photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
Rubén Tree serves the author a “Voodoo LeVeaux.”
Rubén Tree has done a lot of living in the 13 years between his graduation from Germantown High School and his current gig tending bar at The Second Line in Midtown. But the first thing he had to do was learn to walk again.
“I tore a meniscus in a sports accident in high school and was in a wheelchair for nine months afterward,” Tree says. “My doctor told me it would be hard for me to ride a bike again, but I bought one anyway, and a friend and I ended up riding cross-country from Memphis to Portland, Oregon. It took us two months.”
That trek started Tree on a multi-year odyssey through three countries that didn’t bring him back to Memphis until last spring.
“I stayed in Portland for a couple of years,” he says, “then I decided I wanted to go to Guatemala to attend a school for yoga teacher training. That’s also where I began bartending.”
After two years in Guatemala, where he fulfilled his dream of learning to teach yoga, Tree moved to Honduras, specifically to the island of Utila, where he taught yoga and tended bar — a combination of careers that first arose out of necessity, and one that he maintains to this day.
“Usually, yoga teachers aren’t paid very much,” Tree says. “So they have to pair teaching with another way to earn a living. Bartending is a good fit for me. Part of yoga practice is being intentional, so paying attention to someone sitting at my bar, intentionally being kind to someone, is a kind of yoga.”
After a few years in Honduras, a relationship inspired Tree to move again — this time to the cooler climes of Québec City, Canada. Unfortunately, the move coincided with the onset of the Covid pandemic.
“I spent the entire Covid period in Québec City and Montreal. After the pandemic ended and my relationship ended, I felt the need to come back home to Memphis, where all my family is. I’d been away for a long time and I came back knowing how to speak three languages. My grandmother calls me the white sheep of the family,” he says, laughing.
Yoga teaches you to be more aware. And in a way, bartending also teaches me to be more aware: How people are responding to certain things; how many drinks have they had? It’s all about finding that delicate balance. People will have a lot more fun and drink a little bit less if you’re engaged with them, paying attention. — Rubén Tree
Back in Memphis, Tree began bartending at the now-defunct Paramount on Front Street, before landing his job at The Second Line in the summer of 2024. It’s a place where he feels comfortable.
“I love New Orleans and I love Cajun food and culture, so this place is a perfect fit,” he says. “I like to think of bartending as a way for me to enlighten people to laughter and joy. Different spirits make people do different things, so I want to design a cocktail for someone that’s going to make their day.”
“If I were a customer, what would you design for me?” I ask.
“Gin would be my spirit of choice for you.”
“Excellent decision.”
“So, I’m going to make you a drink I call the ‘Voodoo LeVeaux,’ he says. “It has a base layer of Gray Whale Gin, then I add Crème de Violette, Luxardo Maraschino Originale, Campari Milano Bitters, and a dash of simple syrup.”
The concoction is soon sitting before me in a coupe glass. It has a rich, plummy color, and the texture is ever-so-slightly syrupy. The flavors are complex, assertive, and adventurous, much like the man who blended them. It’s a splendid drink.
“Good call on the cocktail,” I say. “This is right up my alley. How does that work?”
“Well, yoga teaches you to be more aware,” Tree says. “And in a way, bartending also teaches me to be more aware: How people are responding to certain things; how many drinks have they had? It’s all about finding that delicate balance. People will have a lot more fun and drink a little bit less if you’re engaged with them, paying attention. My job is to make sure they’re having a great time and enjoying their cocktail, not just slamming them back, alone.”
Reader, I’ll be honest: Bartending as yoga was not a concept that had entered my brain before coming into The Second Line on this sunny Friday afternoon, but it makes absolute sense coming from Rubén Tree.
“Americans see yoga as a way to get fit, to get buff, to look good,” he says. “But it’s really about elevating people, bringing oneness. We want everyone to rise together.”
Amen to that, Mr. Tree.
The Second Line is located at 2144 Monroe Avenue in Overton Square.
