Changing places: who’s in and who’s out at the country’s best bars

We focus a lot on new bars here at Australian Bartender, but sometimes it helps to focus on the personnel changes going on at those bars, too. There’s a couple changes going on at some of the country’s best bars — take a look at the roundup below.

Adi Ruiz steps back from Bulletin Place; Paul Hammond is in

After seeing Bulletin Place to three wins at the Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards for Cocktail Bar of the Year, and along with his fellow business partners cementing Bulletin Place’s position in the Australian bar scene, Adi Ruiz has announced he is stepping back from the bar. He’s off to Tasmania to recuperate, and we don’t expect to have heard the last from him.

Coming in for Ruiz is Paul Hammond, who brings with him a wealth of experience (he’s undergone that famous Match Bar training in the UK) and he’s fresh from stints at Melbourne bars The Beaufort and Seamstress.

Priscilla Kinezaki joins The Barber Shop

In other moves from Melbourne, the talented Priscilla Kinezaki (pictured above) has landed at Sydney bar, The Barber Shop. Kinezaki is a welcome addition to the team on York street, having acquitted herself nicely last year in the Bartender Magazine Bartender of the Year with a Top 8 finish.

Eau de Vie Melbourne picks up a new head bartender

The award-winning Eau de Vie Melbourne has a new head bartender: Carsten Belger. His 13-plu year career began in Germany, and he was most recently leading the team at Sneaky Tony’s in Perth, when they won the People’s Choice Award for Small Bar of the Year from their WA Small Bar Association.

Daniel Gregory joins the 2015 Bar of the Year

The talented — and all round nice guy — Daniel Gregory has left his digs at Brisbane’s The APO to join the team at 2015’s Bar of the Year, The Gresham. Gregory joins a stellar cast of bartending talent at The Gresham, giving you even more reasons to hit up Brisbane’s home of American whiskey.