THE PROFESSIONALS
The genuine, ginger-bearded barman
Meet David Gulyas, FOH manager at Toronto’s beloved bistro La Palette
By MARTA S
If you’ve visited La Palette on Queen West more than once, chances are you’ve met and been served by FOH manager David Gulyas. With a low, booming voice and big, red beard, David — often outfitted in some dapper vest and tie combination — is as hard to forget as his warm and genuine style of service.
He tells great stories, is quick to laugh, and — after 16 years working professionally in the industry — the man knows his shit behind the bar. Industry workers love to stop into La Palette before last call if we can swing it, and I know I’m always happy to see this guy when I come in after a long shift. David will usually regale us with some Hungarian folk tale, or hand out some exotic, hard-to-pronounce alcohol to sample, and the stress of the day will melt away.
The minor mixologist
David was born in Budapest, Hungary and came to Toronto with his family when he was seven years old. Until he turned 17, however, his parents would send him back to his homeland for a few months every year. It was during those magical months abroad in a lakeside community that David first became exposed to tending bar — in a way — at the tender age of 13.
As someone of 100% Eastern European background myself, I can tell you this is something I don’t have a hard time imagining.
“My uncle had this little beachside bar there in Hungary,” David recalls. “My cousin and I ran a little paddleboard and windsurfer rental shop within sight of [it]. Some days, when we just wanted to party and not work, we’d go behind that bar and start serving drinks.”
The local authorities, it seems, had absolutely no problem with the idea of minor mixologists.
“The local police had a car that would make the rounds of this lake,” David continues. “There was one officer who would drop by the bar, just to ‘check in’. So for him we would take this big Fanta bottle and fill it with half vodka, half Jagermeister. We would give it to this cop and he would be on his way. That’s the first mixed drink I remember making!” he says, laughing. I dub this concoction “the David Special”.
But David tells me his first real bartending job was at a bar owned by his father.
“My dad bought a little bar in Aylmer, Ontario, where the Ontario Police College is,” David explains. “And my family lived in Toronto — we lived in the city. My dad just wanted a way to get out from time to time. I was 17, and I would go down there and work from Friday night through Sunday. We were the only bar in town. So that’s where I started bartending. And deep frying,” he adds jokingly.
“I stopped feeling subservient”
Eventually, David began bartending in Toronto proper. Over the years, he’s graced the bars of Nota Bene, the Spoke Club, the original Le Papillion on Church Street, and — most notably for him — the now-closed Paramour on Ossington. It was there that he got to work closely with manager and beloved superstar server, Adly Gawad (Splendido), whom David, beaming with genuine affection, remembers as “just this absolutely fantastic, crazy man.”
“When we opened [Paramour], Adly brought this older, Splendido-type crowd in. This was before I was comfortable being myself around the higher-end, wine connoisseur types. You know, that old-time, martini-drinking, can-tell-the-difference-between-one-drop-of-vermouth-or-two crowd,” he elaborates with a grin. “And Adly was just very encouraging. He taught me that as long as you’re prepared, as long as you use your language well, everything will be fine.
“That’s where I learned to be comfortable speaking the way I do with anyone, and that was probably the biggest shift for me, professionally,” he continues. “Realizing I didn’t have to change myself for the job. That was when I stopped feeling subservient in the service industry. It’s when I started feeling like I was bringing something to the table, and I could speak in a way to command respect.”
Playing with patrons
Seeing David move between guests and tables at La Palette — where he started working in 2013 after being a regular there himself — it’s hard to imagine him ever being uncomfortable among any clientele. It’s this confidence that helps cultivate his favourite aspect of the job, something he describes as “playing with people.”
“It’s not manipulation, and not necessarily puppetry,” he clarifies. “From the moment people come in, I say ‘hi,’ and it’s how they say ‘hi’ back. It starts there — seeing how people act or react. It’s seeing how you can mold an experience out of different people.
“I try to pull a good experience out of everybody,” he continues, “but some people just need a little more positioning so they can realize that where they want to be is where they are. I love talking to someone who maybe doesn’t know how to relax, or doesn’t know how to be polite initially — maybe they just came from a bad place, or they’re stressing about something. Being able to find that switch to make them realize, ‘Hey, I’m here to have a better time’ — that’s my favourite part of this job.”
David’s natural affinity for genuine service often turns his guests into his friends. “It’s really created a genuine collection of friendships that’s come from just being polite to people,” he says humbly. “Nice things happen, like people will bring me a book they think I might like.”
That, or people will bring him the opportunity to open a brand new restaurant with an entirely unique concept down in Nicaragua. Which is exactly what happened to David several years ago.
Listen to how one of David’s service-related friendships led him to open Manhattan — León, Nicaragua’s first ever American-style cocktail and sushi bar.
“How to Take Money from White People”
Manhattan still operates today, run by an entirely local staff. Helping locals abroad garner better opportunities for themselves through work in the service industry is a passion of David’s, particularly in parts of the world where the service industry isn’t the big business it is here.
“My long-term plan is to do destination hospitality,” David tells me passionately. “I love to travel. I want to take my daughter around the world. And I came back from Nicaragua wanting to bring people from places like Toronto to much different environments [like León], but still provide them with a similar service style.
“When we were in Nicaragua, we joked that we wanted to open a hospitality school that taught ‘How to Take Money from White People’!” he says with a laugh. “Not swindling, of course, but what you have do to maximize your return as a worker [in the service industry]. That’s still my dream. I want to help people who don’t know how to take our money, take our money, because [as patrons] we’re willing to give it to them.
“My wife and I went to Sri Lanka last year for five weeks,” he remembers, “and we went to some of the very high-end hotels to check those places out. And I can’t help it — if I sit at a bar or in a restaurant, I’m clocking every detail. I’m looking at all the guests, I can tell when someone wants something, and I found myself often looking at the servers and thinking, ‘Oh, man! Come on! Offer that guest this!’, you know? You want people who deserve it to make money off this [industry].
“There are so many people in places that just haven’t interacted with how we spend our money here [on food and beverage], and how we’re more than happy to spend it. So that’s part of my long-term plan. To share that knowledge.”
Anyone, anywhere would be lucky to learn from a seasoned pro like David. Go visit him at La Palette — when you’re happily, almost giddily giving him your money because of the fantastic service you’ve received, you’ll know it’s true.
Marta S is a freelance writer and bartender living and working in Toronto. If you or someone you know would like to be profiled on The Professionals, email her at marta@behindtheboite.com.
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