World Bartender Day – bartenders in the spotlight
World Bartender Day is celebrated on 24 February. World Bartender Day highlights the significant role of bartenders in creating restaurant experiences and draws attention to the skill and talent found behind bars around the world.
For Greta Grönholm, becoming a bartender goes back to “mother’s milk”, as she continues the tradition of the family business founded by her grandparents at Loimaa Seurahuone. Combining service industries and creativity comes naturally to her anyway, and if Greta weren’t a bartender, she reckons she’d be working as a clothes salesperson or a designer in some field.
Bartending allows you to use your creativity, and Greta sees the sky as the limit when it comes to designing cocktails. Different experiences in the restaurant industry naturally support each other; for example, a kitchen background can bring a lot of richness to combining flavours. There’s also a lot to draw from our wonderful Finnish nature, Greta reminds us.
“We have a lot of really good Finnish products to be proud of. And those ingredients! Not many other countries let you just go and pick lingonberries or blueberries from the forest or find cloudberries.”
Greta’s passion for cocktails has also taken her to competition stages, and she has been crowned, among other things, world champion in cocktails. Greta says she gets so much joy and energy from competing that it doesn’t make her nervous or affect her performance “even if there were a thousand people watching”. She is also a familiar face as the chairperson of the Finnish Bartenders and Supporters Club, FBSK.
You can read more about FBSK in this article.
Bartending is famously much more than just pouring pints. A large part of the skill comes from customer service and good social awareness. The classic order “make me something good” is a chance to read the customer and their vibe, the environment and the whole situation in general. Greta says she’s also a seasonal person, and the seasons are strongly reflected in her cocktails.
Popular classic drinks at Loimaa Seurahuone include gin & tonic, which is enjoyed on both the restaurant and nightclub sides. Spritzes are also popular, and recently guests have been able to taste a glögg version in keeping with the winter season.
Photo: Mika Levälampi
Greta hopes for more appreciation for the talent and skill of bartenders now and in the future. The COVID years hit the restaurant industry hard, as a result of which many experienced professionals left the industry and the industry is hoping for many more young and new employees. The restaurant industry has many sides and it also gives a lot, as for example the opportunities to internationalise and work abroad keep many doors open. The industry is also one big family, as Greta says.
“Once you learn and know the bar business, what’s to stop you from moving to England, for example, and asking if anyone knows anyone. At the end of the day, the world is actually quite small, and in this industry we want to help each other.”