“Is Kenrico lying to you again?” Robert Swain joked from behind the bar at Myett’s Chill Zone on Friday as he served shots of the Robbie Special, a drink he invented.
Kenrico Wheatley was among dozens of customers at the Tortola Pier Park bar, which Mr. Swain manages.
Nearby, Aromas Cigar and Martini Bar and Tropix Bar also kept their doors open, fostering a laid-back ocean-side nightlife scene that has developed in the Pier Park since it opened.
Preparing
For Mr. Swain, the day started well before the rush set in: He showed up at around 4 p.m. to prepare and organise the three bartenders on his staff.
“Actually, prepping for a Friday night begins from the night before: You have to make sure you have all the popular drinks,” Mr. Swain said at around 5 p.m. when there were only about five customers. “You make a list of everything you need [a night ahead]. Make sure all your bartenders are going to be at work, because they might call in sick at the last minute.”
As Mr. Swain checked his supplies, he simultaneously mixed drinks for customers.
“I sell about 80 to 90 Robbie Specials every Friday night,” the bartender said as he mixed another. “The Robbie Special came up because I was bored one day and there were some females by the bar. I was trying to come up with a drink that had aphrodisiac effects, so I thought of Hennessey.”
The top-shelf cognac is the main ingredient, but Mr. Swain declined to name the others.
After serving guests at the bar, he left to interact with others seated along the boardwalk. Among them was Dave Smith, who is often one of the first customers to show up on Fridays.
“Robbie is a cool dude, period — not only a good bartender,” Mr. Smith said. “Once you order a drink for the night, he remembers what you’re drinking. Memory is a big thing for a bartender. He has to be friendly — he could talk [nonsense] when necessary.”
But talking is not enough, Mr. Swain explained: A bartender also has to learn to keep conversations private.
“Conversations here get very wild,” said the father of one. “You have conversations about threesomes. I’ve given out a lot of advice, period. Whether it’s relationships, investments and other decisions that have to do with life — personal life especially.”
For Mr. Wheatley, who often frequents the bar on Fridays, the atmosphere has to be relaxed.
“I like a natural interaction: I don’t like it to be forced, and I think there are bartenders here that offer that natural conversation,” Mr. Wheatley said. “Robbie knows my drink, although I switch it up at times.”
The Robbie Special is one of his favourites.
“It is more on the sweet side, which appeals to more ladies, but I like it,” he said.
Bustle
By 7 p.m., the bar was mostly filled, and several customers hung out on the sofa chairs on the deck by the seaside.
Since the business opened early this year, a typical day has been very busy, but the crowds have declined a bit in recent months, Mr. Swain said over music played by DJ Kuga.
“The music is very important,” he added. “So even if the people aren’t dancing, as long as they are grooving, that’s all we care about.”
Another bartender, Jawaan Riley, appeared to be enjoying the tunes as well: For most of the night, he danced and gyrated as he served cocktails to guests.
“Music is really nice when you’re working because it calms your nerves,” Mr. Riley said as he left the bar and headed towards the kitchen. “Sometimes you get customers that are unhappy, and music helps you to make them happy.”
Mr. Riley, whose day job is at Japhix LTD, works part-time at the Chill Zone.
“I’ve been bartending on and off for a few years,” he said. “I like to make people happy. So when people come to the bar after a long day, you get them a drink, you make them smile. You give them joke and it makes them feel better.”
Shane Xavier could relate. The customer was in a much better mood leaving the bar than he was when he arrived.
Bartender Michelle Dennis, he said, had introduced him to a Hennessey drink.
“Hennessey is something I’ve never really dabbled with, so she mixed up a nice drink for me and it was really good,” he said. “As you can tell, I’m not really myself right now.”
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