Windy city workforce

This department spotlights a relatively recent addition to the workforce, focusing on the person’s educational or working background, daily responsibilities, challenges, passions, frustrations and outlook for his or her future in the field.

Name: Dan Latino Jr.
Age: 27
Job Title: Owner of local bars Matisse, Waterhouse and Bluelight
College Path: Two years at College of DuPage, two years at UIC

How you ended up here: I’ve grown up around the liquor business my whole life. Both my grandfather and father worked for liquor distributors their whole lives. I was a sophomore at Addison Trail High School when I started bussing tables at a small Italian restaurant in Addison. I loved working at night and not having to wake up early to work. By the time I was 18, I moved on to Tequila Roadhouse, where I worked as a busboy. The same group that owns Roadhouse also owned Buzz and Glow, so naturally I picked up more hours at those locations whenever they had extra hours. The whole time I worked as a busboy, I always watched the bartenders and asked them to teach me how to bartend when it was slow. About a month after I turned 21, a bartender didn’t show up for a scheduled shift. Franki Fioretti, my boss at the time, let me take the shift and I never bussed tables again. A couple of months later, I got a job bartending at John Barleycorn and stayed there for almost three years until I bought Matisse.

Who you answer to, if anyone: Customers. It’s my responsibly to show them a good time.

hours you expect to be at work: 24/7. Anything can happen at anytime, so you always have to be ready for the worst. I am usually at the bars at least 11 hours a day.

Job reputation: Fun all the time. Believe me, it’s not true.

What your friends assume you do all day: My friends think my job is not a real job. I hear it all the time from my buddy Carlo. They think I sit around, have a few drinks and relax.

What do you think people are looking for in a good bar these days? When people go out, they want to have a good time. Everything has to be right. The music, the lighting, the service, the drinks, the food, etc. If the staff is having a good time, the customers will have a good time.

Finding good help for a bar is… Hard. Everyone claims to have bartended. Everyone claims to have served since high school. Then you find out they don’t know what a Long Island is.

Best perk: Once in a while, you will come across some free tickets to a sporting event. The industry parties are always a good time as well.

Does it seem like everyone knows each other in the bar industry? Yes, there are a lot of industry parties where you get the chance to meet people from other bars. Chicago has a lot of great bar owners.

Where can you go from here: The great thing about the bar business is everything is always changing. No two bars are the same. I have a lot of future plans and concepts for bars that I look forward to opening one day.

I know it’s a good day when: I can go home and be content with what I have accomplished during the day.

Things can get tense... once the bar gets packed, I always get a little tense. It’s good though, because it keeps you on your toes.

Why you have a smile when you come to work: I know I’m surrounded by good people, and I truly enjoy my job. I can say I enjoy going to work.

At this point, is it possible for someone to order a drink you have never heard of? Of course, there is always something you’ve never heard of. People have different names for drinks in different parts of the country. Once, I had a guy order a Jager bomb by a different name.

Advice for joining the field: Be ready for long hours. It’s a great business, but you are going to miss a lot of things you’re used to doing. But if you stick with it, everything will pay off in the long run.

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