Check Out Stephen De Haan’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen De Haan.

Hi Stephen, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I never planned on a life in hospitality. I enrolled at Georgia Tech to study computer science, picked up bartending shifts to cover tuition, and quickly discovered I loved the craft of service more than I loved code. Competing in flair bartending competitions in the late nineties taught me precision, pace, and how to win over a room one guest at a time. That foundation still shapes how I lead teams today.
At twenty four I took my first leap. I opened East Andrews in Buckhead, which grew into the Andrews Entertainment District with multiple venues under one roof, including an early speakeasy called Prohibition. When the property changed hands in 2015, I saw the chance to create what I had always envisioned for downtown Atlanta. By summer 2016, we opened Red Phone Booth inside the historic Dailey’s building with a restored London phone booth for the entrance and a cocktail program built on fresh juice, proper ice, and historic recipes.
Food became the next step. From the beginning I partnered with Greg Grant, whose culinary background was critical. Together we created Amalfi Pizza upstairs from the speakeasy. We trained in Naples, studied AVPN technique, and craned in authentic Italian ovens to make sure the pizza was true to its roots. The idea was simple: enjoy a Neapolitan dinner, then step downstairs to the lounge. That pairing became part of our Atlanta DNA.
Expansion followed naturally. In 2019 the second Red Phone Booth in downtown Nashville on Repeal Day. The city embraced the ritual, and the lounge quickly built its own community of members. Two years later, we returned to Buckhead, just steps from Amalfi Cucina and Mercato, allowing guests to recreate the dinner-then-lounge sequence that works so well downtown.
Today it is no longer just my story. It is the story of a team that cares deeply about classic cocktails, a curated humidor, air quality that keeps guests comfortable, and a kitchen that respects dough and heat. We have grown by protecting standards and by welcoming people into a club that still feels like Atlanta at its best.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing about my path has been smooth. That is part of why I love the work. Early on I learned the difference between momentum and maturity. When I first began building in Buckhead I was underfunded and had to make leadership changes, step in myself, and get every bill current within a couple of months. That season taught me to protect the standard and move quickly when something is not working.
Starting over downtown was no easier. When the Andrews property changed hands in 2015, I took what guests loved at Prohibition and rebuilt it inside the historic Dailey’s building. We restored a London phone box for the entry and committed to doing cocktails and cigars at a very high level. It sounds romantic now, but the reality was construction delays, aging infrastructure, and a long fight to earn every inch of that room.
Authenticity demanded harder choices. Food was never optional for me, so we created Amalfi upstairs. That meant importing massive Italian ovens and threading them into a century-old building. Anyone who has ever installed heavy equipment in a historic space knows it is a puzzle with real costs. We chose that path because authenticity mattered. My partner Greg Grant brought the culinary discipline that matched the precision we had set on the bar side.
The pandemic tested everything. Closing was one challenge. Reopening was another. We invested heavily in air purification and sanitation when revenue was most uncertain. We installed needlepoint bipolar ionization and adopted hospital grade cleaning protocols so that cocktail and cigar lovers could share a room with confidence. It was a serious capital decision during a fragile moment, and it proved the right one for our guests and our team.
Nashville brought new lessons. We opened our second Red Phone Booth there on Repeal Day of 2019 in a building more than a century old. It took patience and persistence to navigate codes, construction, and a hundred small decisions that ultimately created the feeling people now experience when they walk through the booth. The celebration of opening week was unforgettable, but it was earned the hard way.
Texas proved that timing is not always yours to control. We began working on The Colony in 2019, and it finally opened in March of 2023. Markets shifted, supply chains broke, and timelines stretched beyond what anyone wanted. The only way through was to keep the standard fixed while allowing the calendar to bend.
Buckhead felt personal. Returning in 2021 was like coming home, but even then the work was uphill. We took over a former brewery space, integrated our air systems, aligned the room to our service choreography, and connected the experience next door to Amalfi Cucina and Mercato. Opening day is just a milestone. The real test is the thousand details that follow if you want the room to feel effortless.
Membership added another layer of complexity. Our model requires a code because it supports hospitality at a higher level, yet we also wanted first-time guests to feel welcome. The solution was to maintain the ritual while partnering with hotel concierges and giving members ways to extend access. The code still matters, but the door leads to something warm and human, not a clique.
Every stage of growth has come with challenges. Historic buildings test you. Construction humbles you. A black swan event forces you to rethink everything. Through it all I have learned to be selective about growth, to say no to shortcuts, and to invest in people and systems before chasing volume. If you stay anchored to the guest experience and hold the standard, you can take the hits, adjust, and still deliver a night that feels special.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create immersive, membership focused speakeasy lounges where every detail matters, from classic cocktails to cigars to the very air you breathe. Red Phone Booth opened in 2016 inside the historic Dailey’s building downtown, where guests enter by dialing a secret code on a rotary phone tucked inside a restored red British kiosk.
Food completes the experience. Downtown, Amalfi sits directly upstairs, and in Buckhead, Red Phone Booth is only steps from Amalfi Cucina and Mercato. Guests can enjoy a true Italian dinner and then step into a proper cocktail club without ever leaving the block.
What I value most is consistency. Fresh juices, precise recipes, hand chipped ice, a curated humidor, and a service culture that knows your name. Membership keeps the room intimate, while concierge partnerships ensure that first time visitors still feel genuinely welcome.
What sets us apart are the standards you can feel. We were early adopters of hospital grade needlepoint bipolar ionization and layered ventilation systems so cocktail lovers and cigar lovers can share the room comfortably. That attention to comfort and craft is the difference you notice ten minutes after stepping through the booth and again the moment you return.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I lean on two types of resources. One keeps me grounded in classic hospitality. The other helps me understand where artificial intelligence is taking our industry so I can use it to elevate the guest experience rather than shrink it.
On hospitality I return to Danny Meyer. Setting the Table is still the best field manual I know for building a people-first culture that scales. His framework of enlightened hospitality puts employees first so they can put guests first, with results that ripple to community and investors. That order of priorities has shaped how I hire, train, and measure success. His idea of “constant gentle pressure” is also a mindset I carry forward. It is about creating consistent outcomes without losing humanity.
On AI I start with Mo Gawdat. Scary Smart is a clear and urgent guide to where AI is headed and why values must lead the way. It is not anti-technology, it is a call to build wisely because superintelligent systems will magnify whatever we teach them. Solve for Happy is the counterweight that keeps me honest about purpose and focus, and his Slo Mo podcast gives me a steady stream of thoughtful conversations about ethics, resilience, and meaning. Together, those works help me translate the AI conversation into choices that protect guests and support teams.
Peter Diamandis is another touchstone. His books Abundance and The Future is Faster Than You Think challenge me to look past fear and see how exponential tools can deliver better personalization at scale. His Abundance 360 community pushes me to ask a daily question: how do we use technology to remove friction so our people spend more time knowing guests by name and less time chasing tasks.
There is a lot of debate about AI and job cuts. My stance is simple. AI should take chores, not jobs. Automating repetitive back-office work creates time for bespoke moments that only a great host can deliver. Research from McKinsey shows the productivity upside is massive if we apply it to the right problems. The World Economic Forum reminds us that disruption is real, which is why reskilling and redeploying people into higher-touch roles is the right play. In hospitality that means letting technology surface preferences and context while humans deliver care, memory, and warmth.
A few practical tools already help me put this into practice. OpenTable provides guest profiles and automated communication so a first-time visitor feels like a regular on their second visit. Tripleseat makes it easy to design and sell distinct experiences, which aligns with our event-driven culture. Lightspeed’s loyalty and data features connect what happens at the table or bar with how we follow up afterward. None of these replace hospitality. Used well, they give it more surface area.
If I had to distill it all into one line, it would be this. Danny Meyer reminds me that business is about how you make people feel. Mo Gawdat reminds me that tools are getting powerful very quickly and our values must lead. Peter Diamandis reminds me to design with optimism. Put together, the goal is not a leaner club. The goal is a smarter back end so the front of house can deliver a more personal night for every guest, every time.

Pricing:

• Associate Member – $400
• Premium Locker Member – $1,000
• Executive Membership – $2,000
• Corporate Membership – $4,000

Contact Info:

• Website: https://redphonebooth.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rpbatlanta/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rpbatlanta/
• Twitter: https://x.com/rpbatlanta
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@redphoneboothofficial
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/red-phone-booth-atlanta-8

Image Credits
Credit – Red Phone Booth