A new award where all bars, old and new, anywhere in the world are eligible – entries are now open and will be judged by an esteemed panel of design industry experts

 

27 April 2023 – The World's 50 Best Bars has today unveiled a brand-new award that will celebrate the very best in bar design – The Bareksten Best Bar Design Award. Judged by an esteemed panel of hospitality design experts, bars from anywhere in the world are invited to submit their venues for consideration from today. Entries will close in June and the winner will be announced at The World's 50 Best Bars ceremony in Singapore on Tuesday 17 October 2023. Bars can nominate themselves on the 50 Best website. 

 

The Bareksten Best Bar Design Award was created to reward bars across the globe for thoughtful and appropriate design and will go beyond style and taste to hit touchpoints of accessibility, sustainability and appropriateness for its market. Each entry will be judged on six key pillars, including innovation, aesthetics, accessibility, ergonomics, ecological compatibility and emotional quotient. 

 

Mark Sansom, Content Director for The World's 50 Best Bars, says: “Each year, we try to grow The World's 50 Best Bars ecosystem. In 2023 we have chosen to launch the Bareksten Best Bar Design Award, which is the 50 Best brand's first foray into design. To help us do this, we have consulted with six of the greatest minds in global bar design, who will be our judges for this award. As it is open to any bar, anywhere in the world, we hope to see some brilliantly designed bars that we're not yet familiar with thrust into the global spotlight.”

 

The six internationally renowned judges from the world of hospitality design are: 

 

Alia Akkam – A native New Yorker, experienced drinks and design journalist and self-confessed Europhile, Alia Akkam has called Budapest home since 2015. She is a contributing editor at Beverage Media and Hospitality Design and contributes regularly to Architectural Digest's AD PRO vertical as well as ICON, OnOffice and Barron's PENTA publications. Akkam has an affinity for writing about cocktails and bars, as well as interiors, travel, food and culture. In 2020 she published Behind the Bar: 50 Cocktail Recipes from the World's Most Iconic Hotels and has followed that up with the 2022 release Behind the Bar: Gin. She is also an Academy Chair for The World's 50 Best Bars.

Anirudh Singhal – After helping launch numerous trend-setting restaurants and bars, Singhal is now the man behind Speedx, a firm built to design hospitality venues from the ground up on the principles of ergonomics and comfort. Now, Speedx has built over 500 bars across India, including all of the country's entries on The World's 50 Best Bars and Asia's 50 Best Bars rankings; they are the largest bar design and build company in the country. He has recently launched Haus of Bars by Speedx, an online store giving the public access to professional-grade equipment to create the ultimate home bar.

 

Bethan Ryder – With over 25 years' experience in design, interiors and travel journalism, Ryder is an expert in what makes a great bar. Now the executive editorial director at the leading global trend forecasting agency WGSN since 2020, she has previously held senior editorial positions at Elle Decoration, Wallpaper* and Telegraph Luxury and has contributed to numerous titles including Sunday Times Style, The Guardian, Interior Design and the Evening Standard. She has also edited four books on bar, restaurant and club interiors for Laurence King Publishing, regularly chairs talks on design and hosted the House of Tales podcast series. 

 

Paul Semple – Semple is one of two masterminds behind the hospitality-focused interior design studio MSDO, founded in 2020 alongside his lifelong collaborator Matthew Shang. With over 20 years of experience working around the world, including over five years leading the global hospitality team at multinational architecture firm Hassell, Semple has been based in Singapore since 2004. He has overseen and led design projects ranging from opulent retail spaces to large-scale hospitality venues, city hotels, small resort properties and award-winning bar projects. Semple's client-focused, intimate and joyful creations cement his position as an industry leader in hospitality design.

 

Scott Baird – Baird is a San Francisco Bay Area native and a hospitality veteran of the region. After years behind the bars of a trio of lauded venues in the US, he founded the creative agency Rococo Cantaloupe, which is built from the ground up to “make drinks, throw parties and create fun”. His company has been behind the successful design revamp of many bars across the US, such as Zeppelin and Moonshot in Nashville. Since 2021, he has owned two bars in the US, with his sights now firmly set on designing and opening a third bar in Mexico City in the future. 

 

Shaun Clarkson – Clarkson has headed up his own eponymous London-based design agency for over 32 years, working exclusively in hospitality, across the spectrum. Known for his diversity of projects and for his vivid colour palette, Clarkson has been involved in brand development for the drinks industry, most notably working with vodka and Champagne brands, creating events around luxury launches. He also has a wealth of experience as an operator, owning bars, cafés and 'home-tels' (some of the UK's most iconic fantasy holiday homes). 

 

Stig Bareksten, Founder and Master Distiller of Oss Craft Distillery, makers of Bareksten Spirits, says: “We are pleased to sponsor this award since design has always been an important element for Bareksten: when I launched my brand, my aim was not only to put all our efforts into enhancing the drinking experience of our customers, but also to impact them visually with our design. Creativity is essential in our work and the more you manage to include it in all elements that are part of it, the higher effect you generate. In the same way, I consider that a bar should not only focus its creativity to the drink proposal but to the whole environment that hosts the experience, indeed the bar design. This is the reason why I believe that Bar Design should also be recognised.”

 

Any bar can self-nominate for the award and there is no restriction on how long the bar has been open. All entries will be judged anonymously. Entries open on Tuesday 25 April and will close in June. Bars can enter for the award here. 

 

The winner will be announced at a live ceremony in Singapore on Tuesday 17 October alongside the countdown of the list of The World's 50 Best Bars 2023, sponsored by Perrier. The ceremony will be broadcast live to a global audience who are not able to attend in person. Bar and cocktail lovers are invited to join through The World's 50 Best Bars Facebook page and 50 Best Bars TV channel on YouTube.

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For general media queries please contact the global lead agency:

Amelia Jefferies & Vic Poulson, LX PR
worlds50bestbars@lx-pr.com; +44 7917 304 607

 

For Asia-specific media queries please contact:

Ivy Woo, Food News
worlds50bestbars@foodnews.com.sg 

 

For US-specific media queries please contact:

Hanna Lee, Hanna Lee Communications
worlds50bestbars@hannaleecommunications.com 

 

For media centre access, please visit:
https://mediacentre.theworlds50best.com 

 

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About The World's 50 Best Bars

The World's 50 Best Bars, owned and organised by William Reed, provides a definitive list of the world's best drinking venues, voted for by an Academy of over 650 experts worldwide. The World's 50 Best Bars list has been published annually since 2009 and has become the most-anticipated ranking for drinks professionals and cocktail aficionados across the world, with the awards the highlight of the bar industry calendar. The list of Asia's 50 Best Bars has been published since 2016 and North America's 50 Best Bars launched in 2022. The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, also organised by William Reed, has been published since 2002. In September 2023, the brand will launch The World's 50 Best Hotels. 

 

How the voting works

The list is compiled by votes from The World's 50 Best Bars Academy, which comprises more than 650 drinks experts with gender balance, including renowned bartenders and consultants, drinks writers and cocktail specialists from around the world. The Academy of voters is spread across 28 global geographic regions, each headed by an Academy Chair who selects their region's voters, with the distribution of voters designed to reflect the relative development and sophistication of the drinks sector, and the concentration of quality bars, in each region. Each voter casts seven votes based on their best bar experiences of the previous 18 months, although if they have been unable to travel, they are asked to provide five votes from their home country or SAR. Voters are required to remain anonymous and voting is confidential, secure and independently adjudicated by Deloitte.

 

About the award sponsor: Bareksten

Bareksten represents the essence of Norway, in both taste and character – dark, wild, breathtaking and dramatic. Clean flavours inspired by ancient craft traditions are the soul of Barkesten's botanical wonders.

Infused with the finest Norwegian botanicals and distilled in small batches based on the philosophy of our Master Distiller and founder, Stig Bareksten, create a unique taste and mouthfeel in all of Barekstens products. The state of the art product quality of Bareksten Spirits has been awarded in some of the most prestigious competitions in the world, including “Best Spirit of the Year 2022” in the London Spirits Competition and winning Double Gold 2020-2022 in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Founded in 2016, the brand has had great success in its home market Norway, quickly becoming a market leader in the premium gin category. Bareksten is currently expanding to new markets internationally at a high pace and is well positioned for further growth with a broad product portfolio including gin, vodka, aquavit and Ready to Drink cocktails.

 

Our Partners:

• Singapore Tourist Board – Official Destination Partner
• Perrier – Official Water Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Bar
• Michter's – Official American Whiskey Partner; sponsor of Michter's Art of Hospitality 
• Nikka Whisky – Official Whisky of the World Partner; sponsor of Nikka Highest Climber 
• Ketel One Vodka – Official Vodka Partner; sponsor of Ketel One Sustainable Bar 
• Mezcal Los Siete Misterios – Official Mezcal Partner; sponsor of Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu 
• The London Essence Co. – Official Mixer Partner; sponsor of London Essence Best New Opening 
• Disaronno – Official Italian Liqueur Partner; sponsor Disaronno Highest New Entry 
• Altos Tequila – Official Tequila Partner; sponsor of Altos Bartenders' Bartender 
• Roku Gin – Official Gin Partner; sponsor of Roku Industry Icon 
• Matusalem – Official Rum Partner; sponsor of ceremonial scarves
• Naked Malt – Official Scotch Whisky Partner; sponsor of a Best in Destination Award 
• Tia Maria – Official Coffee Liqueur Partner; sponsor of a Best in Destination Award
• Rémy Martin – Official Cognac Partner; sponsor of Rémy Martin Legend of the List 
• Campari – Official Bitters Partner; sponsor of Campari One To Watch 
• The Blend – Official Education Partner
• Torres Brandy – Official Brandy Partner; sponsor of a Best in Destination Award 
• Bareksten - Official Aquavit Partner; sponsor of Best Bar Design Award
• Mancino Vermouth – Official Vermouth Partner
• Amaro Lucano – Official Amaro Partner 
• American Express – Official Credit Card Partner
• Scrappy's Bitters – Official Cocktail Bitters Partner

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Hanna Lee

Hanna Lee Communications, Inc.

Award-Winning Hospitality and Travel PR Agency

 

Winners of:

Best Press Release Writing, Best Travel & Tourism Marketing,

Best Media Relations, PR Innovator of the Year,

Spirits Marketer of the Year, Best Social Media Campaign

And more…

 

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