Overnight the 2015 Spirited Awards winners were announced, London did pretty flippin’ well.
The biggest night of each year at Tales is the awards night on Saturday (or more precisely the afterparty of said awards), people nervously gather to see if they get given a big bit of glass and have to make an embarrassing speech.
The UK has a history of bringing back a lot of that glass and last night we once again proved what a great bar scene we have over here (although inexplicably everywhere except London was ignored by the judges).
The Lyan gang had a big night with Dandelyan taking out Best New International Cocktail Bar (after taking out the same award last year with White Lyan) and Ryan Cheti winning International Bartender of the Year.
Blind Pig at Social Eating House beat off stiff competition including Hawksmoor Spitalfields to claim Best International Restaurant Bar. For far to many years The Savoy’s Beaufort Bar has been overlooked in favour of its big brother the American Bar but not so last night as it proved victorious in the Best International Hotel Bar category.
It wouldn’t be an awards ceremony if Alex and Simone didn’t get up on stage so Artesian received Best International Cocktail Bar.
There were also a couple of people based awards and the UK grabbed them too in the guises of Claire Smith-Warner and her Best International Brand Ambassador victory and Dave Broom who rather greedily picked up two wins for Best Cocktail & Spirits Writer and Best New Spirits Book.
There was also a Lifetime Achievement Award for Jonathan Downey whose bars were responsible for starting more careers than anyone since TFI Fridays.
BarLifeUK friends from the rest of the world did well with Black Pearl in Melbourne, Singapore’s 28 Hong Kong Street and Dead Rabbit & Employees Only from New York all hugging a lot of people all night.
Congratulations to everyone who scooped something and commiserations to those who missed out (we know the feeling), we look forward to celebrating with you all when you get back our side of the pond.
Full list of winners:
International Categories
International Bartender of the Year – Ryan Cheti (London)
Best International Bar Team – 28 Hong Kong Street (Singapore)
Best International Brand Ambassador – Claire Smith-Warner (Belvedere Vodka)
Best New International Cocktail Bar – Dandelyan (London)
Best International Restaurant Bar – The Blind Pig at Social Eating House (London)
Best International Hotel Bar – The Beaufort Bar, The Savoy (London)
Best International High Volume Cocktail Bar – Black Pearl & The Attic (Melbourne)
Best International Cocktail Bar – The Artesian (London)
Overall Categories
Best Bar Mentor – Jim Meehan
Helen David Lifetime Achievement Award – Jonathan Downey
World’s Best Cocktail Menu – Dead Rabbit (New York)
World’s Best Spirits Selection – Canon (Seattle)
Best New Spirit or Cocktail Ingredient – Amaro di Angostura
American Categories
American Bartender of the Year – Ivy Mix (Brooklyn)
Best New American Cocktail Bar – ABV (San Francisco)
Best American Bar Team – Employees Only (New York)
Best American Brand Ambassador – Brooke Arthur (Brand Spirits)
Best American Restaurant Bar – Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks (Boston)
Best American Hotel Bar – The Broken Shaker (Miami Beach)
Best American Cocktail Bar – Williams & Graham (Denver)
Best American High Volume Cocktail Bar – Employees Only (New York)
Writing Categories
Best Cocktail & Spirits Publication – PUNCH (US)
Best Cocktail & Spirits Writer – Dave Broom (UK)
Best New Cocktail Book – ‘Liquid Intelligence: The Art & Science of the Perfect Cocktail’ by Dave Arnold (US)
Best New Spirits Book – ‘Whisky, the Manual’ Dave Broom (UK)