Last night, after a great day of Bar Week workshops and Bartender of the Year judging, the top end of the bar town got down to Potts Point and up the stairs to Sweetheart’s Rooftop BBQ for this year’s Most Influential List Party.
People
People
The well-known and much admired Jeremy Shipley is moving on from his role as trainer and ambassador at Bacardi Lion, to take on a role with Sydney’s Solotel group overseeing their bars.
You may know him as the man behind Melbourne’s Agave Cartel. Alternatively you may recognise him by his collection of flower shirts (and his detailed knowledge of the origins of the different patterns on said shirts). Then again, you might recognise him from one of the dozens of bars he has graced over the years in his quest for knowledge and a great time. He also plays a mean honkytonk piano.
Chris has done the rounds at some of Sydney’s best-known venues, and has now found himself at Drink & Dine’s boozer, The Abercombie, as venue manager. Which we think is great, because he’s a good guy to have a drink with — and we have to agree with him that a Sunday afternoon beer is one of the all-time best occasions for drinking. Read on…
A lot has been written about the power of social media in our industry but don’t think for a second that is going to stop me from adding my two cents. I’m focusing on this from a business perspective as well so let’s forget about those people who post photos of their dinner, their baby bump, their dog in a tutu and so on. Their souls can’t be saved.
Red Bull Music Academy’s magazine has a great story on the storied old Melbourne nightclub, Honkytonks. As the article by Nick Connellan points out, in the spot where Honkytonks once resided there is now an Indian restaurant, called Tonka: “It’s typical of the city: new, upmarket, pricey. Totally hidden unless you know it’s there. Achingly cool, then.”
There have been a number of personnel changes taking place at Sydney’s Merivale, among them the departure of long-time group bars manager Mike Enright (who has opened up The Barber Shop since his departure). But in big news for Merivale and Sydney drinking, the UK’s drinks maven Paul Mant is stepping into the role.
Lucky are those bartenders that start behind the bar these days. Not only do they have a cornucopia of cocktailing ingredients, they’re also coming up in a world in which fine glassware, elegant bar tools and a wealth of affordable cocktail book reprints are a given. That’s in no small part to guys like Greg Boehm, who’s New York-based company, Cocktail Kingdom, has been synonymous with cracking cocktailing gear. We talk to Greg Boehm about how Cocktail Kingdom came about, and his plans to build the business in Australia.
UK drinks impresario Dre Masso has made the move from London to the considerably more down-tempo Bali.
Here it is people, it’s time for Round 2 of the Australian Bartender Most Influential List — here comes the all-important Top 50!
Industry heavyweights Jason Crawley, Mike Enright and Dylan Howarth have teamed up to create a new, wide-ranging creative agency called The Drink Cabinet.
Lachy, as he’s known, has made quite a name for himself mixing things up on Sydney’s north side. He took on a role at Kirribili bar, The Botanist, and has since been promoted — he’s now looking after both bars in the Applejack Hospitality Group. Perhaps the secret to his success so far is his keen interest in lawn bowls?