This week's guest is Leah Cola, who joins us from Paris, France. Leah originally got her start in the industry when she was living in Sweden and applied to work at a cocktail bar. Leah intended to stay for a few months in that role, but realized that this was the career for her and she made the career switch full-time. We talked with Leah about participating in cocktail contests and how Leah won the best serving ritual prize at the Hennessy Challenge.
We talked about the cocktails seen in Paris. Plus we talked about Leah's current role working at Listen to Cut in Paris, which has been voted one of the top 50 cocktail bars on the planet. We had a terrific time talking with Leah. Enjoy the show.
Okay, we're back with another episode of the industry podcast. My name is Kip. With me is always is Dan. What's happening?
Not too much. Just take me to Monday, finally recovering the character of the weekend exploits, so that went down pretty well. Went to a pretty funny independent wrestling show at the registry theater on Friday night for a friend Jeremy's birthday. And so shout out to the...
What was that crew called? Off the ropes. Off the ropes wrestling. Put on an amazing show.
If you live in the kitchen in Waterloo area, I believe they said they were coming back on June 22nd. That's the, that's the Ethel's reunion. They're doing the thing in the parking lot at Ethel's, I believe. Same night.
I don't know if it's the same night, it might be doing a different night at the registry. Oh, okay. Oh, until they're doing the show at Ethel's. Yeah.
Oh, crazy. All right. Well, I can't tell me that one, actually. Oh, well, there you go.
That's what Swainsway Glen was there. Yeah, that's a lot. Yeah. That's a lot.
That was a fun night for an expensive night. I have to see some hilarious hijinks. It was good. And so June 22nd, Ethel's reunion, probably should come to that as well.
My alma mater. Yeah. So it's fun stuff. It was a good night.
And, you know, we took advantage of it with a lot of drinking. Yeah, it was a lot of beer. You made it. I don't know how, but then we actually did drink them out of beer.
Yeah. Good for us. And I got everyone would drink it a lot of beer in that place. I got tired and feathered on the street.
On the street in front of the registry theater. So that's not something you see every Friday night. Yeah. That's no check it out.
Off the road for wrestling. It was very entertaining. And if you're in the kitchen, want to do a really obviously you want to check out should run and downtown Kitchener that's sugar run at sugar run bar on Instagram to find out all the good stuff that's going on there. We had a less this last weekend and I read to D.
Day after that. So that's the last Friday night of every month. We do. But I said that shows fantastic.
You don't want to miss it. Uptown Waterloo, it's Babylon sisters at Babylon sisters bar on Instagram to find out all the stuff going on there. We do live music every Saturday night. We have DJs every Friday night.
So you want to check out what's going on there. If you're a fan of the show, then the best way to help us is to like rate review, follow all those things on whatever platform you listen to us on. It helps tremendously. If you want to be a guest on the show, it's info at the industry podcast club or you can DM us at the industry podcast on Instagram where you will find the amazing artwork by the great Zach Hannah at Zach Hannah dot CO.
Check out everything he's doing on his website. He's he's doing a whole bunch of shit. I don't know if you check any other. Yeah, as a follow on Instagram.
So I've been seeing a lot of his videos as we posted real serious. Yeah, but some long form stuff he's been putting on. There's been pretty interesting. Pretty cool.
I also mentioned speed dating May 15th at Babylon sister. So sign up for that at single in the city dot com. And it is about it. Yeah, that's about enough.
That's enough. Let's get to our guests joining us all the way from Paris, France, our very first French guest at Lea Cola. How are you, Lea? Hey, I'm fine.
Thank you. Thank you. We're doing all right. Thank you very much for joining us.
Yeah, it's about midnight. Lea's time. So it was nice for her to join us. We record usually around six in the afternoon here.
So yeah, we appreciate you coming on late night. No worries. It's my pleasure. Yeah, it's bartender drinking time anyway.
Exactly. Like a shift. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about how you got your start. I was going over.
Well, we checked out the bar that you were just getting to that in a little bit, but I check in your bio. You started your bar career in Sweden. Yes, I started like in Sweden. It was like a to tell me by other like a total of them.
I was totally not supposed to do that. And I ended in like a cook del bar and I was supposed to stay three months and I stay now for like two years and I'll three. That's how it happens to all of us. That's how it happens to all of us.
Exactly. It got us. It's a cup. Yeah.
And so now like it's three years, maybe a bit more and I don't want to live like it's what I want to do. So you grew up in France, but then you went to Sweden and that's why were you in Sweden? Yes, I also I grew up in France. I'm born there.
Like there is my mom from France and my dad from Albania. And I did like advertising communication advertising communication to the politicians to this. And because of that I wanted to travel. So I did like, you know, it has news and stuff like this to go abroad.
And one of the destination was with them before I have been together also. Oh, no, no, no, really. Yes, in Montreal I have been like, it's so cool. It's so crazy cool this time and I have been a bit of social New York City, six months.
And after the last destination was Canada and it was for the art direction, not Canada, sorry. It was Sweden for the art direction certification. And for, you know, like a security social number, like to have the paper and bulk icons. I did to have like a first job, whatever.
They told me you take a job, you have a job contract and I applied like all the beer bar, a cocktail bar, cleaning house and it was a cocktail bar. Oh, nice. So and you were working as a server or a bartender? A server, like when I arrived, I said like I'm going to say on three months, like it just that and they don't know where it is.
Let's go because I had like other plan to work, like I wanted to work in to the production. And so I just had to like send me a message and mail and I thought, yeah, after three months I want to say more. Yeah, nice. Yeah.
Right. So then you move back home and like, did you grow up in Paris? Yes. Yes.
Okay. And then how did you get the job I listened to? I came back. So I came back from Sweden and I had one of my workmates.
He came back at the same time and it's only okay. I have four days. I know it's four days when you come back to home, but you need to bring it to go tell Bach I was okay. Let's do it together.
So each day we had like a lot of coffee bar and I sit at, I sat at the center car and they were the waitress and like she knew like we talk and she knew we were bartenders. And so she was, are you looking for a job? And I was, yes, exactly. And she told me, okay, give me your contacts and like three, four days one week after I was doing my trio.
Oh, wow. And that and the city guy we like we did a little bit of research about it. It was voted one of the 50 best bars. Yeah, like many awards for a cocktail bar.
So that's a great first job back in Paris. So that like really, really like at this moment, like all the team change in the bar. So they needed to recreate the team. And like I just was a question of time in and I got a really good time because I don't know.
I didn't add a lot of experience, but like they gave me my chance and I'm still there and like improving and learning so many things because when you are in a bar like this, but if you are motivated, you just work, work, work and learn so fast, so cool. And so they obviously have an amazing cocktail program. Have you been able to get involved in cocktail creation at all? Like in the menu and stuff like this?
Yeah. Yes. Like so they were like I stay six months and after the six months, I think it's a moment for you to have a drink in the menu and we add internal contests to a, it was like a funny game between us and like they were like a sort of price at the end of this, in time contest. And I did the contest and like the price was okay, the menu gonna be in the, the drink gonna be in the menu and you're gonna go to a guest.
So like at the same moment, I could have my drink in the menu and I could travel in a guest. So cool. And after I had like another drink in the menu and after I did a contest or so, so I could like create another drink that is also in the menu now. Oh, well, that's crazy.
So that's pretty quick. Like you're still pretty young to be, I would imagine, I don't know how old you were actually. How old are you? I'm 28.
Right. So very young still. So yeah, pretty crazy to think you're gonna be involved in media and then next thing you know, you're working at a cocktail joint in Sweden, you come back to Paris, now you're working at the best buyers in the world and you're already having drinks on the menu. So pretty meteoric rides for you.
Mm-hmm. Now that's really crazy. Like, I know when I like, when I decided to say like, okay, advertising, all this stuff, I don't want anymore. I knew that cocktail industry was really my thing.
Like, and I got to board and it is so fast and it was so cool. So I took it and I take like all the opportunities and we will see how it goes. But like for now it's really cool and I'm lucky. And I talked to me about this experience with the Hennessy program.
How did that play out? That was crazy. It was crazy and crazy cool. Like, it started like I was at Resentia with my manager, one of my manager and like, I think a couple of drinks for their friend and at one moment they was a brand on the side of Hennessy who came at the bar and he said, what is there is nobody from Resentia who is doing the contest and like my manager turned to me and he said, like, yeah, do you want to do it?
And I told him, like, are you sure? Do you think I'm really ready? And he said, yes. So I was, okay, let's go for it.
And I didn't really know, you know, where I was doing, like, I never did the contest before. And so I was, I didn't even knew and I realized like, oh, big, it was during the thing because it was like six months, three rounds from two rounds and the final and I worked a lot as crazy because I was so passionate about it. It was like, crazy interesting. You can like meet person, you can like win confidence in you, you can like meet, like, I already say it, but like meet really so much person from the industry and so much person who I'm not in industry, but who gonna help you.
So, so it was really nice. And at the end, at the end I have been to the final and I win like the best, the best, the service, the special price. Okay. That's crazy.
Yeah. So obviously you found the talent for this, which like you didn't even know this was an industry you wanted to be in. So that's kind of crazy. Yeah.
But like this industry, in general, this industry is like really crazy, plenty of lot of person and like really nice person who gonna help you. Not it's really a cool area. Yeah, it is good. Like obviously the industry has its ups and downs and lots of different people working at it.
But I think if you're really passionate and it really gets across to people that this is what you want to do. That's when people start taking you seriously, right? It's the people have a harder time with the people who are just coming in for a job here and there and maybe moving on to something else. So once the industry realizes that you are serious about it and this is what you want to do, then you'll find so many people who want to help you.
Exactly. And like also like from the beginning, you know, when you just start, you can be complicated because you have your to prove who you are, you have to like show what you are able to. And as soon as you have crossed that, like everybody like start to like look at you because like they say, try your cooktales, they see who you are. And like it seems to be a lot like this.
I saw like all my work made and everybody like as soon as you first enter in a really good cooktale bar and after you just go by yourself doing contest, doing like guests, going to bars to meet people and as soon as it's like this, it's like a like a red carpet. Yeah. Did you have any, did you find any roadblocks like a young woman breaking into the industry? Because I know in North America, sometimes I can be tough with someone who doesn't have the experience at the beginning.
And then you just like you get this job in Sweden. Now all of a sudden you're working in one of the best bars in Paris, one of the best bars in the world. And did you find any like, did you get any pushback from anyone or was it basically just positive feedback? Yes, of course.
It happened in like for me, or the sector like when I was there, like I start to work in different places and sector and stuff like this because I have a lot of internship. And often like, you know, when you arrived and like if you are a girl, you arrived, you need to prove who you are. If you are like a bit too, I don't know to say that, but like, you know, when you say yes, yes, yes, to every singer and like people can eat you and grab you and stuff like this. So yes, like I got some some complication.
But after I think that now if I'm like, you know, more strong and stuff like this is because like I'd like, for example, to stay hours and hours alone doing preps, nobody else. I had like to be with like people who are stressful with me and like it's a part of the game. I think I wish that for nobody nobody. But I think if you leave that is also it became a part of who you are.
And like it became a part of your energy to like just do it, go it, go it, you will see, you know what you're worse than you're gonna do it, you know, you trust in you. Yeah, that makes sense. And it's true. It's like because I think that slowly but surely we're learning in the industry that positive reinforcement is a way better method to success than the negative like pushback or feedback.
And but that's still been such an ingrained part of the service industry for 100 years now, right? Like push them, be negative, be like, and then that's how you mold them either they're gonna quit or you mold them into better employees. But that's not really the answer to solving these problems. Just like the best the better way is just to support and be positive.
Exactly. I remember when I arrived in the industry, like it's like someone who had to root with me or to root with those. I was like, that's crazy. We looked, I have the impression we are like 50 years before and like the techniques of management and stuff like this.
And after when I met more and more person from the industry, I saw like they were a bit new generation was working more with, okay, encouragement and like positive vibe and like there is another part, it's more like we're gonna make it 60th with like negative and like stress. And still now, I don't know what is working the best because when you are too positive and too kind, people don't listen, when you are too bad and like too negative, it's not good. It's an issue. There's got to be somewhere in the middle.
But it also I think depends on the person, you can't treat everyone the same. It depends on the personality of the person you're trying to get the message across to. Like in my experience of in management and ownership, if you like, there's certain people who want you to push them like strongly, right? And there's other people who want more of a sensitive approach to how you encourage them.
And you need to treat everyone fairly, but you can't treat everyone the same. Exactly. And like also I realized that like we had a new manager, like not a long time ago. And this person, when I write, it did like it kind of okay, it took each person in his mind because like you talk to me because we are like, we work a lot together, okay.
And it really took each person and each personality and adapt his management to each one. Like for example, when you write like it was a moment like they were like, like, change of management, I was a bit lost, like what should I do? Where should I go to position to have the position and stuff like this? And is there like okay, I understood you need to have like an encouragement, you need to have like a person listen to you, you're not like someone, I'm gonna like tell you do that, do that, do that.
It was like really more like, I don't know, to say that you know what I mean. And it's true that it changed a lot because I would like I was doing like work, but like really I was like, okay, you understand and like I want to do it a lot more. Right. Yeah.
So the best way to respond to management, different styles of management in different ways, that's the key, right. Like, but it's a fine line because the old school part of the industry is like very like negative yelling at people do it this way. And we're slowly moving out of that, thankfully, but it's taking some time and there's still people like that in the industry who are, you know, just confident in their positions and almost like far to aggressive in their feedback. Yes, it could be.
Yeah. Well, if you are looking for something positive in the industry, we should tell you a little bit about civil pores. If you haven't heard about civil pores yet, civil pore is pre made. cocktails in bottles and kegs.
They do 20 liter kegs, they do 750 milliliter bottles, and they basically are going to totally revolutionize your business because they are priced at a point where you can still mark these cocktails up. And if you're working in a high volume cocktail bar, you can pound them these cocktails out a lot quicker. It just takes a quick stir or a shake. You can mark them up so the customers aren't offended, but you're still making your margins.
And that's all being done from the great team at Civil Liberties. They have their old distillery now where they're making these pre-made cocktails. No, the cocktails are offered. Well, they have the old-fashioned, which is like the more about that one?
I can. It's unique, environment blend of five-year aged whiskey, orange and wakami distillates, charred cedar, bitters and warm spice syrup. Create a curiously familiar yet elevated take on an old-fashioned. Oh, that's kind of nice.
What about something a little bit more something might keep me awake or something like that? Like an espresso martini. That would be wonderful. Yeah, they have that too.
Kekau has husk, toasted coconut and just a trace of orange distillate blended with neutral spirit and coffee to give a robust and velvety expression of a classic espresso martini. And they also have the margarita, of course, that combining orange and lime distillate with a gave spirit, sugar, sweet orange, tincture and water. And of course, the whiskey sour. And I want to say something about the whiskey sour and espresso martini is just like, it takes a quick shake with this and you get the exact froth that you're looking for on the top of these cocktails.
Oh, with the whiskey sour, it's a froth using a acidity balanced with rich smooth flavors of sweet almond derived from their roasted avocado pit distillate. And that's how they're reusing items that are being thrown out. Avocado pits, they use the oranges that have been zested from bars in the city. Oh, that's good.
The sustainable operation. We're using stuff that normally go to the landfill. It is in a sustainable operation. They're also coming up with a cosmopolitan really soon.
That might actually be out as we speak. So stay tuned for that. And if you want to get in touch with these guys, if you're a bar or a restaurant or maybe you just want cocktails at your home, it's sales at civilpores.com. Reach out to them.
750 milli-year bottles, 20 liter kegs. The product is amazing. I can't say enough about it. So sales at civilpores.com.
We're super happy to be sponsored by civil pores. Yeah, well, it's summer patio party season is coming up. So a great time to host a big backyard bash and a couple of cocktails ready to go. That's right.
Don't sleep on civilpores. Sales at civilpores.com. Wonderful. Now back to our guest, Leah, who's still with us after our discussion about civil pores.
Yes, of course, of course. So I want to talk to you a little bit about, because you are our first guest from Paris, talk to us a little bit about the cocktail and bar scene in Paris. I was in Paris in like, whoo, it was going to age me considerably. 25 years ago.
1997 or eight or something like that. So it's all, I have no clue what's going on there anymore. So tell me what, tell me about Paris, the city and the specifically the bar and restaurant scene. Yes, of course.
Alawak, and I said like the cook-tail industry is like really cool. Like I just jumped since like two years, so I can tell you just in the past years. But there is often events all the time, like guests, everything. We will call always cool bars and stuff like this.
And often, you know, if you have a guest who comes from abroad, you bring the guests to all your friends and cocktail bar and stuff like this. And so I will say, from my point of view, for me, we are like in the city, the city industry. And we all come to support each other. In the restaurant, I'm not a lot in the restaurant area.
Of course, we have some friends, like the neighbors and stuff like this. We do really good food and we all go together and stuff like this. But more and more, the two past years I focused more in cocktails and going to see my workmate and stuff like this, doing their cocktails. And more and more, I go to restaurants also to discover more because cocktails, it's good sometimes it's good to eat also.
So but in a city like Paris is known for bars and restaurants and now cocktail bars as well. It's good to hear that you're saying that you guys all kind of support each other because it could be extremely competitive. But yes, I'm sure like after it's maybe me, I don't see it or I'm not involved in like the competition and stuff like this. But really what I can see and like when I talk to person and stuff like this, like I never have like a like I never hear a lot of bad stuff about the others.
And like I'm a lot and lot and like going out with the industry and like talking to everybody, talking to everything and like really I don't hear a lot. Maybe I just don't hear it. But for my part and like all the description I can have I like I never like really hear like bad stuff or really like a minster for free. Like never.
Oh that's good. When exact often it's more like I'm sorry I couldn't come to your heaven. Sorry sorry like plus of that is like really we want to support each other but we have so much work that it's like this. Yeah like so the party you work in.
Are you open seven days a week? Yes. Yeah so and like how many hours are you currently working? And like but I don't know.
You tell me I'm fine. It's too bad or whatever. No you're good. So the bar is open like seven days on seven and like we open at six thirty and we close at two.
We do like the last call at one fifteen. One fifteen sorry. Yeah. And like now we just open the terrace so as the weather starts to be cool and really cool.
So it's gonna be really fun. So the summer at the Santa case really really cool. And for my part right now I'm working three days on night shifts and I'm working one day in the agency and it's like to take care more about like social networks, events, guests and things like this. So like for now I have created a good position.
Yeah that's good. I got to ask a question about tip culture because obviously here in North America we're used to tipping for everything right. So you got to drink you got to tip buy something you got to tip one foot in France or Paris specifically. Is there much of a tip culture there at all or?
I know it starts more and more like imagine they were like not at all the tip so future so before like it was a imagine like you don't even think about to put two coins in the table and more and more is start again because like we start to have like software in the charmational that propose the percentage of tips if you want or if you don't want to do the tips. And like you know because it's a bit rude to install that in a culture that don't have it. So like we really pay attention like each waiter, bartender pay attention to say okay we propose you if you want to do the tips but if you don't there is like totally no worries it will not pursue it just like we don't say it but like it's just one we say that but we don't say that it's just like to to start to install it because we are not like paid as crazy and like it's it's a part of the salary and like at the end of the month like you know with this sort of software it's still a some money more that can help us to like do our projects and like and have a better life like more comfortable. Now with the Olympics coming this summer is there been more of a push to get perhaps tips from so people get more used to it or yeah because I was gonna ask you that too like do you find it's more tourists that are tipping and less locals?
Of course like I know that's of course of course even like when we didn't have like the software they were like tourists and they were like giving always like tips and it's more about yes about more French or like maybe Europe. I think like we are less we less gifted because we are not just like a stamina and with the Santa Chi it's like the person who are coming it's like really often tourists so like now with the software it's just easier. So going back to Dan's question about the Olympics though like you kind of got to get people used to tipping because all these tourists are gonna flock in and also would you like see a bar like yours specifically getting a massive tourist bump from the Olympics? I know like from outside we get ready for it like we have a lot of projects like for example we're gonna launch a new venue with a big concept and etc I cannot talk about it now but like we're gonna communicate on the society network and we get ready a big concept a big event to bring person and also for the people who are gonna come to make them happy to be there for the Olympic Games and and yes it's like a lot of projects like this like just we get ready I think like all the friends all the restaurants and like bars are doing everything to get ready.
Yeah well especially yours because you have gotten some recognition like 50 best bars 500 best bars whatever it is so you know that's how people that's like when I was in Paris we would go through the old school travel guides right like to try and figure out where to go so you would never go to the right spots you would just have to go somewhere and hope that someone who worked there told you about a cool spot to go to but now with social media and with Reddit and all these other like online reviews plus a recognition from the best bar awards like all the tours know where to go now so you're gonna get like quite a push during the Olympics I would imagine it's like I'm afraid already but you're right you're right so how many seats are like how many people can you see in La Syndicate oh hello I'm really bad of knowing you know this sort of of things like I'm dancing studios but sometimes I don't need it at what time we close the terrace and I don't know I think I'll let me think we can have like nine by the bar we can have 12 I think between 12 and 12 30 30 between 30 40 okay so it's not huge yeah exactly like I will say I will say I don't know so I'm ashamed to don't know but I think like between 25 40 but the stuff also with La is you can stand up so like there is no rules like you can stand if you are like it's a Friday night it's totally crazy busy and we cannot even let's interpret them but they're like everybody's like we just want to dance with cocktails and be standing like this but if you want we say yes yeah yeah well if it makes you feel better I own two bars and if people ask me how much how many people can go in there I still have to stop and think about it I'm just like well wait a second there's six seats here so don't worry about it you know like it's like we are good on some stuff but there is just random things like this like we yeah but that's okay so are you excited by this or about the whole idea like you guys are gonna get crazy during that time but yes like in reality I'm totally excited about this like also about the new menu is coming and we're gonna be a big big singer so like for me also with my position like channel it's gonna be really new and I'm gonna have other missions because I already have lived menus coming in the Santaica but never like this never as big as that and like with this position for me so so yes I'm really excited and like I know we're not gonna sleep a lot during this time but it's just a question of some months and like we do it and after we can have a rest yeah that's funny because I always sometimes think about this when I think about the service industry because it's so different than other industries in some ways and I'm not sure if this is one of the ways that it's different or if this is every industry maybe Dan can help us but like anytime like something new and exciting is happening like a big event or a new menu or whatever you get excited about it but then it's also so much fucking work like just like just non like getting ready or executing it is like so much work and then but and then you get busy because of it and then that's also so much more so it's like yeah I don't know is that the same in a regular job? Oh yeah yeah whenever we're uh yeah new products coming out it's a it's uh incredibly crazy amount of work but do you get excited about it? When I first hear about it and then I and then I have to start doing the work and I'm like oh what the hell did I sign up for right but it's also like not something that you specifically come up with right so it's more like just a lot of work for you but there's something new though too and then I'm right so it's not the same old same old so it's nice to see something different like right and stuff but it's an incredible amount of work yeah and stuff the work stuff but there's an excitement of doing something new and creative having a challenge versus driving down the same one way road all day long right it's kind of nice like to put it like that so what do you think so you've been at listening to cat for how many years now? Two years and so you're obviously happy with where you are now but how do you see your future you're still such a young woman like how do you see your future in the service century you said that you're you're very committed to it now but like what do you see it do you look at doing stuff on social media like you you're obviously a very personable person you clearly have the know how to make drinks and cocktails now so what do you what's the future for Leah?
For me like for now like I think I have a lot of things to do still in the industry in general so for now I'm staying at La Santica I'm enjoying it and like seeing like taking all the opportunities meeting a lot of person like your participate to this bar that I really love from my dip and after I will see I know that in my mind I have like for later like for one in one year or two years I have like my ideas of project and at this moment I will see how it goes and like I will talk about it of course like for now it's so babies that I just have to seek more about it in my head and after it will happen yeah well it's amazing well it's been super awesome talking to you Leah you're a lovely person and I wish you all the best success of listening to Cam what's going on in the future tell us tell our listeners where they can follow you and the bar to know what's coming up next yes of course for my side you can follow me on Instagram if you would like it's like Leah la dot c-o-l-l-a and for a la Santica you can follow it's like la Santica la es y-n-t-i-c-a-t it was a bit more complicated than that I know it's not very interesting probably not put links to those in the show notes so you know everyone can find them there you just click on the links and work out well too it's funny we've had people from all over the world on the podcast and all of you who are from not North American countries are always so nervous about your English, but it's always great. And mostly, 99% of the time I would say. And really, most of us, stupid motherfuckers in North America, only speak one language. So just remember that.
You killed it. That's nice. Yeah, Leo, you're lovely. And we wish you all the luck.
And thanks so much for doing this, especially so late at night. Thanks for coming on the Instagram podcast. Yeah, thank you very much. Thank you so much.
And if you need whatever, don't let me take questions. Thank you. And next time you're coming, Paris, you come by to get to have some drinks. 100%.
100%. I need to come back. Thank you.