I interviewed Nikos Bakoulis a few years ago when the Athens bar, The Clumsies, made it to The World’s 50 Best Bars list, sparking discussions about the bar itself and the Greek bar scene worldwide. History repeats itself. Most of us have noticed their latest concept called Line, which has been catching attention since its opening. Nikos and his team have been leaders in the Greek bar scene for several years now.
Do you consider yourself a leader in the Greek bar scene with your progressive concepts?
I believe no leader sees themselves as such or would label themselves as one. I don’t view myself that way either. My motivation, or rather goal, is to push our craft and work a bit further each year. I try to achieve that through my experiences, new knowledge, or ideas.
What does the term “leadership” mean to you? How would you define a leader?
That’s a rather complex question. Or rather, it doesn’t have a straightforward answer. It’s a multifaceted package containing numerous skills and qualities necessary for leading a team or a group of people. It includes empathy, trust, motivation, continuous self-improvement, information sharing, listening, excellent communication skills, management, planning, and understanding the craft of bartending.
Thanks to all these qualities, our craft has several great bar personalities and role models from whom we can draw inspiration. They are individuals successfully leading their businesses, teams, and projects around the world.
And a crucial point for me is to remain true to oneself and not pretend. To be human and bridge both sides – managerial and bartender. To be fair and honest. Above all, to communicate. It’s like a relationship.
Your new concept, Line, was recently awarded the Best New Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail. Can you tell us more about it?
Line is a concept where we aim to think and work sustainably in every aspect. We stand behind it together with partners Vasilis Kyritsis and Dimitris Dafopoulos. The idea for it emerged during the time of COVID. We’ve tried to think very comprehensively about the entire concept. Sustainability isn’t just about working with raw materials and energies; it also involves people. Therefore, Line primarily focuses on sustainable workloads, ensuring that everyone in the team is happy, motivated, working on their education, and also on regeneration and health, allowing time for their private lives. Believe it or not, a happy employee or team member performs differently. They bring great ideas, and together we can advance the concept. The idea is that even if you have excellent organic products from local farmers or sources, if your team is overworked and unmotivated, you can’t call your concept sustainable.
The Line concept is based mainly on a collaborative system. Currently, we work with six local farmers and use their ingredients in our bar and kitchen. We primarily source vegetables from one and various fruits from the others. One of the categories we focus on is our own wines and fermented juices.
You can find more about our concept on our About – Line Athens page.
As I think about it, don’t you feel some pressure when opening new bars or planning new projects? After all, more awards and more attention, when the whole world is watching you. How do you perceive it?
In business and creating new concepts, Vasilis and I have a fundamental rule we always follow. Our intention is always to create a healthy and successful business. We don’t do it for awards, and anyone who thinks that way is making a fundamental mistake. Awards and recognition come when you have a healthy, newly opened business. They are a reward and motivation for the next new idea and concept we’ve managed to turn from an idea into reality. Then we are highly sought after as advisors in opening other projects, which we greatly appreciate, as it allows us to help others around us.