I have spent more than twenty years in the bar industry, working service, mixing cocktails, running education, opening venues, and owning one. The thing I care about most, and the thing I am best at, is how a team gets good: who you hire, how you bring them in, and what you teach them so that your bar runs the same way whether or not you are in the room.
My route here was unusual. I hold a PhD in plant biology from Cornell University, but I transitioned from a career in research to hospitality and never looked back. The science never left, though. I want to understand why something works before I teach anyone how to do it, and I would rather build one system than fix the same problem twice. Most of my work comes down to distilling something complicated into a form a bartender can use on a Friday night.
Gregory Buda at Bisou Bisou, Montréal
I spent eight years at The Dead Rabbit in New York City, through both years it was named the World's Best Bar. In the early days, everything we knew lived in people's heads, and as the bar grew and the recognition came, that became a real problem. Jack McGarry and Sean Muldoon, the managing partners, asked me to create a position for myself and get it all down on paper so it wouldn't be lost. That job became the training manager role, and the pages became the first version of a training program that The Dead Rabbit still runs today.
After my tenure there, I opened my own bar, Bisou Bisou, in Montréal with two talented partners, a cocktail and apéritif bar that celebrates fortified wines and the flavors of the Mediterranean. Through my consultancies, I have designed beverage programs, trained teams, and opened venues in nine countries. I have also worked with spirit brands on liquid development, and on education that gets bartenders excited about a product and gets their guests excited about it too.
Irish whiskey masterclass, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Most consultants come in to fix the product: the menu, the recipes, the look. I come in to fix the foundation, because a beautiful menu operated by an undertrained, unsupported team underperforms every time, and a well-trained team with clear systems outperforms expectations consistently, with or without a perfect menu.
The same logic runs upstream. The best training program cannot rescue the wrong hires, and the best-trained team can't excel under bad management. The programs I build cover the whole arc, from hiring criteria to the leadership habits that keep it alive.
I don't try to be the loudest voice in the room. I try to be the most useful one. I build systems that make whole teams better, not just one talented individual, and I measure my work by whether it keeps working after I leave.
Industry masterclass, Warsaw, Poland
I host masterclasses and workshops for bartenders and operators around the world. My rule for every session is the same one I hold for my consulting work: everyone walks out with something they can use in their job the next day. No theory without application.
Off stage, the same work continues. I have been involved in developing people across this industry in a number of different ways: judging national competitions, helping build brand education programs, and mentoring the bartenders and managers who keep this industry moving forward.
what you can expect
I say what I think, with the reasoning attached. I ask before I assume. And I value the same things in the people I work with: clear communication, curiosity, humility, and a willingness to do the work.
I am based between Vienna, New York City, and Montréal and work with bars all over the globe, remotely by default, and on-site for a select few clients.
the bar team blueprint.
The Bar Team Blueprint is where most of my clients begin: a complete hiring, onboarding, and training system, built for their venue and delivered remotely in 30 days. Some upgrade to management workshops, on-site training, or bar program development. For a venue that hasn't opened yet, I design the program so the team is ready on day one and continues to develop after the doors open. All of that is scoped on a call.
Want to talk it through?
Tell me about your bar and your team.
I will tell you honestly whether I can help.
or email me at greg@tangerine.bar