Meet the City • HotShots

Hotshots in Amsterdam, who has not been there yet? The bar where your night can begin or end in style; good music, nice company and lots of drinks and dance moves.  Aureus likes to end up there as well after our monthly drinks. Want to find out more about the ins and outs – and some juicy stories – of the Hotshots, read on!

Can you introduce yourself, please?

Well I am Kim, and I am the manager at Hotshots. I work here 4 to 5 days a week, and when I am at home I still do stuff for the Hotshots haha.

How did you end up working at the Hotshots?

I have known the guys who own the Hotshots for quite a while now. At the time, when they opened the Hotshots, I already had a job in the catering industry. But after this business closed, I ended up here. I told the owners: “if you still need people, I’m available and would really like to work here. They were fine with it, and here I am! This is already 1,5 years ago!

What is precisely your job description?

The manager of everything? No, I take care of the business in a way that it can run smoothly all the time. So, I make sure all of the staff members are present, that all of the staff members meet the requirements, I take care of the booze and that we have enough of everything. If not, I do the orders, have contact with all the suppliers and the bouncers. We have 3 owners, so I have to keep in contact with them as well. So in principle, all day all night busy with the HotShots, to be sure that everything is “check”. So that we all can do our thing, and have a lot of fun! So you can call me “Mama Hotshots” haha.

What do you like the most about your work?

I don’t see my work as actual work. This is especially the case when I am serving drinks behind the bar, what I do 4 to 5 nights a week. It is just one big party. So I do not see this job as my job. We have such a great team of people working with us, so that turns every night into a real party.

How can you survive the whole night? Because I would think that at some point you are just done with it…

At the beginning I made a big mistake of just going to sleep and waking up whenever I wanted to. Now I get my energy from setting an  alarm and to just get out of bed for maybe only an hour to for example do some groceries, because you have to have some kind of rhythm. It is ofcourse a very weird day and night rhythm that I have, since it is the complete opposite of a normal rhythm. When I have a day off, I am still very jumpy at around 2 am, haha! I am not used to go to bed early.

What are the less fun things about your work?

You don’t always have the nicest people in your bar. Things happen and you think to yourself: why did you guys do that… So even with a good company there can always be one certain person who can ruin your night. I have this bad quality that I can not let that go. It really sticks with me the whole night, and I don’t like that. It is not the case that such a night becomes less fun, but I find it harder to work in such circumstances.

Can you maybe give an example of something like that?

Well, haha. We have a lot of sororities and associations drinks, so there are sometimes people who feel the need to steal a door of a cupboard or to just demolish things. Also, people steal bottles from behind the bar, and then I think why? Why do you have to do that? I get so angry..

What is the most embarrassing moment, where you really thought, this is unacceptable?

There was this one night, and there was this nice group standing in the corner and they ordered 7 sambuca’s. So I was like fine, and I made their drinks. I then turned around, and saw that the girl was not feeling so well, and I had my doubts. The girl picked up a beer glass and threw up in it. At the time, we had slightly larger beer glasses. Yet, the beer glass was entirely full and she placed it back on the bar in front of my face. She was proud that she did not throw up over the bar or on the ground. I can’t handle people throwing up, so I had a hard time to not throw up myself, haha. She was like, good luck with that…..

This must happen quite often I guess?

Well yes, but not like that, haha. But I am surprised that most people can make it to the bathroom in time. Last week, a girl threw up over the bar and I did not even see it because I was busy. When I turned around she was trying to clean it up quickly haha.

What is your favorite drink?

I drink vodka fanta a lot. Lately I like gin ginger ale as well. But with shots, well you can’t give me Sambuca, I start to do weird things after drinking that haha. I like Jack Daniels Honey or Passoa, with the crocodile drinking game.

Where do you like to go out?

Well, I do not have much time for myself. But if I go out, I always start at the Hotshots and end at the Hotshots. In the meantime, I just go to Bubbles or Kleine Cooldown or Joop, because we know them all quite well.

Why should students come to the Hotshots?

I think that because we are so small, students can blend in with each other easily. We also have the best team of course! Out of all the bars at the Leidse square, we are just really laid back.  But I think I should ask that question to you, why does Aureus come back?

Well personally I like the music a lot, and people know us here. So then you guys give us a shout out haha!

Yes, that is because we are so small. So, we can remember faces. We can give you guys your moment of fame and we like your reaction to that. We are a small bar, but that is what makes it so fun. It is really our strongest suit.

Last but not least: what are the goals for the Hotshots in the future?

I think, just to gather as many associations and sororities as we can and just keep on going with what we are doing. We are going so steady – not to sound arrogant – and we just make it work.

Do you have any great spots in the city you would also like to learn – or tell – more about? Send your tips to our Blog Team on [email protected]!