For many people in Toronto, slinging bottles and mixing cocktails is their livelihood, and for some it may even be considered an art. Robin Goodfellow, no relation to the mischievous Shakespearean sprite, is one of those people.

As a partner in Grant van Gameren’s ever-expanding empire, this tattooed bar chef has made a name for himself as one of the city’s top mixologists. Today, Goodfellow is stepping out from under the van Gameren umbrella and making moves on his own.

“I think my most anticipated project is the Paradise Theatre,” he says of the impending revamp of Moray Tawse’s art deco cinema that dates back to the early 1900s. “There are actually four bars in Paradise.”

The most prominent bars being Osteria Rialto — the flagship collaboration with artisan pasta makers Famiglia Baldassare — and Bar Biltmore, which, Goodfellow says, “will be a second floor seafood raw bar with a little more cocktail focus than Rialto.”

Robin Goodfellow, like many students, got his start bar backing during his undergrad.

After graduating with a master of public health from the University of Toronto, he decided to say goodbye to academia and dive into the world of spirits.

While working at the foodie-centric Czehoski, chefs David Haman and Nathan Isberg’s Polish bistro that arguably changed the game and the price tag on many downtown restaurants, Goodfellow decided to apply his academic background to bartending.

“The first thing you do is form a committee, then you start reading, then experiment and conclude, and that was what I kept doing over and over for the next few years,” he says.

Goodfellow then moved on to work at Ursa, where he was approached by longtime friend Mike Webster, who at the time was opening a tapas bar with his partner at Bar Isabel, Grant van Gameren.

“I didn’t really know Grant before we partnered up. I had only met him a few times, but Mike and I had always wanted to do something together,” Goodfellow says of the serendipitous timing.

“We thought the three of us combined would be something substantial, and we were right!”

After the overnight success of Bar Raval, Goodfellow, van Gameren and Webster went on to open PrettyUgly and Harry’s Charbroiled in quick succession.

Now Goodfellow is taking leaps out on his own, with ventures such as the “Portland Spot,” a 4,000-square-foot space in the historic Scholastic building just north of King and Portland.

Working with childhood friends and Amanda Bradley, co-founder of Alo, Goodfellow says the space will be transformed by Partisans Architects into a hotel bar and lounge.

“I’ve dreamed of opening hotels, but who has the money,” he says. “So in the meantime, we took this location because we thought this concept would work really well.”

The new resto has hired on two chefs, and Goodfellow says the menu will be “internationally loved, with a lot of champagne.”

It will also feature a massive outdoor space, which we can only imagine will be a monster once the summer rolls back around.

If being a blooming restaurateur isn’t enough, Robin Goodfellow also started Little Bones, a consulting agency for bartenders where he uses his curriculum to teach industry newcomers his tricks of the trade. With Little Bones Goodfellow takes on the role of educator to help and legitimize bartending as a suitable career.

“Not everyone wants to work until 4 a.m.,” says Goodfellow.