This is Nicolae Arman.
Nicolae is 25 years old. He speaks Russian, Romanian, French, English, and a little bit of Ukrainian. He grew up in Moldova until he was 16 and then moved to Montreal with his parents. He studied modern languages in Cégep and decided to leave the academic world after. His mother studied 3 professions at university and was asked to start again when she immigrated to Quebec, as her diplomas weren’t recognized. Seeing this happen, he decided that he better not give money to universities and decided to take the generalist approach: he’d rather have basic knowledge in a lot of things than being an expert in one thing. Being inherently curious, this makes more sense for him.
This being said, you will understand that Nicolae does a lot of things. Some of his interests outside of work include circus performance (he specializes in manipulating fire and contact juggling), climbing, video making, playing music, and pretty much any activity that will allow him to zone out and escape the daily routine.
How Nicolae got into the world of cocktails starts with a funny story. One night, he went to Le Lab to drink absinthe. When he walked in, he instantly thought he wanted to work there. He told the waitress and started to drink absinthe with his friend. After a little over half an hour, a short time during which he already had quite a generous amount of the green fairy, he slammed a couple of other absinthe shots with his friend to turn around and have the manager right next to him ready to offer him an instant interview. And he got his first job as a bar back.
Today, Nicolae worked at some of Montreal’s most renowned cocktail destinations. After Le Lab, he joined the team of the very famous Coldroom where he worked for a couple of years. After that, he recently moved on to a new chapter when he decided to go work at the prestigious Montreal’s Four Season’s hotel bar Marcus.
Isn’t it funny how far a couple of shots of absinthe can actually bring you?
A little bit more about Nicolae...
The three words that describe him best: Cursed with curiosity.
A fun fact about him: He can sleep anywhere and he doesn’t need comfort. Like, he can pretty much fall asleep in any position at any time if he wants.
What he likes most about bartending: Human interaction. He likes talking but enjoys listening even more.
What he likes least about bartending: People without passion.
His definition of hospitality: Treat people how they want to be treated, don’t treat people how you would like to be treated.