An interview with Kelsey Ramage

Discard: Kelsey! Has it always been your goal to own your own bar? Did you have a career plan in your mind, or did it happen organically?

K: It has always been a goal, since before I came to London actually. I was speaking with my Mom yesterday actually and she mentioned ‘remember when you wanted to open that coffee shop?’ (I did not remember). The bars I’ve wanted to open have changed and adapted over the years but I’ve always wanted to open something.

D: You’ve spoken previously about the challenges of opening a disco bar in Toronto’s financial district - how did you adjust?

K: We didn’t completely rebrand, but we just realised a few things about the area that people expect and to be honest, were things that we didn’t think of at first.

Firstly - The after-work rush comes right at 5pm and people are HUNGRY. So we expanded our food menu, sunk at lot of time and effort into getting the food right, which means people stick around for a few more drinks. It was easilly done and I was really stoked on the new food menu. We got Silo’s Blair Hammond to come out from London (he’s from Toronto originally) to do the new menu for us, very happy we did so! 

Next - It was time to flip the cocktail menu anyway, so we did this simultaneously with the food menu, both of which breathed new life into the space and the staff (although it was an intense week for everyone ha!) and garnered us a little media attention as well. We did the cocktail menu Dandelyan style, staff members all worked on a different aspect of the drink and it really brought the team together and gave us all a bit more energy to bring to each shift.

From there, it was just a matter of getting a few of the tables moved around and booking DJs on the weekends. The financial district is a weird place on Saturdays, and Supernova is a massive space so it’s really necessary to have programming on the weekends to make sure the energy is right. 

D: We know diversity and representation is important to you, how did you put this into practise when hiring your team? 

K: We have a pretty small team. The two bartenders I hired for the opening just happened to be perfect timing for us - they’re younger, more junior bartenders and both women, which was awesome. There are a lot of female bartenders here in Toronto, but when I put an ad up looking for more staff I definitely saw that women are underrepresented. I made a very conscious effort in the beginning not to hire men, as we had a lot of applicants come through with a good deal of experience. I specifically wanted to hire women and LGBTQ folk as a majority so hiring Madi and Lauren was a conscious (and easy!) decision. Fortunately, I have not had to hire anyone I didn’t already know, timing has just worked out and in December we had Graham join the team as well. There are for sure not enough POC represented in cocktail bars here, I haven’t begun to tackle why that is, but it’s for sure an issue and hopefully something that, at the end of the closures, we can be a part of changing. 

D: A lot of what you do is FUN, which is oft neglected, do you think this is an important part of what you do? 

K: OMG YES - I’m so sick of quiet boring cocktail bars. When I go out for drinks I want music, energy, atmosphere and the right people - something delicious to drink is a bonus! I think when I’m coming up with the concept for a bar, it’s musically driven first and everything else seems to fall into place around that. At Supernova we place a lot of time and training not on technique (although that’s part of it) but on how to keep energy up, how to explain things in a way that makes people feel comfortable and welcome, and also how service changes when we’ve got DJs in and are throwing a big party. Man, I can’t wait to throw another rager LOL.

D: What challenges has COVID-19 presented for you at Supernova Ballroom? How are businesses surviving in Canada? 

K: All good, to be honest I am pretty concerned right now. I think the financial district is going to be one of the hardest hit areas as many businesses in that area are banks, Google offices, etc - businesses whose employees can work from home, which is something we’re going to see continue after quarantine has been lifted. We’re going to see a seismic shift in what hospitality looks like after this, and while we have a big capacity (250) which helps when reopening, standards dictate that we can only fill to 50% - there’s just not going to be enough people around to fill that. The Canadian government has been pretty good - bailouts in the form of interest-free debt to small business and we’ve been lucky enough not to be kicked out of our space by our landlords. As I’m writing this though, I’ve heard that three iconic music venues (one had been open 83 years, another for 30) and one cocktail bar in Toronto are not reopening. I’m trying to stay positive but also, realistically it’s not really looking great right now. 

D: How do you and Iain work as a team - do you approach things similarly, or do you bring different things to the table, or a bit of both?

K: LOL - sometimes we’ll be texting each other about a drink and come up with the same ingredients at the same time, but I think that’s because we work with similar flavour profiles for our drinks. Operationally we’re polar opposites, I think I probably am more calculated and pay attention to financials and details, where he is brand driven, hyper creative. There’s overlap both ways but usually when one of us drops the ball somewhere, the other can pick up the slack. We work really well together. Sam Ross actually made a hilarious comparison when speaking about business partnerships - you never want all your partners to be arguing about whether to put sherry, vermouth or white wine in a drink - someone needs to be looking at the books, someone needs to be motivating staff etc. etc. So now whenever we are coming at an issue and arguing about something trivial we call it a sherry vs vermouth situation and one of us just walks away to work on something else. 

D: You’ve travelled a lot with Trash Tiki and with your various projects! Wh cities/countries/markets have impressed or surprised you the most? 

K: I was actually crazy impressed with Sydney, Australia. Obviously with the attention that Melbourne gets internationally I figured it would be the biggest city for drinks but I was impressed with the creativity, use of local ingredients and hospitality in so many of the bars in Sydney - lots of new stuff opening as well so I think it was an exciting time for the city when we were there. 

I also really love Guadalajara, there were loads of new little bars opening up last time I was there and the food and hospitality is obviously amazing. Jesus Hernandez (jr) of Altos Tequila & Abraham Delgado’s new bar Matilde Mi Amor just opened too so am excited to go back after this and check it out. God I hope they’re OK and make it through.

D: What are you most looking forward to doing, once we can all get back to work? 

K: I just want to throw a fucking party, I know this sounds super irresponsible right now but I think we all just need a big fat fucking rainbow glitter disco, man. Lots of hugs and high fives and Champagne popping fucking everywhere. 

D: What advice would you give to a young bartender starting out, and to someone who wants to open their own place? 

Young Bartender - put in the time, do your work, no one else is going to do it for you. Find a mentor! Best possible thing I could have done is seek out and surround myself with people that inspire me that I can learn from. But, this needs to be paired with your own research, learning and knowing that you’re never ‘done’ with all that shit. Opening a Bar - I think everyone knows it’s hard work haha, long hours, etc. etc. it’s also hella stressful - it might fail, I constantly worry about money LOL. Work and life have just become one in the same. I wouldn’t have it any other way though. I fucking love my work, I love my staff and the community that Supernova has shown me exists here in Toronto. Also, surround yourself with people - staff, partners etc that are as motivated as you are, feeding off people’s energy will get you through the rough days for sure. I couldn’t have done it without the staff and folks I surrounded myself with.

D: What does success look like to you?

K: Happiness, financial freedom, and a sense of community that your platform brings together.

D: Desert Island Drink?

K: Three Dots and a Dash...

D: Three things on your rider? 

K: Man, I’m not that cool… Miller High Life and a prep space and I’m good.