Josh Huskin
Derik Cortez dedicates significant effort to educating his staff in the art of hospitality.
Managing partner at Sojourn
"I really loved bartending, so I quit my job."
A sojourn, by definition, is a temporary stay. It’s also a fitting description of many bartenders’ lives. Moving from place to place and gaining experience and the freedom to try new things along the way is a hallmark of the cocktail slinger’s trade.
For Derik Cortez, managing partner of newish downtown bar Sojourn, his latest project is the culmination of those years of experience behind the bar — and sometimes behind the scenes — that began at 21. Cortez was in college and getting over a rough romantic breakup when he saw a late-night television ad for bartending school. He took the leap, and on his first shift as a barback he made $280, a princely sum for a night’s work in 1998.
“I really loved the bar life. I really loved bartending, so I quit my job,” Cortez said.
Cortez worked to combine the speed needed to be successful in dive bars with the ability to craft cocktails for upscale establishments. Eventually, George’s Keep recruited him. There, he adopted the bar’s high-end but approachable cocktail philosophy. That outlook moved with him to Jazz, TX, the underground bar and music venue in the basement of The Pearl’s Bottling Department building.
When Jazz, TX closed as part of state-mandated COVID-19 lockdowns, Cortez looked to future projects. He had already been working on his own downtown bar but stepped back from that lease when the pandemic hit. That distance gave him time to consult for a bar in Midland and participate in an online mentorship program organized by the University of Houston and Hilton hotels.
He also consulted on the bar programs at Mixtli Progressive Mexican Culinaria and Box St. All Day restaurants.
In 2020, Cortez was approached about the downtown space he’d previously planned to open — the former location of shuttered craft cocktail haven Juniper Tar — but things were still in flux due to the COVID crisis. But, in spring of 2021, the timing was finally right, and he opened Sojourn on Aug. 5 of this year, steps from the Frost Tower.
Eager to avoid pretentiousness, Cortez kept Sojourn’s décor light and bright. His vision was to create a space where guests can escape.
“It’s OK to come in shorts,” he said.
Cortez’s busy schedule includes consulting for another bar in Midland, which he's considering becoming a partner in. He’s also got two separate projects going in San Antonio, including on the River Walk’s southern reach and another on the West Side.
The pandemic created a reset of the industry, Cortez said. But, to his mind, some spots have veered in the wrong direction. He’s confident his dedication to educating his staff in the art of hospitality and seamless service will transcend current and future projects.
“The hospitality industry is the only one where you shadow somebody for a day then you’re on your own,” he said. “We needed to be shaken up and realize, ‘Hey, we’re doing this wrong.’”
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