Sydney bar Vasco’s head bartender, Luke Ashton, took out the Diageo World Class competition last week and in doing so secured $100k towards the opening of his own bar.
Ashton beat competitors from all over the country in the multi-round competition, including second place’s Evan Stanley (The Black Pearl), and Rinna Kato (Bacchus), who finished in third.
“I’m really excited for what lies ahead for me as a bartender and to bring my vision for a bar to reality,” said Ashton.
Ashton is now preparing for the global finals of the World Class competition, and will have last year’s winner Tim Philips on hand to ask for advice on preparing for the comp.
“I hope I can do Australian bartending proud and bring home the trophy for the second year running,” Ashton said.
Congratulations to Luke and all the finalists!