Canadian bartender, Keegan McGregor, has won the title of World Class Global Bartender of the Year 2024.

Fords Gin, the London Dry Gin created by Simon Ford and tenth generation master distiller Charles Maxwell, has announced the opening of its new bar and brand home.

London’s famously vibrant nightlife area has become even more so with a rash of recent openings. Oli Dodd drinks in the atmosphere.

Menu of the month: Dram

29 August, 2024

Dram was opened in November 2023 by Chris Tanner, Jack Wallis and Martyn ‘Simo’ Simpson, who had previously worked together at Soho whisky bar Milroy’s and later Silverleaf. 

The representative group for UK hospitality has criticised government plans to ban smoking from beer gardens, outside restaraunts, sports stadiums and outside hospitals.

Himkok introduces new menu

22 August, 2024

Oslo cocktail bar, Himkok, has unveiled its new menu Beats & Sips in collaboration with Sony Music Norway, to launch 26 September. 

The Cambridge Public House in Paris saw a 30% increase in sales during the summer Olympic Games 2024.

Brujas launches new menu

15 August, 2024

Mexico City’s all-female cocktail bar Brujas has launched its 2024 menu in the form of a classic comic book.

London bar Oriole will open its new permanent space in The Yards, Covent Garden on 28 August.

Seoul’s bar scene soars

07 August, 2024

South Korea’s capital is one of Asia’s fastest-developing bar scenes. Shay Waterworth caught up with Charles H head bartender Odd Strandbakken to find out why.

The UK’s largest pub and bar owner, Stonegate Group has announced the agreement of a refinancing package to address its £2.2 billion debt.

Alquímico, the Cartagena bar founded by Jean Trinh, was named World’s Best Bar at the 18th annual Spirited Awards at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.

Shay Waterworth reports on the unprecedented success of the Hong Kong newcomer bar in topping the table of Asia’s 50 Best Bars.

Lorenzo Antinori’s ‘cocktail popolari’ concept is dialled into nailing the classics. Simplicity, accessibility and balance are the focus for its Italian menu of classic cocktails. 

Sub Astor in São Paulo has garnered a reputation for using foraged ingredients. But it’s the biodiversity from which those ingredients come that offer the real excitement, says Shay Waterworth.

Rosewood London has announced the appointment of Andy Loudon as its director of bars, returning to the UK after nearly two decades of experience within the international hospitality industry. 

In its 15th year, London Cocktail Week has become a not-for-profit business following a successful soft launch of the initiative in 2023.

The Cambridge Public House in Paris has become the world’s first bar to achieve B Corp certification.

For 15 years Sub Astor has been a popular spot in São Paolo. Over that time the bar has welcomed some of the industry’s biggest names to conduct guest shifts and its latest menu is the sixth edition of its Biomes of Brazil concept. 

London’s Swift Borough has launched its new cocktail menu titled South of The River, showcasing 14 cocktails that explore underrated parts of South London.

The Dead Rabbit team and managing partner Jack McGarry are expanding the Irish pub out of Manhattan, New York and into Austin, Texas.

Martha May Markham of Swift in London has won the UK final of the Unrivalled Classics cocktail competition by No.3 Gin.

Mia Johansson and Bobby Hiddleston, who co-founded Swift with Roisin Stimpson and Edmund Weil, are to leave the London bar group this summer.

Licorería Limantour co-founder Benjamin Padrón has announced his departure from the Mexico City-based bar and its associated venues.

West London’s Viajante87, the bar led by Pietro Collina and Veronica Di Pietrantonio, has announced a takeover event across three bars in three different countries on the same night.

Owned by Michael Sager, Equal Parts the Hackney, London-based bar has launched a new menu to shine light on the diversity of grapes-based liquors and wines from various regions including Porto, Cognac and Austria.

Applications are now open for the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award for The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024.

Bar Les Ambassadeurs at Hôtel de Crillon in Paris will launch a new menu called ‘A Sense of Taste, Summer Harvest’ on 15 July as the third volume of its seasonal menu series.

Sandeep Kumar, co-founder of The Wise King, has announced the opening of a second bar in Hong Kong’s Soho district.

Hugo Gallou and Hyacinthe Lescoët, co-founders of The Cambridge Public House in Paris, have acquired Little Red Door following a period of administration.

Oli Dodd meets Tommaso Cecca, the man behind both the bar and the brand at Camparino in Galleria.

Sala Gaspare is the latest space opened inside Milan’s Camparino in Galleria.

Coa Shanghai has announced that it will be reopening in a new location, months after a government renewal project forced it to close.

Le 300 Bar, located at The Maybourne Riviera hotel in the south of France, has introduced a new cocktail menu, Contraste.

Following the success of its first year, Italy’s Lecce Cocktail Week (LCW) is set to return for its second year from 10-16 June 2024.

The Donovan Bar at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair has unveiled a new menu inspired by traditional fairy tales and stories.

Bar consultant Jack Sotti will be launching hidden bar Archive & Myth beneath London’s Hippodrome Casino in June.

Peruvian bar Sastrería Martinez is launching its new menu this month titled Collection 24/25.

Artesian bar at The Langham, London, has announced its new cocktail list Alter Ego, launching on 29 May.

The team behind New Delhi-based cocktail bar Sidecar, two-time member of The World’s 50 Best Bars, has announced the opening of a new venue called The Brook.

Bar Les Ambassadeurs at Hôtel de Crillon has just launched the latest edition of its seasonal menu, A Sense of Taste: Spring Harvest. 

Xavier Padovani’s boundless enthusiasm and determination to ensure positivity in the workplace have helped Experimental Group grow over nearly 15 years.

The first set of Pinnacle Guide ‘Pins’ have been announced with 37 bars across seven countries making it onto the initial honours list.

Sohee Park and Harin Kil of Bar Cham in South Korea have won the Live Naked Bar Swap competition for 2024.

London’s KOL Mezcaleria has introduced six house mezcals and distillates of agave to its menu. 

Asia’s 50 Best Bars has announced its ninth edition live ceremony will take place in Hong Kong on 16 July 2024, for the second year in a row. 

Scarfes Bar at Rosewood London has launched its latest cocktail menu ‘From Scratch’, featuring 22 cocktails incorporating the team’s home-made cordials, ferments and distillates.

Make Mine A Bombay is the fifth cocktail menu that the Mumbai bar has also released as a cocktail book. 

CopperBay has launched its third site at Hôtel Lancaster on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, becoming one of the first independent venues to open within a luxury hotel in France.

The country has an awful lot going for it and a keen community of knowledgeable bartenders are pushing the boundaries of cocktails in line with its progressiveness.

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La'Mel Clarke

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La’Mel Clarke, front of house at London’s Seed Library, looks at the forgotten art of hosting and why it deserves the same respect as bartending.

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