Graz
OUR GOODMAN FAMILY
Meet Graz, our Bar Supervisor
at Goodman City.
Grazyna – or Graz, as she’s better known – first came to London about 23 years ago and fell in love with the city. When she’s not at Goodman, you can probably find her walking the British coast or somewhere in Kew Gardens enjoying her latest book or, possibly, watching her favourite movie of all time, True Romance, yet again…
“I first came to London on holiday for two months,” says Goodman City Bar Supervisor Graz. “And then stayed four.
“I loved the vibe of it. I met so many people, speaking so many different languages, there so many different foods, so many places to go, I loved the diversity: It was very different to Poland back then.
Since starting in hospitality about 20 years ago, Graz has always worked as part of a bar team. She joined Goodman City in September 2011, not long after it opened and still enjoys it.
“But that’s also a reflection on everyone, not just me and my colleagues at the bar. It’s the entire floor staff, the kitchen. There’s a sense of… I don’t know how else to describe it but ‘community’.”
Graz has been with Goodman since 2011, starting as a bartender and moving her way up to bar supervisor “What I like the most is that it’s a hangout. Some people come here, not even necessarily for a drink, they’ll come to see how we are, to chat.
Music plays a big part in the morning set-up – “we play everything, yesterday it was Spanish, today was German hip hop” – and in Graz’s life generally. As for the first record she bought, “well, my mother bought for me, it was Prince, Purple Rain. I was upset because I wanted Madonna, True Blue!” That’s quite a risqué album for your mother to have bought it? Graz laughs. “My mum didn’t understand the lyrics which helped!”
If eating at home, Graz is a keen cook, and a good one, with a specialty that wanders far from the Goodman menu. “I make great ramen from scratch, with lots of spice. I love that. I make my own stock and I’ll freeze a batch. I change the toppings and I can eat ramen on hot days, cold days, any time.”
When it comes to eating at Goodman, however… “Tuna tartare to start. Then Sirloin, medium rare, it’s the perfect amount of fat and marbling for me. Vegetables on the side. The cheeseboard. I don’t have a sweet tooth but if I had to have a dessert, it’s the cheesecake. It’s been on the menu since day one, and it’s still amazing.”
More importantly, what would this Bar Supervisor like to drink with her dinner. “I would start with a Manhattan. Then red wine, a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, or something heavy from California. And then an Old Fashioned. After so many years behind the bar, I like the strong cocktails.”
Credits
Interview by Neil Davey
Photography by Tom Bowles