Today we’d like to introduce you to Rensel Cabrera.
Rensel, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born and raised in Miami and got my start in hospitality when I was 21 years old at Beaker & Gray. I started there as a barback and worked my way up to becoming one of the lead bartenders. That experience really shaped the way I view hospitality, cocktails, and guest experience.
At the time, Beaker & Gray expanded and opened a cocktail bar called The Sylvester, where I split my time bartending between both concepts. Working in both a high-volume restaurant and a cocktail-focused bar gave me a strong understanding of different styles of service, operations, and team culture.
When the pandemic hit, The Sylvester shut down for about a year. Once the bar was able to reopen, I came on full time as the Bar Manager to help rebuild and grow the business during a challenging period for the industry. Over time, I took on more responsibility in operations, team leadership, programming, and overall business strategy, which eventually led to being promoted to General Manager.
Since then, I’ve continued focusing on creating memorable guest experiences, building strong teams, and helping grow The Sylvester into one of Miami’s well-known neighborhood cocktail bars.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I took on the Bar Manager role at The Sylvester with very little real management experience. I had been one of the lead bartenders at Beaker & Gray, but managing a team and operating a business are completely different responsibilities. I was only 24 at the time, so I was still very young and honestly pretty naive in a lot of ways.
Coming back from the pandemic was another huge challenge. There were so many restrictions and so much uncertainty in the hospitality industry, but we adapted as best as we could and fortunately came back strong from the beginning. That experience taught me how important flexibility, leadership, and team culture really are.
The biggest personal challenge came three years ago when I became a father. Balancing late nights in hospitality with early mornings at home was extremely difficult at first. Over time, I made a lot of changes in my lifestyle — I essentially gave up alcohol, started exercising more consistently, and became much more intentional about finding balance between work and family life.
I’m still learning every day, but those experiences helped me grow a lot both personally and professionally. Today, our team is stronger than it’s ever been, and I’m proud of what we’ve built together.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
At The Sylvester, I oversee all of the beverage programs and help lead the overall day-to-day operations of the business. A huge part of my role is training and developing every staff member that comes through our doors, whether it’s bartenders, servers, or support staff. I also work closely with liquor brands and distributors to build partnerships, create events, and keep our programming fresh and relevant.
What I think we’re most known for is the culture we’ve built. Hospitality has always come before everything else for us. Whether there are 5 guests in the building or 200, we try to make people feel genuinely welcomed and taken care of. In an industry with incredibly high turnover, we’ve managed to build a team that actually wants to stay and grow together, which is something I’m really proud of.
We’ve also worked hard to make The Sylvester feel bigger than just a bar. Over the years we’ve hosted guest shifts with bartenders from all over the world, organized educational classes for the Miami bartending community, partnered with local gyms for fitness events, and constantly looked for ways to bring different communities together through hospitality.
What sets us apart is that we’ve been able to evolve without losing our identity. Trends change, the industry changes, and Miami changes fast, but six years later we’re still growing, still busy, and still pushing ourselves creatively while staying approachable. Especially in a time when the hospitality industry has struggled as a whole, I’m very proud that we’ve continued to perform at a high level while staying true to the culture and standards we built from the beginning.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I think the most important quality to my success has been leading with care. Hospitality starts internally first. If your staff feels respected, heard, and supported, that energy naturally carries over to the guest experience.
I’ve always believed leadership should feel more like a democracy than a dictatorship. I try to listen to my team, involve them in conversations, and create an environment where people feel comfortable being honest and contributing ideas. At the same time, I think being consistent and reliable is extremely important. Your team needs to know what version of you they’re getting every day.
More than anything, I try to be human. This industry can be demanding and stressful, so treating people with empathy and understanding goes a long way. I think that mindset is a huge reason why we’ve been able to build such a strong culture at The Sylvester.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thesylvesterbar.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renselito/
