and shakers of the industry nowadays. So it's great to see those people who really put all that effort in back in those days now become the people who are representing our industry globally, which is pretty incredible. But yeah. And then when we moved down here, I actually was a teacher and my buddy opened up a distribution business and he was looking for someone to help him grow the business. He was a wine guy and was the spirit guy and we just kind of started growing that business. And he knew I always wanted to open my own bar. And when the time came for us to do a little expansion on our store, we were like, let's do this. Let's, let's, let's put a bar, you know, let's make it happen and huh. Then we'll have a little kind of like uh, all your vices in one place. You have your coffee, you have your cocktails, and then you can walk through this little hidden door and there's a, there's a liquor store over there too. So it was a pretty easy decision. But at the time we didn't. There were no craft cocktail bars in the Bahamas. So we were the very first one to ever take that, that step. And it's a bit of scary time. Not gonna, not gonna lie. Obviously I might be showing my age here, but it's very much a field of dreams moment. You know, if you build it, they will come. Uh, and uh, luckily that was the case. And you know, ever since then I had those 2019, we haven't really looked back and things have just been snowballing. Uh,

Speaker B: so you say you always wanted your own bar. Did you want a bar like you started a bartender? You're like, you know what? I, I want to do this. Or did the like the vision for your bar come later? Or was it really like, I like bartending, I want a bar you know,

Speaker A: everybody has that sort of dream, I think, like if you're in the hospitality world, like, I want to do this, I want to do that. Actually I used to want a restaurant because I used to watch Food Network non stop when I was in college. Like I, I was obsessed with Bobby Flay and, and all these people and, and I was like, yeah, I could do this. And then you get in the hospitality industry and you're like, yeah, I couldn't do this. It's one thing to be a bartender on that side of the thing and then to own something which is like, oh man, I, I don't know. But when we moved down here in New York, I wanted to do it, but it just, just seemed like such a lofty dream to be honest. The finances, the uh, whatever, this and that. And then, you know, knowing that we're going to start a family, not too long, it was just a bit, probably a distant dream. And when Widow, my business partner said, you know, look here, we're about to open the store, what about if we, you know, work this out and try to get it going? I'm like, you know, this is a now or never thing. And it was uh, a, it was a one time thing. It was a, if this doesn't work, I'm not doing anything else with it. Like, let's give it one go. And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. And luckily it worked really well. And you know, ever since then we, we've opened four bars. We have a hospitality industry with Old Pal Hospitality which now does consulting and events and all over the Bahamas. And believe it or not, we're about to open a restaurant in the next year. So I guess that dream was visualized here. But I know it's going to be an even harder journey but it's going to be, you know, a strong focus on, on great agave cocktails while having really strong food element.

Speaker B: The agave is interesting and it leads me to probably the most technical question I'm going to ask you. Bon Vivants, as you said, is part of Old Town Hospitality Group and you're also senior VP of uh, Young's Fine Wine. And I'm curious if having formed a hospitality group and being involved with the distribution company and then also undertaking initiatives like Caribbean Cocktail Tour for our uh, listeners who are outside the Bahamas, uh, there are logistics in play here to get any equipment and spirits and wines when it's an island that you're, that you're sending things to, any listeners, you know, who've opened a bar in or restaurant in Puerto Rico. Know this very well. Like the logistics are involved. Costs can go up. But has the group and you know, the distribution and be able to market things like the, the cocktail tour. Has that helped with the logistics for like getting consistent flow of like premium and super premium spirits and wines.

Speaker A: Yeah, I. So when we first started Young's Fine Wine, my business partner Will is William Young. He, you know, had the vision of making it a wine company. And like I said, my expertise was, was liquor. So when I first moved to the Bahamas, there was really no, I want, I don't want to say high end spirits. There was high end spirits, but it was your basic run of the mill. It wasn't craft spirits. Right. So we knew that there was a hole in the market to be filled there. And my first, the first brands I brought in were Michter's Plantation Tequila, Ocho Scrappies, Ford's Gin. Like, we brought in the brands that were craft brands but like, you know, well, not, I wouldn't say established. Oh, and Tipsmith Gin actually as well. Not established, but brands that were well respected within our, our hospitality life. And again, it was another risk. It was, it was. We're bringing in brands that, that were new to the Bahamas. We're in a country that's so driven by Bacardi and, you know, Grey Goose and all these brands that just have marketed the hell out of this place. It was hard to, to, to introduce a brand and be successful with it. But the idea was it was like guerrilla marketing. Like you get out there on your feet and you know, I was the one speaking about it, who had a passion about it. You know, I have a very passionate relationship with Michters. Um, I'm from the area where it began and you know, I was close with the Plantation crew as they were, you know, building the brand with Guillaume and, and everybody at the time. So, you know, being able to speak passionately and knowledgeably was really important for what we did with Youngs. But then as we grew that company, yes, that opened up doors for us to be able to bring in special bottles and special things for our bars. So Young started in 201011 and then BOM event was 2019. So we were able to build a lot of great relationships, bring in a lot of great brands. But then we were able to bring in like for our bar, which has over 400 bottles, about half of them were from the States because I had to build those relationships to bring in. And like you said, with the, the duties and the tariffs and all that stuff. We don't have Amazon next day, it's like Amazon one week now. So anything we do is a challenge. It's, it's. If you buy something. For instance, we were the first people to have a cold draft machine on, on the island. So now you're not just talking about getting a nice ice machine at the time. You need to find somebody who can service it and. Cause you know those things aren't the most reliable. Uh, you gotta find someone who can service it. You gotta probably buy a backup one, because if that goes down, you're not gonna get something in the next day. You have to have a backup ready to go. So there's another expense. Duty rate for something like that is 45%. So if it's a $10,000 machine, after you get plus shipping, plus duty, you're talking about $18,000 about, for a machine. And we, we got, we got a air conditioning guide trained up to be able to do that machine. So, you know, it's not as easy as it may seem. You know, uh, we had our challenges and we still do. We learned how to deal with them and we kind of, uh. Now my whole motto with my team, and they probably get sick of me saying this, but is always, be, be proactive, not reactive. Especially on this island. It's incredibly important to be proactive because things don't just happen in a snap of the fingers.

Speaker B: It always cracks me up. Like now that I've been in the industry for so long, when, like, you know the old buddy cop movies, I'm gonna retire for me a cop, I'm gonna move to the Bahamas, open a bar. It's like, okay, well, you're gonna pay.

Speaker A: Come on down for everything.

Speaker B: So good luck with that.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, a lot of people, we don't have income tax here, so obviously the government needs to find a way to get their money. And it's through vat, through duty rates, and, and that's understandable. And I get it. But it. When tourists come and they see prices, sometimes they're like, what is this? You know, if they're coming from New York, they're like, okay, it's about, you know, on target. But if they're coming from middle America, they're like, holy hell. Right? So it's just, it's just the sort of price that we have to hand down to the consumer because of what we're paying for bringing in products.

Speaker B: When I say this, there's no offense intended toward Bahamian hospitality But it's not the first place, or at least it wasn't the first place that popped into people's heads. When we're talking about craft cocktails like 10 or 15 years ago, that means that you had to deal with a learning curve. Obviously you kind of had to explain the craft approach and what mixology is. So how did you approach finding the right bar team for bonvants?

Speaker A: So that's, that's a great question and it's one that we get asked the most to be quite honest. And it was a non negotiable for me. The way that this was done was that if we were going to open this and we're going to do it, we're going to do it right the first time, we're not going to open and make it a learning curve as we're going. So what we did was the space was ready and I trained them for three months on everything, I mean down to what is the main, you know, what is a juniper berry and you know, all that kind of. So, so it's very knowledgeable and you know, we had to start from is this drink shaken or stirred? Because if you think about it, like I said, there was no craft cocktail bars before Bon Vivant. So we didn't have a pool of bartenders that were e that were ready to come and just start working. We had to train everybody from scratch. I mean, yes, they were working at mega resorts and they were working at local bars but nobody was stirring drinks, I'll tell you that much. Let alone knowing what things were, you know, training people on, what mezcal is training people on, you know, and all the little things that you maybe take for granted in places where you have a large pool of people to choose from. We didn't have that and it was all starting from scratch. And now we've sort of built this well oiled machine where we have these great, this team that has stayed with us through the years and we don't have a lot of turnover which is great because if you want to be in this industry, craft bartending, they usually come to us for that. So if you have a passion, we've kind of established ourself as the place where, you know, on island, you know, that's where you're looking to grow. So that, that, that has helped a lot and that's why the training was really important for us. Well, we have an incredible leadership team through old pal hospitality where now they're, they're training that the staff, the next staff and we've Created this sort of beautiful, you know, something from scratch that wasn't here before that. Now there is this want and desire for craft cocktail bars, not only on their own, but the mega resorts. We saw the shift in the mega resorts of like, oh, we, we want a craft cocktail program. And that's allowed us, through old pal hospitality to go and, you know, create programs for these bars and train staff. And it's given us a whole new route and sort of new business model for us to even have through that venue as well. So, yes, it was, it was a challenge. And it was three months that was, I mean, it was military kind of style, to be quite honest. We use real product. Every single time we stirred, we used real product. There was, we, you can call it wasteful. But to be honest, I wanted them to experience dilution and I wanted them to see what a drink looked like, not just using water, how things work. And it was really important for us. And in the end, thank God it worked out because it would have been a very costly training exercise, but it was well worth it.

Speaker B: But that is smart. I mean, do this long enough and you will notice, like, surface tension is different when the, the cocktail is made. So, yeah, people do need to learn their craft and they need to know this color's about right, like for this strike or this is. Yeah, this, this temperature, viscosity. Yeah, everything.

Speaker A: Viscosity, dilution, color. I mean, all, all those things are little nuances that you kind of take for granted if you know, and you've been doing it for a while. But when you're working with a team that this is their first go round of cool cocktails, then you need to be the person that's. That's teaching it.

Speaker B: So, So I assume that, I mean, it sounds like you're very systemized, so I assume that you have an onboarding program and, you know, you've got, I'm guessing, almost like modules for your, for your training. But I mean, I think it's 48 cocktail recipes on the menu, so that is, you know, not light work for a new team. You said three months, but I mean, was anybody intimidated when you started the training?

Speaker A: And like, I, yeah, everybody. And I was too systematic is a nice way to say ocd, because that's exactly what I am. And which is. Which is probably the best thing for us. But so we created this kind of like paint by number system. And I was, let's, let's be honest, I was over. I don't know what the word is. Eager or over whatever to Put that many. I shouldn't have put that many cocktails on a brand new menu. And if I'm being honest, I cut a lot out. I was just so eager to bring the Bahamas something that it didn't have that I wanted it to have everything. And I, uh, shouldn't have done that. But to be honest, it worked out. And you know, I, I see the trends and I know people really prefer small menus sometimes and, and I get it, but it was just we, we wanted to do this the way we, we did it, you know, and I understand why, why people concentrate on those 12 drinks and whatever. And uh, it was just we weren't that place. We wanted to bring as much as we could to Bon Vivant right from the jump. But what we created was this paint fine number kind of system through batching. And I wish I had a bottle with me here to show you, but I don't. But it's. So we do the batch bottles. We use all Ford's gin bottles. Cause obviously they're, they're perfect. You know, you're one liter and can label it and all that kind of stuff. But we use empty forged gin bottles. And what we do is I created a label for all of our cocktails and all of our cocktails, all the batching that goes into it. So if anything can kind of go off, we don't put it in there. Obviously, any fruit juices, any sweeteners, and even down to vermouth, we don't put any vermouth in it. So if it's only spirits, that's what goes into it. I created a label for it that has the recipe sort of for filling up, for topping up. And then I would put an associated image on the thing. So I do a lot of. When I name cocktails, a lot has to do with music. And Stevie Wonder is one of my favorite musicians. And so like, for instance, one of the drinks is labeled, uh, with a picture Stevie Wonder. So when you look down at the, at the bottle, you know that, okay, that's my drink, that's my boogie on Reggae Woman. And at the top I have a little number, and that's the ounces. So in the beginning, it was for them to literally just pick up the bottle. Someone ordered a boogie on Reggae Woman. I know I needed 2 ounces. Boom, 2 ounces. Now they need to memorize the sweeteners and the fruit juices. So it was a, it was a, it was like a. For in the beginning for us to have that kind of like easy step by step kind of thing as they were still learning and whatever. But it just kind of stayed and works because yes, everybody knows the cocktails, they don't need that kind of stuff anymore. But it's nice to, in a busy Friday to just look down, oh, there's Stevie Wonder. Boom. And I'm got it. You know, so we kept it and we as you said, with 40 some cocktails we had to find a way to make it easier whether whether it was some cheap bottles or whether it was through batching. And the batching part worked for us.

Speaker B: So I know that during the day Bon Vivant operates as a cafe and uh, there are coffee based cocktails available as well. But just as far as logistics, I mean are members of the bar team also train as baristas? Are the, the team separate?

Speaker A: So yes, there are separate teams as far as bar and cafe, but we do take the time to train each in, in both. So the, the, the day team can make every single cocktail that's on the menu and the night team can make all, all the cafes. So yes, it's, it's a lot of work and a lot of training but again, we think it's important to do it the right way. And it's, it was just one of those non negotiables. Like I said. I want, I want the menu to be the same all day, uh, all day long. So that's something that you can always have like if you want to, if you want a uh, car he in the morning or the nighttime, you can have it both times.

Speaker B: You know, it just sounds like the place probably smells awesome and just sounds awesome. I just like how a bar sounds when things are going right. But also like a coffee shop has their sounds and yeah, you kind of know when things are going right because you can hear it. So that's just, it must just sound awesome at uh, Bon Devant.

Speaker A: But also it's a beautiful sound.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: Yeah, you have your coffee grinder going, you have your coffee machine going in the daytime, but then you get your shakers going, you know, like it's, it's. Yeah, you're right about that. I appreciate that. But the uh, and we, we literally every bar we've opened since has had that model, that sort of cafe cocktail hybrid. It just, I don't know, like I said, it plays to everybody's vices. Everybody likes to have a coffee in the morning and a cocktail at night or hey, either, or whatever you want to do. But it just kind of worked for us. And I love the idea of being able to go to the same place in the morning and nighttime and having a different vibe and a different, uh, feeling in the same space.

Speaker B: And the space and the menu are beautiful. I mean, obviously I looked them up. The website, even the menu is, like I said, it's beautiful. And the, uh, cocktail descriptions are interesting. One really stood out to me, the. The El Chapo description. I mean, you flung for the fences there. It's bold as edgy. I. I think that one, that's the first one I'd order. I'm like, you know what?

Speaker A: That's.

Speaker B: But how did you decide on, uh, the bon vivant aesthetic? And what story do you want it to tell the guests and the team?

Speaker A: So the aesthetic. It's funny because when I was a kid growing up, I was much more of a minimalist. And now when I opened this bar, it was as maximalist as possible. I don't know if you saw the wallpaper and all the crazy stuff going on, but, you know, when it came to aesthetic, what I wanted to do was kind of tell the story of the Bahamas and a dedication to the people who made the Bahamas what it is today. So when you look on the walls, there's old record labels of all Bahamian artists. There's newspaper clippings of when the Bahamas became independent. There's just the people who make Sidney Poitier images and old antiques and stuff like that, but blend it with a modern and sort of throwback aesthetic. And just like I said, um, a place to celebrate Bahamians was what we were really aiming for. And in a way that you felt like you were leaving Nassau a little bit, and then when. But you were still obviously celebrating holidays, but you were leaving Nassau a bit. And then when you left the bar, you were back into. Not that it's so bad to be in Nassau, don't get me wrong, but the m. Moment you stepped outside, you're like, oh, yeah, I'm at the beach again. So it was kind of like a way to escape Nassau but still be there.

Speaker B: Hi, there.

Speaker A: Just a quick message before we get you back to this episode. If you're looking to take your bar, restaurant, or hospitality business to the next level, I mean, to profits of 12 to 15% or more, it's time to take action. Let's start creating your roadmap to success, uh, with our proprietary strategies, tools, resources that will inspire your team, activate your potential, and lead your hospitality brand to margins you never thought possible. Visit krghospitality.com right after this episode for more Information. Now back to the Bar Hacks podcast.

Speaker B: And I think people, I think it's fair to say there. There are certain preconceived notions of what they're supposed to drink in the Bahamas. And, you know, this is true, I'm basically saying, of tourists. And I think we can agree it's, you know, tiki drinks and fruity drinks and hurricane glasses and if they really go for it, umbrellas and, like, colorful straws. But what has it been like to challenge that perception? Not just in, you know, the aesthetic, but also you're not just making fruity drinks or just the standard tiki drinks. I'm sure there was a learning curve or something.

Speaker A: So there was. And again, it was another build it, they will come moment. We, uh, have the drinks, like, we have a tiki section on the menu for you if you cannot, if you. If it's not for you. Right. So we wanted to make sure that we weren't ostracizing a group of people who. This is how I drink. But for us, it was really important to bring balanced cocktails of Bahamas. And even if you went to a place where you thought it was a good bar and you ordered an Old Fashioned, you were getting fruit salad with a lot of sugar in it, or you ordered a Negroni, you were definitely getting a sweet vermouth that's been sitting on a shelf baking for two years. You know, it. We wanted to make sure that it wasn't just overly sweet drinks everywhere. So balance was a big thing for us. And again, with the build it, they will come moment, we were like, okay, is this gonna work? We don't know. And it did. And. And, you know, now we celebrate you. You really weren't ordering Negronis anywhere on this island, but now we celebrate Negroni week, and it's a big week. Big week for us. We do, you know, one of our biggest sellers, our. I'm a Sazerac guy. So we sell a ton of Sazeracs now, which wasn't even a drink you could order on the island 10 years ago. So, you know, yeah, it was. It was one of those moments again where we were like, okay, we. We just have to take the jump and hope people see it and feel it. And now you're seeing a lot more balanced order menus throughout the Bahamas too, not just in Bonvant, but you're seeing people put on the drinks on the menu that are obviously well balanced and not just, you know, cocktail creation. And don't get me wrong, I'm a pina colada guy, there is a time and a place for a frozen drink with an umbrella and a lot of times there are. But if you live in the Bahamas, you don't want it all the time.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: As a visitor and you come, yeah. You want to put your feet in the toes and have a banana daiquiri, you deserve that. But if you want to come and have a little bit more of a gastronomic experience and, and have craft cocktails, well, now we have that for you. Wow. We're able to provide that for you in addition to your, to your, uh, frozen drinks.

Speaker B: It's funny because I just, I've never really been a frozen drink guy, but then, um, I found the penichillin, which is just the version of penicillin, and I cannot get enough of those. So like, that's, I'm on vacation and I can find one, which is not easy to do. But, but I get what you're saying. I mean, and there's nothing wrong with the tourists thinking, yeah, I want a hurricane, or, you know, I, I want a dark and stormy. That's not what I'm saying. But like, yeah, you are introducing something that at the time was a foreign concept and you're succeeding with it. Yeah. And it's not just for tourists. There's also locals. So you've also had to educate craft cocktails there. So this was a big undertaking.

Speaker A: So it was, it was. And, and you know, when I see other places that like, I, I, I don't want to say I'm jealous because that's the wrong way to say it, but you have a lot of these islands who, who are able to bring in expats and, and you know, as part of their sort of building of a bar, even just be bartenders or, or whatever it is. You know, in the Bahamas, we, you can't get those kind of work permits. They, they either have to be a sort of managerial position or higher position to even be a, uh, approved. So that's why it was super important to again, take the time to, to invest in Bahamians because you're not going to be able to bring in somebody who's had experience of 10 years in hospitality industry in New York City just to be a bartender. We have to make that here in the Bahamas and we have to produce that. So that's why all the sort of effort into the training was very important because that's what we were up against.

Speaker B: You mentioned Negroni week, but at the start of this year you helped develop and launch the first ever Caribbean Cocktail Tour. And you partnered with two heavy hitters. You got Library by the Sea, and that's from Grand Cayman. And then you got lafateria from Old San Juan. So I'm just curious why you chose those two for your first partners.

Speaker A: Well, I mean, I think obvious reason is they're two of the best bars in the Caribbean. But the other reason is Jim Wrigley is a good friend of mine who, who runs Library by the Sea. Roberto's a friend, a good friend from La Factoria. And then my buddy Wayne Epel, he was also one of the people who helped create this as well. So it was the four of us that created this event. And when I went to. To, I. I would judge for tales. I went to. To Cayman one year. This is probably four years ago now, five maybe. And I sat at Library by the Scene. I was like, God, uh, this. This is wonderful. This is great. Like, I love this. Like, they just opened, it was their first year. And I was like, this is beautiful. I would love to push the Caribbean forward. How do we do this? And I sat there with Wayne and Jim and like, guys, let's do something. Let's, let's.

Speaker B: Why.

Speaker A: Why are, uh, our islands so separated? And, you know, how do we figure out a way to. To. To bring the focus to us? Because so often if we want to do anything, if we want any exposure, we have to go to places. We have to go to New York, we have to go to Miami, we have to go to London for people to see us. So why, why don't we. We have the pretty place. Why aren't people coming to us? How do we get people to us? Right? So we sat there and, uh, the first idea that was kind of brought up was let's do a Caribbean cocktail week where each year we go, we pick one island and we all go to that island, and then we have a bunch of bars where we create a week out of it. And then the next year you go to another island, and then the next year another island and whatever. But it kind of evolved where we decided, wait a second, let's just stretch this out over a month. And we can each weekend go to a different island. So what we. What we kind of came up with was we started in the Bahamas, La Factoria, and Library came to us for the first week. And then the next week we went to Cayman, the two of us. And then the last week we went to Puerto Rico. And again, we didn't know what the response would look like. We knew that it was a Fun thing for all of us to do and to promote each other and the Caribbean. And we got a lot of great partners involved. Diageo was an incredible partner for us because they were, you know, really, what do you want? Let's do this, you know, kind of thing. And it was really kind to them, and we were very happy with them, but we didn't realize what sort of excitement the press had for it, too. We always knew that the Caribbean was going to, at some point, start popping off. It just. I think it just took a little bit of nudge for get people down here, you know, and all of a sudden we had so many great. So much great press out of it, you know, uh, and excitement for next year. Everybody was asking, what are you doing next year? Where are we going? You know, whatever. And it was so cool to see.

Speaker B: And.

Speaker A: And then obviously, when we found out we were on North America, 50 best, all three of us were on the best. We were like, this is amazing, you know. And, uh, we were the only three Caribbean cocktail bars on the list, and we. We were the ones in Caribbean Cocktail Tour. So it really just kind of worked out. And obviously we're really excited for next year. We're looking at maybe adding another island. We haven't decided exactly which one yet. We're thinking maybe Jamaica or Dominican, but we're looking to add another partner. But then the idea is that we keep the three of us bars as the core, and then each year we do a different bar on a different island. So it brings more exposure to the Caribbean in different places. But it. Yeah, we're really excited. Really worked out well.

Speaker B: That's a really cool idea to keep the core and then introduce another island here and there. Uh, I like that idea. So you're in your seventh year of operating Bon Vivant. What would you say are the most valuable lessons you've learned so far as an operator?

Speaker A: Obviously, for us, I mean, it's just putting your customer first. There's so many things that sometimes it will make life easier for us to do things a certain way. I think it translates. It kind of translates to the customer. Experience is when you can tell when someone is thinking about your experience. When you sit in a place, whether that's the menu or the welcome or the service, whatever it is, you can really tell when there's thought and care given to that process. And that was really something that we really focused on. The other thing is that when we opened Bon Vivant, we wanted to be everything to everyone. And I think we realized that that's just not feasible. And we realized that our identity is who we are and who we are to the Bahamas. And we kind of refocused and reshifted our sort of thought process that let's be the very best at the Bahamas can offer. And that means supporting local farms, supporting local businesses. Everything that we could do local. We drive for local help, you know, like. And. And our new menu that we just released a month ago, it's a, uh, dedicated. Dedicated to the Bahamian sort of produce and, and all that kind of stuff. Local teas, local what they call bush medicine. And we brought it into the cocktail world. And we have a whole space in our menu now that's just focused on local ingredients and stuff like that that kind of celebrate the Bahamas.

Speaker B: That's really cool. And I do think it's important and you've touched on it, that, uh, you're paying homage and you're being respectful to Bahamians. You're not, like, cool. I'm going to come over here and I'm going to turn this bar into a, uh, New York City bar or something, and just, I'm going to turn this, like, neighborhood into what I want it to be. It's. It's paying homage. The space, like I said, is beautiful. The maximalist meat, to me, really seems to match what's going on. Like, I just think it's cool. It's very bright. But like you said, like, you're. You're also. Yeah, you're bringing in really cool spirits, but you are respecting the. The cuisine and everything else, the flavors that are already there.

Speaker A: So I, Yeah, I was always, uh, beginning this. I was very cognizant and sensitive to the fact that, look, I'm an expat, you know, this is your country. This is not my country, so to speak. Right. But I married a Bahamian. I have two Bahamian kids, and I'm gonna live my rest of my life in the Bahamas, you know, and. And, uh, sure, I might not have a past Bahamian passport, but it's my home and it's. It's where I love and it's where I'm going to be the rest of my life. And it was really important to me to be sensitive to the fact that, you know, I need to make this a place where it's not for expats, it's for Bahamians. And that's really what we sort of zoned in on and made it a safe place for everybody, no matter what walk of life you come from. The idea was that Whether you were someone who comes as a regular every night, has money, or you were someone who saved up just to bring your date, you know, one time for the, for a month, you would get the same guest experience. And that was really important for us to make sure that everybody had that sort of great experience. No matter who you were, what walk of life you came from, love that.

Speaker B: So, switching gears a bit, what are the top sellers on the uh, Bonvavant menu?

Speaker A: So we, well, the new menu is doing great. The local stuff, I think people are really excited about that. But our sort of core drinks we've had for a long time that are kind of, so to speak, modern classics of the Bahamas, I guess you could say, not, not, not of the world. But we have a drink called a Zephyr. It's kind of like a take on the Spanish gin and tonic. People love it. We call it the Sizzling Fajita because when it comes out there's, it's, there's a piece of rosemary that's burned on it and everybody's like, oh, what's that? We have the clean slate. Which is ironic because I cannot stand cucumber drinks. And when we opened I refused to put a cucumber drink on it. And then when I got over myself, I was like, I need to put a cucumber drink on. And it became our number one seller. And that was like ah, after year two. And that's an, a fun one with agave and cucumber kettle one. It's really refreshing and even for someone who doesn't like cucumber, it is quite good. And then the El Chapo, which ah, is our kind of rum, old fashioned, we do it with a coconut uh, water ice ball and it has coconut cartel rum, which is an incredible rum out of Miami. They, they, they dilute their, their rum with Guatemalan rum with coconut water instead of regular water. So it's, it's incredible. And then we have little Chenova passion fruit caviar that we serve with it as well. So it's a fun little experience. And like you said on our menu, we like to tell a little story, maybe make you laugh a little bit in what we do and just try to, try to make sure that everything is approachable. It's not, doesn't feel stuffy or it doesn't feel like we're trying to be too much. Like it's, we're having fun with it. Like even if we do some crazy clarification, it's still a fun thing to do. It's not to be sort of this upper echelon cocktail bar. It's just, we're just trying to have fun.

Speaker B: It's, and I've said it before on the podcast, but I, I, I think more operators need to focus on the fun part. M. As far as the guest experience and yeah, it's like everyone's missing the mark on that. It's just I have noticed there are bars where I'm um, like, I don't even think the staff is having fun here. You can see it's a nice bar. Like, it's like, oh, this place looks cool, but it's just like, I don't think fun is even. Yeah, I don't know if it got optimized so hard that it's just not fun. Cause it's not part of the language of this place.

Speaker A: Yeah, execution is more important to them than.

Speaker B: Yeah, I'm sorry, but even the nerdiest guest out there who is watching your every build and knows what you're doing, wants to have fun.

Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker B: So what is your outlook for 2026? Whether you know, you're noticing in you know, guest expectations or cocktail trends or you know, challenges, just anything.

Speaker A: I, I think there's still a very strong agave movement at the moment. To be honest. I think agave is still a, ah, big thing. It, it, it's taken a little while to hit the Bahamas. We've been trying to push it. Mezcal is still something that is, believe it or not, hasn't hit us too hard yet. Obviously in states it was much bigger. I think savory cocktails are going to see a big bump in savory cocktails. Getting the, I see a lot of bars getting their kitchen involved in, in whether it's garnishes or, or preps. A prep on, on items. And I think something that I enjoy is low ABV cocktails. I, you know, I, I'm not a big drinker. I like a nice Campari soda. But you know, finding ways to, to just enjoy like a drink before dinner or one after dinner, whatever, without trying to get drunk, so to speak. I think, I think you're gonna see a lot more low ABV stuff.

Speaker B: How does like the uh, no ABV thing perform in the Bahamas?

Speaker A: Yeah, we get, I mean we have a whole mocktail list. I'll try not to be too, too whatever about the, the no ABV thing, but I just, I'm not a big fan of non alcoholic spirits. I think it's a bit of a scam if you ask Me, I think you can make an incredible mocktail without a spirit that costs you the same that it costs, you know, for a regular spirit. I get it. There's. There's some decent ones out there. And I'm not trying to put down the whole category, um, of, um, no abv. Spirit spirits. But I think, you know, there are incredible mocktails being made by people that you don't have to use a non alcoholic spirit.

Speaker B: And I'm really curious about Mezcal. Is it just because it's not commonplace, or are the flavor profiles of some of them just a little too. We're.

Speaker A: We're always a bit behind on the trends. You know, when you think about, you know, where we are and stuff like that, it's. I think all the islands tend, uh, to be a little bit like a month or two behind when it comes to that kind of stuff. It takes a moment to evolve. But for some reason, Mezcal never really made it here. I think, you know, Mezcal is. Has that strong smoke. So I don't know if it's just such a, I don't know, polarizing ingredient for this area. I don't know. But, you know, we're not big in smoky scotches either around here. Ah, I don't know. Uh, it's an interesting, uh, thing to do a little research on. But, you know, agave is, Is definitely here. It's just not the Mezcal side of it.

Speaker B: Gotcha. And it's funny because Mezcal is so divisive everywhere, because I've gone to tastings where because a Mezcal wasn't smoky, then people like, oh, this Mezcal is like broken or something wrong. It's like, no, they're uh, not all like, like smoke bombs. This one just happens to people then. But then those same people go, this one's too smoky. It's like, I don't know how to make you happy because it has to be crazy smoky or it can't have any, or you think something's wrong with it. So. Yeah, even exactly one category gets divisive.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Tequila's going great. And, and with our, like I said, with our new venue, with it being agave forward, we know that we kind of have the responsibility that we've realized of introducing the island to certain trends. And that's kind of what we're looking at for this new spot is. Is to push not only, you know, obviously you have a, uh, lot of people here know their brands that they know, but, you know, you got your Don Filano, you got the G4 Casqueen, you know, Fortaleza, all that kind of stuff that we're just slowly introducing. And people are like, oh, this is what good tequila tastes like. So, uh, we're seeing that kind of uptick in, in people being more knowledgeable about what kind of agave they're ordering, not just agave.

Speaker B: So before we go, are you allowed to talk about the new concept at all? Like what people can expect you want to keep under wraps just because it's more fun to keep it under wraps?

Speaker A: No, I think, I think we are. Like I said, I think just saying agave probably gives away a little bit where we're going, the direction we're headed. Right. But you know, we lack a bit of Mexican flair in this country when it comes to cuisine. And we're looking to really hone in on the authenticity of Mexican cuisine. Not just your Tex Mex or your Chipotle style or anything like that. You know, we're really looking to hone in on the authenticity of it. I have a great friend who is part of World 50 Best as well, who is right. Literally wrote books on tacos and working with him and he lives in Mexico City and working with him and getting ideas and stuff and like I said, just, just really trying to bring something. We're trying to find gaps in the market. We've realized that, that people want it now, these gaps in the market. So this is just another one of those things where we're like, okay, here we are. Let's, let's, let's build it and hope they come kind of thing and we'll see.

Speaker B: Love it. Uh, so I'll put them in the description, but do you want to throw out, you know, how people can connect with you on Instagram or your profiles and any websites that you want to promote?

Speaker A: Absolutely. And if I'm always open, send me a message on Instagram. Mr. Sazrak. And then we also have obviously bon vivants Bahamas on Instagram. The Dilly Club, which is Dilly Club. It's just at the Dilly Club, we just opened a brand new place in as a collaboration with Bahamar Resort here. It's called Horse to Water. Beautiful kind of speakeasy. Ish. High end craft cocktail bar that is in incredible space overlooking the ocean. And it's, it's absolutely beautiful what they did with the space. But we went into collaboration with them and then old pal hospitality. We're, we're working here. If anybody's looking to do anything in the Bahamas, we're here for you.

Speaker B: I love it. Kyle, thank you so much for your time. This was awesome. Uh, I'm gonna have to come and visit.

Speaker A: Please do. Thank you, David. I appreciate it, man.

Speaker B: Thank you for listening to the Bar Hacks podcast, produced by KRG Hospitality and hosted by me, David Kwem. If you like what you're hearing, please rate, review, subscribe and share. Follow us on Twitter at Ask Barhacks and Instagram at Barhacks. Talk to you soon.