A few years ago my friend Rita was raving to me about Bar Raval, a new bar in downtown Toronto, and took me there one night. She said the interior was this unreal Antoni Gaudí-inspired pattern of curved mahogany which I had to see to believe.
So we get there and I go up to the bar and come face to face with this bartender completely covered in tattoos and say, “Can I grab a drink?” And he shoots back, “What do you want?” And I say, “Well, what do you have?” and he says “No, what do you want?” And I say “Well, I don’t want anything sweet.” And he does this sort of slow swivel to look back at the huge display of glass jars full of colorful tinctures behind him and then stares back and me and says, “Does it look like a fucking sweet place to you?” I was taken aback. But he kept challenging me to say what I wanted, what I felt like, what I was going for … and so finally … I did. I exploded in this giant passionate diatribe about how I wanted to feel optimistic and refreshed and nostalgic … and then he gets to work. He begins smashing ice cubes, picking glasses from fridges, shaving limes, adding drops of who knows what to my glass and then finally puts down in front of me a bubbling neon green concoction like I’d never seen.
And you know what?
The drink was optimistic… and refreshing … and nostalgic. It was like a magic trick! I couldn’t believe it.
Over the years I got to know and fall in love with this fiery, passionate bartender named Robin Goodfellow. Turns out he owned the place together with some partners. As well as other bars including PrettyUgly and Harry’s.
In 2018, Bar Raval was ranked #1 of Canada’s top bars and PrettyUgly was ranked #8. Also, Bar Raval is currently ranked #70 best bar in the world.
Robin has been bartending for sixteen years and spent eight years studying social theory.
Robin and I go deep into the purpose of a bar, what everyone is looking for in life and how we can find it, what underpins all great service, how to become more mindful eaters, the paradox between authenticity and quality, and why the farm-to-table movement is over.
I hope you enjoy Chapter 27 of 3 Books with my favorite bartender Robin Goodfellow.
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Hey there,
I'm Neil and I spend a ton of time thinking, writing, podcasting, and speaking about living intentionally. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of six books including The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. I've been lucky to speak at places like TED, SXSW, and Google. And I host a huge passion project called the 3 Books podcast.
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Neil
neil@globalhappiness.org
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