When you start behind a new bar, even with a decade of experience, the other bartenders always look at you and size you up. Sometimes you notice it directly and sometimes you just feel the gaze and the weight of it. My first shift behind the bar at Timberline with Joe didn’t have that feeling at all. Joe immediately welcomed me in and gave me the rundown
of the bar as well as his phone number in case I needed anything. During the training he explained that when we greet guests by introducing ourselves as well as the other bartenders in order to give the illusion of teamwork. “Illusion of teamwork?” I said. We laughed about it. He then told me about the team they’d had for years and how everyone had become tight knit such that they flowed like water and ran the bar in a fluid and natural way. Lately that had changed as a few of the bartenders had gotten burned out.
Over the years I got to see amazing things happen, that fluidity came back to the bar team with Joe always as a central figure. We became friends and had our own crew both behind the bar and outside of work. Joe even joined me in Las Vegas for my brother’s bachelor party and quickly made friends with complete strangers. He called me on my vacation to Mexico just to make sure I was having a good time.
Joe’s ability to love and treat everyone as a brother or sister and greet them with hugs and genuine care, interest, and affection made Joe everyone’s friend. He touched the hearts of everyone he met and we were all better because of him.
– Brad Kaplan