Chloé Merz on opening her new Bar "Collab"

Chloé Merz

Female Leadership in Bars: An Interview with Chloé Merz by Millie Milliken

From her first high school job at a Mexican restaurant, to winning cocktail competitions and now opening her first solo venture, we talk to Chloé Merz about what we can expect from Collab bar in Hamburg

Chloé Merz was meant to be a scientist. With a degree in environmental science, it was a surprise to her parents when Merz instead decided to pursue being a bartender. Now, with a reputation for excellence, it seems Merz made the right decision. In 2017 she won the “Made in GSA” cocktail competition and has helped numerous people open and run their own bars over the years. Now, it’s time for her to turn her hand to her own venture, Collab. So, what can we expect?

How did your career as a bartender begin?

Chloé: I was born in Switzerland and when I was 10 we moved to the States. When I was in high school I had my first hospitality job in a small Mexican restaurant, and when I moved to university I always worked in restaurants to support my studies. I graduated with a degree in environmental science and earth science, moved back to Switzerland ended up working at a snow physics lab – I was completely overwhelmed. I’m a nerd, but that was next level. I did that for a few months, and during that time I went snowboarding but broke my shoulder, so I moved back to Basel and found a job at a bar – and that was the beginning of my career.

What would you say is your style when it comes to bartending?

Chloé: I identify my cocktails as having ‘simplexity’. I’ve always been a person who thinks less is more, and I’d rather have fewer ingredients – my maximum is seven tops. Since we’re using good spirits nowadays and it’s important to recognise those in the drink as sometimes those small nuances disappear.

Tell me about your new project

Chloé: After working at “One Trick Pony” and “Angels’ Share”, I moved to Hamburg four days before the first lockdown. All the projects I had planned didn’t happen. I worked at a bar in between called “Liquid Garden” helping with menus, but I had Long Covid and decided I couldn’t work behind the bar for the time being. I’ve always done freelance work and had worked a couple of events with my (now) business partner. After a couple of drinks, we had the “schnapps idea” to open our own bar one day. Lone and behold, over a year later, an opportunity presented itself. Now here we are. We want to start with four days of opening and have it running from 6pm till midnight. The idea is to not burn people out so we’re trying to be conscious of finding a good amount of people to work in the team. If there is one thing we learned from Covid, it was no more 14 hour shifts. This way we give people the opportunity to really have enough time and capacity to spend on a hobby they enjoy. We’re also going to focus on alcohol-free cocktails and the idea is to have at least 40% alcohol-free signature drinks.

How important is it having a business partner?

Chloé: André is a good friend of my partner and I’ve known him since before I moved to Hamburg. We got to talking, I was honest about the fact that finance doesn’t interest me – the bureaucracy in Germany is next level, I honestly don’t have the energy or knowledge to navigate it, but that is where he is really good. He understands the whole process of something that would take me a week to figure out so it’s a huge relief to have someone like that by my side who I also trust.

What is the biggest challenge of running a bar right now?

Chloé: So far we’ve been pretty lucky (knock on wood). We don’t have a full team yet but we’re almost there. I’m not speaking about my team, I’m super grateful to have such incredible humans by my side – but I think in general, it has become difficult to find staff that is motivated to work those long night shifts for “ok” pay. They work very long hours and don’t have a lot of time off. André and I very much want to offer a good place to work, with fair pay and not burning anyone out.

How has being a woman behind the bar changed?

Chloé: I think that more and more women are starting to pop up on the radar. When I first started, I would show up to cocktail competitions and be the only woman. It used to be that if you were the only woman working at the bar, there wasn’t space for other females. I think that has finally changed. Instead of competing for that one spot, why don’t we support each other and make room for all of us? It’s important to support each other and I see the competition among females has shrunk and instead has grown into being more supportive of each other.

What does ‘good leadership’ mean to you?

Chloé: I don’t believe in your typical hierarchy per se. Obviously I carry a large part of the responsibility, but I think everyone’s opinion should be valued. When I worked at Angels’ Share, they were like, “We’re a team of three and you’re the first person we’ve hired, so we’re not going to stand here and tell you how to make a Manhattan, we all make sure we do this with passion.” It was very flat hierarchy and it worked – that stuck with me. These people trusted what I can do, trusted my abilities and feedback: I would love to bring that into my bar as well. I value my team, let’s develop and create this place together.