We Need A Hero x Shentonista: Look Of A Hero—Measured

In this series for We Need A Hero, we feature some of our favourite men sporting four of 2018’s upcoming hair trends.

Thomas moved to Singapore two years ago, almost on a whim, when his best friend told him about Singapore’s burgeoning bar scene. The duo quit their jobs, bought one way tickets, and soon found themselves more than 9,000 km away from home in an unfamiliar land, with a rather inhospitable climate. It wasn’t smooth sailing at the start, but Thomas soon found his footing; today he is now Head Bartender at The Ottomani. Though it might seem easy to him, Thomas’ debonair charm comes from plenty of practice. He first picked up bartending in his late teens, and since then, has been making his living not only from crafting cocktails, but also from making sure that everybody that comes into the bar feels welcome. We speak to him to find out more about his story and why, as he stresses, there’s more to bartending than it seems.

Shentonista (S): Do you think it’s important to be well-groomed, and why?
Thomas (T): It depends. You have to be comfortable as how you look is how you feel. Sometimes, you want to look more casual but you can still feel comfortable doing that.

S: What are your usual grooming habits?
T: I don’t keep a beard so I shave quite a bit. Hair wise, I used to have short hair for a long time, and then I started growing it out from January 2015. My scalp didn’t react well to some products so I decided to grow my hair long and try something different that doesn’t require me to use wax and gel so often. I tie my hair most of the time. So it’s been two years and this haircut by We Need A Hero is my first haircut since then. I feel different!

S: Tell us about a haircut/style you’ve regretted.
T: When I was younger, my hair was one or two centimetres long—it was very short, like an army boy’s haircut. At the age of 23 or 24, my best friend from Slovakia convinced me to try a different style, so I shaved my sides and kept my hair long on top. I didn’t like it at first but I did after.

S: What’s a look that you’ve always wanted to try?
T: I wasn’t really thinking about cutting my hair to how short it is now, but it’s been surprisingly good, and I’m coming to like it more and more. My hair was 15 cm longer than what I have now, so it’s kind of a big change for me. When you’re growing out your hair it’s step by step, but when you cut your hair it’s always a big difference.

S: Anyone that you look up to for style inspiration?
T: There’s someone else in the industry who has long hair named Zdenek Kastanek. When I started growing my hair, my friends said, “Oh man, why are you doing that, you look good with short hair!” Zdenek was the only one who supported me; he could understand as he had long hair too!

S: Can you tell us more about why you decided to come over to Singapore?
T: (laughs) Basically it was the idea of my best friend in Slovakia named Peter. He’s a bartender as well, and it was September 2014 when we just finished an event together, and we were driving home when he started talking about Singapore and the bar scene here. I just looked at him and said, “You don’t have to ask me, I’m going with you.” And he was like, “I didn’t ask you to go, I was just talking about it.” But I could see how excited he was about it and didn’t see a reason not to go to Singapore. I bought a one-way flight ticket just the week after our conversation. We quit our jobs, served our three-month notice period, spent Christmas and New Year’s with our families, and flew to Singapore in the middle of January 2015.

S: How were things at the start?
T: I didn’t know anybody so it was quite new for me. It took about five months and seven jobs before I got a permanent position at a place that could give me a working permit.

S: Is your friend Peter still here in Singapore?
T: Unfortunately not, he had to go back to Slovakia, mostly because of his family. But we already discussed it and he’ll be back next year.

S: What’s the biggest difference between your hometown and Singapore?
T: There are a lot of differences but what I loved in Slovakia is the nature; we have very nice mountains. Also, I miss the snowboarding in wintertime—I’ve snowboarded for 15 years. But what I like here in Singapore is that everything works. The MRT, the buses—even if they have road works they’ll finish overnight, or in like two days. If the MRT is down it’s just one line, and the other two or three are working, but in Slovakia it’s totally different. It’d take two to three weeks and they close the whole street. In Singapore, if they want to do something, they will do it. They don’t take their own time because they’re not paid by the hour.

S: How and why did you become a bartender?
T: (laughs) When I was 16 I started studying in The Hotel Academy in Slovakia, and one of the afterschool classes was in bartending. Honestly, at the school, it was a bit more old fashioned, but the basic stuff was there and prepared me very well for real bartending. So there wasn’t a huge step after that—I finished school and I started behind the bar.

S: What did you like about bartending, out of all the other classes you took?
T: The connection with people, and also making them happy—you know, when you drink alcohol. (laughs) I always think flirting is a part of my job. I’m an open person, and I don’t mind talking to everyone. But basically, even if I’m flirting with some girls at the bar—not all the time!—I do it just to make them feel good. Even if there are guys or they’re a couple, we take care of them to show them hospitality.

S: What are some common misconceptions that people have about your work?
T: They think that bartenders drink all the time; they flirt because they want to hook up after their shift; and that the job is just about having fun. But it’s not that way at all. Sometimes we do go for a beer at another place after we close the bar or on our off days. But most of it’s not about the drinking—it’s about the support in the industry. I choose certain bars because of the people working there, not for the drinks. If I go to a cocktail bar it’s because I know a friend just came up with a new menu and I want to try it. We do have fun behind the bar—after we open, of course. Before that there’s a lot of preparation. There’s a lot of homemade stuff we have to do—infusions, homemade syrups, some premixes if it’s a high volume bar. About the flirting, it’s not about what’s going to happen outside of the bar, but more about our time at the bar, and the hospitality, as I mentioned.

S: If you had to pick a drink that best describes you, what would it be and why?
T: (laughs) One of my favourite drinks is the Hanky Panky. It’s one part gin, one part sweet vermouth, and just a touch of Fernet-Branca. A female bartender from London came up with the drink. She made it because one of the English actors who went to her bar quite often asked her to surprise him with a cocktail that suited him.

S: What’s one thing you’ve learnt from your years of work?
T: How to be hospitable. I’m mostly an open person, like I mentioned, but sometimes you just really want to punch this guy or girl because they can be quite annoying. But a couple of months ago we had a workshop about hospitality, how to stay calm, and be good to everyone. It helped me a lot. You realise that maybe that annoying guy is not always like that; maybe he had a bad day, or maybe he just broke up with a girl. There could be many reasons behind it. I’m not saying I’m the best at this yet, but I’m trying my best to stay calm and still be good to every kind of person.

S: What do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t a bartender?
T: A model. (laughs) But really, when I came to Singapore many people asked me if I was a model!

S: If someone were to offer you an unlimited supply of one thing, what would you ask for?
T: Hmm, that’s a tricky question. I guess I’d go for air miles for travelling. There is a lot of beauty around the world to be seen, and sometimes you don’t have enough money; sometimes you have money but you don’t have the time; sometimes you have time and money but you don’t have a person to go with. There are a lot of ways that it might not happen so maybe the miles could help me to decide that yes, I’m going.

Find out how to create Thomas’ look here.
Thomas wears suit and coat from HUGO, which will be launched next year.