It’s that time of the year again, where the winners of the Bar Awards are announced, and the people who put so much work into giving us great drinking experiences are given their due.
Let’s get started.
The Bar Awards Luminaries presented by the House of Angostura
2019 Luminaries:
Aki Eguchi (Jigger & Pony)
Shamil Lin (BarStylez)
Winston Kwang (BeerStyle)
Inductees to The Bar Awards Luminaries are people who have greatly contributed to the growth and development of the Singaporean bar and beverage community. This award may honour an individual, a number of individuals, a group and/or an initiative. The inductees are nominated by the general public, voted by The Panel and finally decided by the Lead Panel.
The Rising Star presented by Perrier
Winner: Carmen Cheang (Gibson)
Finalists:
Benedict Poh – The Monarchy
Demitria Dana Paramita – SKAI, Swissôtel The Stamford
Mark Ng – Junior The Pocket Bar
The Rising Star is awarded to the best bartender 25 years old or younger. The candidate must be born on or after January 1, 1994 and must be working in an establishment in Singapore that serves alcohol as of the nomination date. Previous winners of this award are not eligible for consideration this year.
Restaurant Bar of the Year presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka
Winner: Tippling Club
Finalists:
Employees Only Singapore
Neon Pigeon
Caffe Fernet
This award recognises the best beverage program and bar team in a restaurant establishment that is providing their customers with a great dining and beverage experience. The nominated establishment must serve food created by a designated culinary team.
Beer Bar of the Year presented by Peroni
Winner: The Guild
Finalists:
Freehouse
Smith Street Taps
American Taproom
This award acknowledges an establishment that works hard in providing a well-curated beer selection, making beer drinking an enjoyable educational experience.
Hotel Bar of the Year
Winner: Manhattan, Regent Singapore Hotel
Finalists:
Idlewild, InterContinental Singapore
MO Bar, Mandarin Oriental Singapore
Origin Grill & Bar, Shangri-La Hotel Singapore
This award is a bid to encourage more hotels – the bastion of hospitality – to develop and create better bar programs for their guests, and in turn create more opportunities for growth within the local community. A hotel bar is classified as a bar that is managed by the hotel, using the hotel’s facilities, resources and manpower that contributes to the bar’s success. Establishments that are renting/occupying a space on hotel property are not eligible for this category.
Specialist Concept of the Year
Winner: RVLT – Wine
Finalists:
La Maison du Whisky Singapore – Whisky
Native – Regionality
Atlas – Gin
This award recognises an establishment that offers a unique, specialised and focused concept as a well curated experience. The Bar Awards hopes this category will encourage new and unique concepts to be developed which both broaden the mind and allow everyone to experience something a little different in Singapore.
Brand Ambassador of the Year
Winner: Jay Gray (Monkey Shoulder, William Grant & Sons)
Finalists:
Charmaine Ann Thio – Hendrick’s Gin, William Grant & Sons
Sam Ng – Four Pillars Gin
Symphony Loo – Campari, Campari Group
This award acknowledges the hard work and dedication of an outstanding individual who upholds the values of community, growth and education, as well as the values of their own organisation. The candidate must be based in Singapore as a valid working visa holder, hold permanent residence, or be a Singaporean citizen.
Hospitality Ambassador of the Year
Winner: Andrew Yap (The Old Man Singapore)
Finalists:
Colin Chia – Nutmeg & Clove
Guoyi Gan – Jigger & Pony
Vijay Mudaliar – Native
Which individual is a leader in the area of hospitality? On top of providing the best hospitality to his or her guests, the Hospitality Ambassador should also be encouraging others to choose and join the hospitality industry. The candidate must be working in an establishment in Singapore that serves alcohol as of the nomination date. This category is open to anyone who works in that establishment, including chefs, bartenders, waitstaff, finance/back of house, and so on.
Hospitality Team of the Year presented by Hendrick’s Gin
Winner: Manhattan, Regent Singapore Hotel
Finalists:
Jigger & Pony
The Old Man Singapore
The Other Room
This award aims to recognise the hard work and effort of a team that exudes the values of hospitality. These may include but not be limited to: making the guest feel welcome; making the guest comfortable; looking after the guest’s happiness and so forth.
Creative Cocktail Bar of the Year presented by Cointreau
Winner: Native
Finalists:
IB HQ
Operation Dagger
Tippling Club
This award aims to recognise and acknowledge the hard work and effort that a team puts into creating the most creative collection of cocktails in 2019.
New Bar of the Year presented by Campari
Winner: The Old Man Singapore
Finalists:
MO Bar, Mandarin Oriental Singapore
RPM by D.Bespoke
Idlewild, InterContinental Singapore
This award recognises and acknowledges the greatest bars that have opened within the last one year, aiming to encourage the opening of further new food and drink establishments, which thus creates new jobs and opportunities for the city.
Bartender of the Year presented by Monkey Shoulder
Winner: Bannie Kang (Anti:Dote, Swissôtel The Stamford)
Finalists:
Anthony Zhong – Shin Gi Tai
Jerrold Khoo – Jigger & Pony
Vijay Mudaliar – Native
This award aims to recognise and acknowledge the hard work of an outstanding talent within the local bar and beverage community. This person should be assessed not only on how they are during their work hours, but also how they represent themselves, their colleagues, their workplace and their community outside of work.
Bar of the Year presented by Monin
Winner: Jigger & Pony
Finalists:
Manhattan, Regent Singapore Hotel
Native
The Old Man Singapore
Which is the best bar in Singapore? This award aims to recognise and acknowledge the hard work of an outstanding bar team in the local bar and beverage community, assessed on every factor that makes a great bar. This may include but not be limited to experience, atmosphere, skills, hospitality, pricing, profitability, and cleanliness.
For the official The Bar Awards site, click here. For last year’s results, check here.
