Dan Reiss serves old-fashioned hospitality (and an even better old fashioned)

“My nana had this piece of hardwood in her kitchen, and painted on it was this beleaguered looking swan and the words ‘a good hostess is like a swan: calm and unruffled above the water but paddling hard underneath.’”

Dan Reiss, bartender at the Grand Trunk Saloon recalls this familial kitsch when describing his motivation in the industry: good, old-fashioned hospitality.

And while his role at The Grand Trunk is relatively new, Reiss has been echoing the golden words from his nana’s kitchen for a while now. A teacher by trade, Reiss fell into Kitchener’s beer and hospitality industry in 2014 when he started working part time as a server in the core. Regulars would recognize his iconic moustache – the kind that curls at the end – from the Boathouse (post revitalization) and from Imbibe, whether he was across the bar, or sitting at it.

Pint-in-hand, Reiss scans B at THEMUSEUM mid-interview, pointing out the servers and patrons he met during his time working at Imbibe, the former identity of the King and Queen Street locale. “I used to be a Friday and Saturday regular here... it was about having a few pints, a bite to eat and getting home before midnight, says Reiss.”

Reiss had clear view of how Kitchener’s bar scene was evolving. And once former Imbibe owner Bill McTavish was named as part of the new Boathouse ownership, Reiss’s career followed suit.

“I wanted to be a part of the Boathouse. I was so excited for revitalization and the music aspect,” says Reiss, describing what felt like the next great frontier in the evening scene that drew him downtown in the first place.

As part of the opening at The Boathouse, Reiss was graced with the creativity and freedom to develop his bartending roster. While craft brews remained a mainstay, they became one of many options on shelves dotted with liquors and infusions, tonics and garnish. Cocktails were on the rise in Kitchener, and Reiss was ready to serve them.

“I’ve always loved classic cocktails but couldn’t find a place to drink one. Where would you get a good old fashioned downtown?” Reiss says of his role at The Grand Trunk. “We were provided the tools and told do whatever we wanted with them.”

The drive for cocktails wasn’t solely at the hands of entrepreneurial bar owners, however. They were meeting a demand that Reiss attributed in part to the expectations of a growing, more worldly technology sector.

“There is choice where no choice existed before. There were pubs and there were dive bars and they catered to similar crowds. There was no diversity,” Reiss says of the Kitchener he remembered from a few short years ago.

Reiss’s newest venture in serving the thirsty – his current role at The Grand Trunk Saloon – was taken with some hesitance as he balances teaching and a growing family.

But any customer wouldn’t know it.

Reiss seems like a fixture against the dark-stained bar that’s studded with glass bottles reminiscent of chemistry class. While his pinstriped vest ensemble seems like it could be a uniform or a gimmick to offer even more saloon-style ambience, it’s not. To Reiss, it’s just an embodiment of the hospitality he hopes to offer.

“Being a bartender, you meet a lot of folks, and you morph into whatever they need you to be. It’s not fake; it’s being a good listener, and a good host.”

And according to Reiss, that kind of hospitality should mean that even though the scene might be changing, your order doesn’t have to.

“Sometimes, I get people who’ll be nervous to order a Caesar, saying something like ‘do you do that here?’ like they’re worried it will offend me,” he says. “I always respond with ‘I’ll make you the best Caesar you’ve ever had. I’m not here to judge you…I’m here to provide you with an experience."

Whether you find that experience in the spice of a Caesar, in a bottle of Labatt 50 or in the slowly melting ice of a good old fashioned, Reiss will do as his nana taught him: keep his moustache unruffled. He doesn’t mind paddling like hell if it means Kitchener’s nightlife is growing.