Bars are humanity’s best hope.

No, seriously. Look at the rest of the world. The people in the street all have their heads in their phones. The people in coffee shops are all pounding away on their laptops or, if they are speaking with someone, it’s almost certainly someone they already know.

And don’t even get us started about social media.

But go into a bar…and you hear LIFE. There is laughter. And tears. And jokes being told and bullshit being called. You see couples testing the waters on first dates while, two seats over, folks celebrate their fiftieth anniversary with age spots and laugh lines. Toasts are raised to the newly arrived and the dearly departed.

Through good times and bad, bars tell us that we’re not alone – even when we’re alone. In the right bar, there’s no such thing as a stranger. We see it all the time: people who’ve never met and know nothing of each other will buy one another a drink in the bon homie of a bar. Imagine being anywhere else – a clothing store, for example – and striking up a conversation with a stranger that leads to one of you buying the other a shirt. Never gonna happen.

But it happens in bars around the world, countless times, every night.

We need more of that generosity in our lives. That humility and willingness to see and hear the people around us. Not just the ones we know (and know we love) but the strangers, too – the ones we don’t know, yet. It’s hearing their stories that reminds us we’re not so different, after all.

This is what the Workbench is all about. Exceptional cocktails and bartending that are just the beginning of the experience. We hope you’ll join us.

Actor. Writer. Photographer. University prof. Magazine editor. Barman.

…I’ve worn a few hats in life.

By the numbers, I’m the youngest of seven and the oldest of five. I’ve lived and/or worked in seven cities in five countries and on three continents. I come from the 412, live in the 206, and am a citizen of both the 1 and the 353. My favourite number of wheels is 2.

I started bartending in 2016 (I’d already been drinking for some time before then…) and found that life “behind the stick” seemed to bring together everything that mattered most to me: creativity, hospitality, conversation, storytelling, and the simple joy of living in the moment. By 2019, I was named one of Bacardi’s top 8 bartenders in the country, one of Marriott’s top 12 bartenders in the Americas, and one of the 5 favorite bartenders in Seattle – in a hotel bar where most of our guests are from somewhere else.

It all goes back to what I most love about bartending. I meet every walk of life. Business people. Holiday makers. Wedding guests. Conference attendees for every kind of gathering imaginable – the scientists and the sleuths and the sports fans from around the country and around the world. And, yes, even a local or two.

And I’ve never not had something to talk about with any of them.

So let’s catch up. In person, if you’re around. Or just follow along here and drop us a line any time you like. I’m always game for a good story.