E143 Raven Dales

This weeks guest is Raven Alexis Dales who currently lives in Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Raven has been working in the Food & Beverage industry since 2011, beginning her career studying culinary arts at Vancouver Community College and working in restaurants in Vancouver & Victoria. While doing so, Raven studied through the WSET program to better understand the relationship between food pairings and beverages.

Raven’s shift into front-of-house roles was a slow smoulder in the last couple years of her culinary-focused career. Raven wanted a better understanding of all parts of a restaurant—striving towards a better hospitality experience for all, so she began bartending in late 2018. Raven participated in the Nimble Bar Co. school curriculum and learned the ropes at Pagliacci’s; an institution in Victoria BC run by Solomon Siegel, along with the mentorship of Shawn Soole.

Raven quickly became Head Bartender and helped lead the bar program until early 2020, when she moved on to Veneto Bar and Ristorante. That venture stopped abruptly when Veneto closed permanently amidst COVID-19 restrictions, and in the time since then Raven has found herself tending bar at several establishments throughout Victoria. Raven spent a good deal of that time helping develop the bar program at Wind Cries Mary in Bastion Square, and is currently the bar manager at The Lakehouse in Shawnigan.

Raven has also participated in a few bartending competitions: Diageo World Class, Speed Rack, Made with Love and Negroni Week to name a few. Raven’s favourite parts about the competition world have been the camaraderie, meeting new people, and how amazing it is to hype and bring your peers up around you!

Links

@radhospitalitymerc @thelakehouseatshawnigan

@sugarrunbar @babylonsistersbar @the_industry_podcast email us: [email protected]

Podcast Artwork by Zak Hannah zakhannah.co