Dear Friend Bar
Dear Friends, Clever Barkeeps
MATTHEW BOYLE AND JEFFREY VAN HORNE’S COCKTAIL MASTERY
by Lola Augustine Brown
Photos Michelle Doucette
Since opening mid-pandemic in July 2020, Dear Friend Bar has quickly become one of the best spots to head for drinks and food in Dartmouth. However, when Matthew Boyle and Jeffrey Van Horne took over that space on Portland Street, the intention wasn’t to open a bar but use it as an event space and headquarters for their popular cocktail catering company, The Clever Barkeep.
“We’d finally taken the risk to get into a brick-and-mortar place after running the business out of our homes for three years. However, we were fortunate to have a space that we could open up when a lot of our events and weddings had been cancelled,” says Van Horne, “It gave us a way to bring in revenue and keep doing what we loved.” Boyle describes the birth of Dear Friend as serendipitous. “Our original intention was to fill a gap in the market that could host 30 to 35 people, but it organically became, “Why don't we open all the time instead of just for special events?” he says.
Friends and family had been pushing the duo to open a bar for a long time. “We just didn’t want to take the risk, but then, you know, is probably the best decision we made in terms of being able to just become more of a bartending company than just an event company,” Boyle says.
Something for everybody
The Clever Barkeep and Dear Friend Bar are exceptional because of the talent involved—both Boyle and Van Horne have won a raft of Canadian and international bartending competitions—and their dedication to the industry. Boyle says the businesses allow them to reach out to several different followings. “With The Clever Barkeep, we cater to the at-home aficionado who wants to learn and really geek out about cocktails, the wedding planners and event organizers, and the brands who don’t have activation teams here, so lean on us to help with an education model,” Boyle explains. “Then you have your foodies and cocktail lovers that aren’t interested in making them at home and just want to come to a great place, and that's our Dear Friend following.”
Boyle and Van Horne are about to add a whole new group of followers through the introduction of their Barkeep Cocktails, available at Dear Friend and selected retailers by the end of summer. Although there's a thriving seltzer market in Canada, and you can get premixed vodka and gin cans, full-flavoured canned cocktails have not been executed well here, explains Boyle, “We wanted to make cocktails approachable.”
Jeff Van Horne and Matt Boyle
How it all began
Boyle and Van Horne first met when they were both working at The Bicycle Thief in 2012. “That’s where we learned how to bring cocktails to the masses and elevate them at a high volume,” Van Horne explains, “From there, we continued to work in cocktail bars and clubs. We hooked back up in 2016 and started The Clever Barkeep, where our goal was to use all the skills we’ve learned to elevate the level of bar service at events, whether they be at people’s offices or fields in the middle of nowhere, or weddings. Our passion is providing that hospitality and working on the process to make it easy for our team and, of course, enjoyable for the guests.”
Van Horne started bartending in 2007 and was always fascinated by spirits and wines; there was always so much to learn. “That still keeps things interesting for me to this day. I can come to work every day and learn something new and try to apply it,” he says, “I never expected to have a career in a profession out of working in hospitality. We've both focused hard to do that, and it's really amazing that we can do that here in Halifax because, for the longest time, most people that were professionals in the industry were in big markets cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.”
Boyle points out that although Van Horne is slow to take credit, he is part of why it is possible to have this kind of career here. “In my opinion, Jeff, Jenner Cormier from Bar Kismet, and Cooper Tardivel kickstarted the cocktail Renaissance in Halifax,” Boyle says, recalling his early days behind a bar (illegally, at age 16 at a beach resort) and all they’d serve was rum and cokes and Keith's and Caesars. “Back then, I only saw it as a summer job or student job that allowed me to get tips. It wasn't until getting to The Bicycle Thief that Jeff was able to inspire me, but also they were inspiring a city delivering that passionate hospitality and high-quality drink with a fresh juice.”
Van Horne thinks that the internet has been a huge driver of the growth of the food and beverage industry here. “It became easier for people to learn what was going on in larger markets,” he says, “And guests that want that same experience that they had on their trip to New York City or, wherever. Now not only can we provide that in Halifax, but there are people travelling to Halifax to get that sort of authentic East Coast experience and because we've got some of the best restaurants here in the country.”
An enviable menu
People aren’t just flocking to Dear Friend for killer cocktails; the food menu is superb too. At first, Boyle and Van Horne weren’t going to serve food but found out they had to when applying for permits. They employed chef Brad George, who, at the time, was working at Andy’s East Coast Kitchen, to put together a snack menu the bartenders could serve. “We were thinking the bartenders could even shuck the oysters,” Boyle explains, “But when Andy stopped doing catering, we asked Brad to be our chef. We started with a menu of five bar snacks, but he has gotten more and more adventurous with how much he could push out of a kitchen that basically has two induction burners and a sink. He’s been able to move mountains with very little.”
George’s vision has always been to create something delicious that complements the drinks and helps people enjoy the overall experience. “We have a lot of high octane drinks. We want to make sure people are feeling okay when they leave, but also that the dishes are adventurous, tasty, and approachable so that people don't feel intimidated by the menu,” says Boyle.
Almost every step of the way, the growth of Dear Friend has been organic, spilling into more outside space and adding more seating as things opened up through the pandemic. The bar initially opened Thursday through Sunday, expanded to seven days a week, and now offers lunch Wednesday through Sunday.
No place like home
Operating a successful bar in Dartmouth is a great source of pride for the pair. “We're both from Dartmouth, and we were the kids in our generation growing up telling everybody else how cool it was when they were telling us it's dangerous, and the only good thing about Dartmouth was the view of Halifax,” Boyle says. “We're both very passionate about this awesome place. For us to open it up and see how many other places are opening up too, well, it's only the tip of the iceberg.”
Having a fantastic team to rely on is paramount to the pair’s continued success—as is an atmosphere of respect for team members and providing them with valid career opportunities in hospitality. “It wasn’t until I was at The Bicycle Thief that I even knew that such a thing as career servers who were supporting homes and families, and at the time there weren't that many places that were able to employ people like that,” Boyle says. “Now, more local restaurants that have ownership that really care about the people that are doing all the work.”
Before opening Dear Friend, Boyle and Van Horne thought hard about what they liked and didn’t like about the hospitality industry. They knew nobody liked going home at 3 a.m., so they decided to close at midnight, never any later. They wanted to provide healthcare that included mental health. “We also wanted to celebrate people's side hustles. If they have another job or they have another passion, we didn’t want to penalize them for that. We give people the right amount of vacation time and ask their opinions on things. These were calculated decisions Jeff and I made in order to do the opposite of what we hated about the industry,” Van Horne says, “And it worked. People deserve respect, and we want them to stick around and see this as more than a band-aid solution to make some money when you’re in college.”
Boyle and Van Horne both talk about being in love with the fulfillment and challenges of entrepreneurship. “It is wild,” says Van Horne, “In the beginning, you want to seize every single opportunity that comes your way. You have to slowly learn that can be exhausting, and you learn to specialize and focus on the things that you do really well in the things that you really love.” Forging a path and career in hospitality has been hugely gratifying, as is being able to inspire others to do the same. “We’re both still in love with this,” Boyle says. “Absolutely,” agrees Van Horne, “It’s just about finding new ways to keep things fresh and always evolving.”
