Behind the Bar With Bruce Kenyon

Rubies on Five Points is one of Durham’s hottest spots, in multiple senses. As you ascend the steep staircase of the bar on Main Street above Remedy Room, you can feel the temperature steadily rising. Body heat emanates from grooving patrons, making the dance floor feel like a sauna.

Perhaps that’s why Bruce Kenyon, head bartender at Rubies, is often seen sweating through a white tee, sporting an open vest—or no shirt at all—as he slings drinks to customers. The look is a feature of what Bruce calls the “rockstar lifestyle” that comes with working in an industry that requires high energy, social malleability, and crack-of-dawn hours.

“You gotta find comfort in the chaos,” Kenyon, 33, says.

Rubies offers an eclectic array of shows—dance parties that usually start around 7 p.m. for folks who gotta be up in the morning, indie showcases, a regular “bring your own vinyl night.” Pink and red lighting bounce off the stickers, polaroids, and Americana paintings that lace the walls, and lamps you’d find in a grandparent’s house dot the tables. Rubies is equally apposite for a disco or date night, and the wide range of programming brings in a diverse crowd.

Whatever energy the night gives, Kenyon is prepared to match it, even if it puts his own energy levels in the red.

“Whether I got all the energy in the world or I’m dead tired, or I just pulled an all-nighter, you just do what needs to be done,” Kenyon says. “I tell people this all the time, whether they’re customers or they’re other bartenders: If you can’t find comfort in the chaos, you’re not built for this industry.”

For folks who have crawled around Durham’s ever-changing nightlife scene over the past decade, Kenyon is a familiar face. His debut in the service industry back in the mid-aughts was as a host at the Tyler’s Taproom, formerly located on the American Tobacco Campus. Kenyon started as a host and food runner before being recruited to the bartending team as a barback.

By the time he left Tyler’s, Kenyon had become a bartending Swiss Army knife, adept at every aspect. He says bartending taught him how to be more sociable, an essential service industry skill. The rest came more naturally.

Kenyon is a Durham native—a rare breed these days. Growing up, Kenyon always worked odd jobs, like doing lawn care with his dad, who he says taught him to “make money on your own so you don’t have to go beggin’ for nothing.” He attended Durham School of the Arts for middle and high school where Kenyon says he made a point to take full advantage of the different programs offered by the school: visual art, theater, chorus, track & field, piano, and saxophone.

But none of those interests seemed to manifest into a clear career path once he graduated high school and landed at Durham Tech. He graduated with an associate’s degree around the same time that his journey into the service industry took off. Since leaving Tyler’s, Kenyon worked stints at Juju, Geer Street Garden, and Surf Club before landing at Rubies.

“I can’t say that I loved it at first but I loved being good at it, and I loved that everybody saw I was good at it,” he says, of his start in the industry. “It was effortless for me.”

Kenyon typically arrives at Rubies early in the afternoon, usually around 4:30 p.m., to make sure the bar is prepped and well-stocked for the night, taking note of any missing ingredients. Even if the staff is expecting a leisurely evening, Kenyon says it’s important to stay ready.

“Some nights, it’ll start off slow and other people will say, ‘Oh, there goes Bruce filling up that ice bin for nobody, huh?’ but sure enough, a crowd comes in and I’m over there chillin’, looking good and being happy,” Kenyon says.

In a high-stress environment where dumbassery and knuckleheadedness abound, Kenyon maintains an equilibrium. Screaming patrons don’t deter him from staying focused.

“I know if I don’t stop, all these people will have their drinks in a minute,” Kenyon says. “If I can just smile, they’ll have a drink, they’ll want to come back, they’ll tip me good, learn my name, and my job is done.”

Customers willing to order off-menu are treated to the Bruce Juice, Kenyon’s signature cocktail: A blend of gin, kiwi, lime, and agave. The ingredients come from piecing together other cocktail recipes he’s observed over the years. The drink, just like the bartender who created it, is a fan favorite.

“I always ask, ‘Do you like sweet or do you like bitter? Do you like gin? Okay, trust me,’” Kenyon says, “I serve it to them and they always love it. It never fails.”

The Future of Durham’s Social Scene

Downtown Durham’s renaissance is well-documented, but few people have witnessed the evolution as intimately as the service workers who’ve had a front-row seat to it all, navigating the changing parking rules and massive construction projects that loom large. The COVID-19 pandemic has not been kind to the service industry, and older establishments like Atomic Fern and Criterion have shuttered. Spots like Surf Club and Fullsteam Brewery, meanwhile, have battled street closures and building debris as developments go up all around them. 

“Pre-COVID, I think, people sucked,” Kenyon riffs with some sarcasm. “It was a lot more like, ‘Oh, you’re right. The sun does set on your shoulders. Whatever you say goes.’ But after COVID, I feel like people are a little bit more humble.”

Bars aren’t the only thing that have come and gone in recent years. Durham’s population remains in flux. Businesses like Apple and Google are attracting a new class of workers to the city; folks who can afford high-end living at The Novus, the 27-story building soon to be towering over Five Points. For a Durhamite like Kenyon, the change brings uncertainty.

“I fear for the future,” Kenyon says. “All these tech companies, all this development going on, I don’t know who’s going to move to Durham but for right now, we’re still holding on to this last little bit of humanity within the community and I like being a part of that.”

Nevertheless, when some doors close, others open: New bars like Rubies have found homes downtown, and with them, Kenyon says, a new appreciation for the folks working behind them.

Rubies opened in tandem with its downstairs sister bar, Remedy Room, in 2021. The live music venue, bar, and event space is owned by Luna owners Shawn Stokes and Rob Montemayor.

“Rob and Shawn are really dope,” says Kenyon, who has worked at Rubies from the beginning. “That’s another reason that motivates me to go so hard is because you’re defined by what you do. I’m working at Rubies, one of the newest, best bars in Durham so I can’t help but go hard. But having them be good to us makes me want to go harder.”

Kenyon, too, has made an impression on his bosses. Montemayor says the qualities that make Kenyon a top-notch bar manager include “his work ethic, his hustle, his smile, and his laugh.”

“I’ve been doing this for over 20 years, and seen and worked with plenty of bartenders,” Montemayor says “He’s the best bartender in Durham.”

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