Top of the Morning, Aug. 23, 2024

Bellying up with ...

On Fridays, we’ll spotlight the men and women serving up cold ones and conversation in our neck of the woods. Let us know about your favorite bartender by emailing ltaylor@news-gazette.com .

Urbana High School grad Dominique Styles was “a little shy” to bartending when he first started in the service industry.

“I wasn’t really interested in the pressure of it,” he said. “And then I got to the point where there wasn’t really any dodging it when it came to expanding or furthering experience.”

He’s worked at Destihl and Seven Saints but is currently bartending at Collective Pour, where he doesn’t have to worry about handling both food and drinks.

Over time, Styles has learned to embrace the pressure and can speak knowledgeably about all sorts of cocktails, but His favorite part of the job is the people.

“Champaign-Urbana, Savoy, they’ve become this place where so many different cultures come together, and what better way to get to know a little bit about those cultures, those kinds of people including the locals, than to serve them at a time they’re relaxing or de-stressing from the day?” Styles said.

It was too hard to choose one favorite drink to serve at Collective Pour, so here’s his top three: their margarita, old fashioned and whiskey sour, which is his usual order if he’s drinking.

Styles sees himself staying in service but pursuing more managerial positions. For now, he’s happy to get to know his regulars, including at Tuesday night trivia.

”I’m on I call it a ‘last-name basis’ (with many customers) because when you see it on a tab it’s usually last name first,” Styles said.

He likes to greet people by name and even have a drink to sample if he knows their taste.

”It’s nice to be seen by somebody, right? If I can add that for a little stint in somebody’s day, it’s a cool thing to do.”

Away from the bar, Styles says he’s a poet; you can hear from him at open mic nights over at the Gallery Art Bar in Urbana. (While you’re there, look for Anastasia Pennington-Flax, a bartender we featured in January!)