OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION 2024
Proudly presented by Australian Bartender
Dimitri Rtshiladze, Bar Owner & Operator (Foxtrot Unicorn, Nieuw Ruin & Edward & Ida’s, Perth)
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION 2024Each year at the Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards an individual is recognised with the award for Outstanding Contribution. This award pays tribute to someone who has made a marked difference to the bar industry through their passion and dedication and who has had an outsized, positive effect on the industry.
This year’s recipient is Dim Rtshiladze, a Perth bar owner and operator who has been in the industry for over ten years. He first started gracing the pages of Bartender magazine as a young bartender, at seminal Perth bar, Mechanics Institute. He rose through the ranks and became GM, and in 2017, he picked up the gong for 2017 Bar Manager of the Year at the Bar Awards.
“I’m so grateful to have been recognised for doing something that I’ve always loved doing, especially at such an important event in the industry.”
In 2019, he went out on his own to open the multi-award-winning Foxtrot Unicorn, followed by Nieuw Ruin and, more recently, Edward & Ida’s. He has truly made his mark on the Perth bar industry and has some leading names working in his company such as Shirley Yeung and Jess Arnott.
Dim loves his small Perth bar community, saying it offers a lot of great opportunities to try different concepts and ideas. “We have a great consumer base of drinkers and diners who support small independent venues and are very willing to try anything new you have to offer,” he says. “It’s a fast-paced, expanding scene, full of passionate people and I’m grateful to have been a part of it over the years.”
Of being awarded this honour of that recognises his outstanding contribution to the industry, Dim says, it means a lot. “Attending this awards night year after year, I’ve seen so many industry mentors of mine receive this award and applauded them; I saw it as such a pinnacle of their careers. So it feels odd… maybe I’ve become one of the old guys now? That being said, I’m so grateful to have been recognised for doing something that I’ve always loved doing, especially at such an important event in the industry.”
23rd Annual Bartender Magazine Bar Awards
The Bar Awards will take place on Wednesday, 11th of September this year at Doltone House, and is just one of the 30-plus events in store for Sydney Bar Week this year, which takes place from September 7th to 11th — click here to go the Sydney Bar Week website.
And if you’re a finalist in this year’s awards, ticket sales are now open at sydneybarweek.com.au/bar-awards Tickets are exclusively available for sponsors and the bar trade, so wait until your category is announced before purchasing.