This is Baz Voy, from Victoria, bartender at Stage and consultant for Devine distillery.
Baz is 39 years old and was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He grew up in a little town in the UK called Barrow-in-Furness and moved to Canada in 2011.
Baz started to work in hospitality as a chef. He studied acting university and upon graduating found himself with some dept and a lot of questions about what he wanted to do with his life. A friend of his was a chef at a restaurant in his hometown and he invited Baz to join the team, so he started as a commis chef and fell in love with it instantly. He worked his way up and would end up working as a chef for the following 9 years. He worked in the UK for a little bit and then on cruise ships, which allowed him to travel and cook all over the world.
Eventually, Baz made his way to Canada. He had always wanted to explore the front of house and decided to give it a go about 5 years ago. He was living in Whistler and got a job as a host. Once again, he climbed his way up and got his first bartending gig at a bar called Fire Rock Lounge. As soon as he started to bartend, he understood the many similarities between cooking and bartending. He realized that he could use all the techniques and flavour combination he already knew and apply them in a different context. If he had fallen in love with cooking back when he got his first job in a restaurant, Baz fell in love with hospitality once again. Eventually, he would find himself moving to Victoria and settling down on the Island. After bartending full-time in the city for a while, he decided to take a little distance from the bar and started to do some consulting and social media content for Devine, a local distillery. He is now also back behind the bar at Stage in Victoria.
Overall, Baz is the type of person that’s a natural fit in our industry. He’s deeply passionate, charismatic, funny and creative. If he decided to pursue in hospitality more than a decade ago, it was because he felt that it was where he wanted to be. Guided by his passion, working in hospitality has led him to explore the world and meet countless amount of people. We wish him all the best in his next adventures to come.
For Baz's cocktail recipe, click here.