By now, Victor Abeln might be the most famous bartender in the Netherlands. Not surprising, as the host of First Dates, he attracts millions of viewers annually. A conversation about the hospitality profession and its societal importance. ‘As a bartender, you are like a Swiss army knife, you must be able to handle all situations.’
Ask Victor Abeln about the key qualities of a good host and the beautiful aspects of the profession, and his bright blue eyes shine even more than they usually do.
Being a bartender and host on First Dates is not a role, it’s who he is, he emphasises.
Abeln, who grew up in Epse, near Deventer, but has been living and working in Amsterdam for years, studied sociology and ended up in hospitality. He was a bartender at café De Wetering, manager and bartender at Sexyland.
It’s all about the guests
He knows the ropes and understands what makes a bartender a good host. “I’m not about entertaining, it’s not about me, but about the guests and their experience.” Even now that he is often recognised, he knows how to quickly turn the conversation around. “Behind the bar, I’m always at ease.”
That’s also what he does with his First Dates guests: make them feel at ease. That’s necessary. “You get a microphone, you’re powdered. Everything is different, and it’s also a blind date. I try to bring the world back to the bar and a bartender, which is a familiar environment for most people. Then you see them relax. They forget the cameras and just have a conversation.”
Actually, he saw how hospitality works as a ten-year-old boy in Domburg. “There, I went with my parents and sister to a luxury restaurant for the first time. The waiter then told us that they also brought up mammoth teeth while fishing. I thought that was something. Come back tomorrow, he said.” With a big smile: “Then I got such a mammoth tooth. If you’re talking about service.”
Want to read more? You can find the rest of the article in our revamped hospitality Info.