Bar-Top Dancing, Breakups, A Work Family & Other Lessons In Five Years At Sycamore

John Hagan is a bartender, talent booker, and new managing partner at Sycamore (1118 Cortelyou Road between Stratford and Westminster Roads) who has been with the bar since its opening day in 2008. In advance of its 5th birthday party from 5-10pm this Wednesday, October 2 featuring DJ Slim Hug, The Frank LoCrasto Ensemble (5-7pm), free beer and champagne, tamales from La Nueva Union Bakery, Stems boutonnieres for the first 50 folks through the door (in case you’re feeling underdressed), and one of five $5 speciality cocktails to be served each of the five hours of the celebration, we asked John to take us back to the early days, and talk about his experiences at Sycamore since.

“I had been in the space a few times,” John says about the days leading up to Sycamore’s opening. “We opened the weekend of the Flatbush Frolic, which was either brave, stupid, or reckless–I haven’t decided yet. It was trial by fire.

“Just seeing the business that we did this last Frolic–because there are always a ton of people out, and this year, there were more people on Cortelyou Road than I’ve ever seen–I’m thinking, Why would we have chosen to open that day?

“The advantage of that is it introduced us to the whole neighborhood–everyone was on the street that day, so it was actually really smart. But of course,” he smiles, “I didn’t have a hand in that.”

Even without many other bars in the neighborhood at the time, John says the first year was a tough one.

“People just think we kind of slid in and filled a void and did great from day one, and that wasn’t the case. We opened in September, and so winter came quickly. We were still trying to let people know that we were here and build a clientele.

“I remember working with my partner Colleen at the time, just going, What are we gonna do? We have to find other jobs! We have to find a second job, or a third job. It was hard. We were scratching and clawing,” he says, “trying to find ways to get people through the door.”

But since then, Sycamore has certainly succeeded in getting people through the door.

“When I think about the myriad of regular customers here who I’ve gotten to know,” he says, “some of whom have come and gone, some who were here in their single days and now are married with kids, those who’ve moved away, those who’ve passed away… things change.

“This is a transitory city where you see a lot of flux, a lot of people coming and going. But, there are still a lot of people who have been here since day one, and those are the people with whom, on a personal level, I’ve come closest with.”

Photo via Remembering Ric Menello

One of John’s favorite memories of the past five years is of mushroom gravy-lover, writer and director, and Vox Pop stronghold Ric Menello, who died of a heart attack at age 60 earlier this year.

“A great moment was when our beloved friend Ric Menello danced on the bar at one point, which was a feat–we were shocked. It took a lot of massaging, a lot of convincing, but we finally got him onto the bar one night, and he walked the catwalk,” he smiles, “That’s one thing that stands out in my mind.”

But, he says, “It’s a bar, so weird moments happen on a daily basis, constantly. I will never forget the night I was serving a couple who had come in separately, met at the bar, got on really well, proceeded to get really drunk together, and left the  bar together after several hours of drinking.

“They came back within a week or two–I remember it being a very small window of time–announcing that they had been married. Of course I responded, ‘Oh, congratulations!’ But I remember just being shocked.

“They are certainly not together anymore,” he says. “I’m not sure exactly how long it took for them to break up, but it was just as fast as the courtship.”

John has a unique lens through which to view the neighborhood. While he says there hasn’t been a good old-fashioned bar brawl at Sycamore in quite some time, the combination of loyal customers, alcohol, and the “small town”-ness of Ditmas Park makes for some interesting couple (or, ex-couple) dynamics.

“I think of all the couples who have met here, lasted for a while, and then broken up,” he says. “When a couple has a bar and they break up, one person gets the bar. I’ve seen a lot of couples here not willing to give up the bar, so they go through this awkward period of coexisting in the space.

“And then you blink,” he says, “and then many months have passed, or years, and they have new partners, and everybody’s getting along.”

And then of course, there are relationships that last.

“This couple came in last week with their two-year-old daughter who used to come in when they were dating,” he says.

“I remember them coming in our first Halloween, and they were having so much fun, and they were so invested in the holiday, in the spirit of Halloween–and I remember thinking, That’s a great couple. And then sure enough, here they are five years later with a baby and one on the way, and they still stop by.

“You see a lot of human drama playing before your eyes constantly,” he says. “It’s pretty fun.”

In addition to their loyal customer base, John says he feels lucky to have the dedicated staff that they do.

“I’ve been a bartender for 14 years,” he says. “I’ve worked in a handful of bars, and I’ve never met a staff who’s had such a fraternal instinct. I had never before this, and probably never will experience a staff who’s quite so close. Marco and Andy have been here since the early days, Johnny Lupiani has been around for three years, Max has been here for at least two or three years.

“On a personal level, what was great was for two years, my girlfriend managed the flower shop–that was awesome, to be able to work in the same space for that time. We didn’t meet here–we were together for years before, and then she came in and started managing the flower shop.

“There’s always some ebb and flow,” he says, “but the staff has been pretty cohesive for a long time.”

Part of Sycamore’s success, John says, is the way everyone there treats each other.

“It’s a great place to work. When you can show up to work everyday and be glad to be there, and look forward to going to work, that bodes well.

“The management and owners have always been really good to us, and I think my recent change of status here–going from a bartender, to a bartender who managed the music calendar for three years, and now to managing partner–is indicative of how Justin and Gary and Allison take care of people.”

John says one of the reasons they’re having an all-out bash for their 5th anniversary is to thank the folks who stuck by them all summer during the closure of their basement and backyard.

“I’ll be frank,” he says. “Summer was hard. The closures had a negative impact on the business. It was terrible timing, right at the beginning of summer. But being on the other end of it, I can say we weathered it as well as we possibly could have.

“There’s never been a time when we’ve been more appreciative, and more aware, of how loyal a lot of our clientele and staff are. Going through summer, having the garden closed and having customers come in daily–regular customers who keep coming in… they have other choices. There are other gardens. On a nice summer day, they had other options to go sit in the sun and have a drink, but a lot of them chose to just keep coming back, and they stuck with us, and just sat inside in the air conditioning. That’s not lost on us at all.

“Everyone treats each other like family, and that nurtures a certain dynamic,” he says. “It’s a really special bar. It’s a unique place. I’m sure there are a lot of bars with staff and customers who would say the same thing–but you want to believe yours is the most special, right?”

Sycamore (1118 Cortelyou Road) hosts its 5th birthday party from 5-10pm on Wednesday, October 2.