‘If you roll into a country pub or classic dive bar and order a Vieux Carre, they’re not a bad venue because it doesn’t come out on block ice with a perfectly manicured twist – they’re just a venue that doesn’t excel in that sort of experience.’
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Here is our second Bartender of the Year quiz for 2021. It’s just a sample of Round 1 in the comp to determine who will be crowned Australian Bartender of the Year. So find out your score now!
Evan Stroeve (RE, Sydney), Kayla Saito (Leonardo’s Pizza Palace, Melbourne) and David Aznar (Rosella’s, Gold Coast) were selected from hundreds of bartending superstars and will now compete in the Australian finals on Tuesday 27th April.
The bar world has been talking about sustainable practices for the last five years. From early leading lights, like the UK’s White Lyan and Dandelyan to more recent acolytes like SCOUT in London, Native in Singapore, BYRDI in Melbourne and Bulletin Place in Sydney and the newly opened RE in Sydney. They all have something in common: the world’s most sustainable bars are also some of the world’s best.
The Wild Rover in Sydney’s Surry Hills is known for being a belter of a whiskey bar but they don’t just mix up whiskey drinks. Here Luke De Bono shows us one of the house specialties, the Dancing with Rosie, a thirst quenching hi-ball featuring tequila and Aperol.
“I’m organising a night where many bars and restaurants across Sydney are donating their tips to provide clean drinking water to rural Uganda with my charity 663toZERO. I would love to encourage the general public to tip big on Friday April the 16th.” – Mitch Horrocks
RE – the regenerative bar by Matt Whiley & Maurice Terzini opens today and boasts a stellar bar team
Joining Whiley behind the bar are some of the city’s best bartenders, including Evan Stroeve (Bulletin Place), Jake Downe (This Must Be The Place; Scout London) and Ho Song (Cantina OK; PS40). Apart from the exceptional level of service they will bring, the crew have creative license to work on the “Re- search” drinks…
This role involves leading the consultancy department across a number of projects for Sweet&Chilli, collaborating across a number of departments; Atypical (Hotel and property consultancy), Diageo Bar Academy, Diageo Brand Ambassadors, Cocktail Porter and S&C Studio.
The prize is incredible. One winner from each region will be flown down to South Australia from anywhere in the country and be given a two-day food and cocktail tour that celebrates all the flavours of the region.
The postponed 2020 BACARDÍ Legacy Global Final will go ahead virtually this year with a date set for the global winner to be announced 30th June 2021. The re-worked format of the competition will also offer all 40 global competitors the opportunity to secure a US$5,000 grant, in addition to competing for the global title.
“People are what make a bar great. It’s always the people. Whether it’s the staff looking after you, or the people you are with, it’s always them that make an experience amazing, or on the flipside, shithouse.”
“As a drinker myself I will avoid ordering cocktails as I do not like to wait, so we have set up our bar to be as efficient as possible and to get customers their cocktails in as little time as possible.” – Bar Manager, Mark Crawford