Time Out, the trusted global brand for inspiring and enabling people to make the most of their city, has announced the winners of its inaugural Global bar awards, identifying the destinations that define the drinks scene in some of the world’s most influential cities.
The global bar programme looked at the best bars and cocktail haunts across five major cities: London, Paris, New York, LA and Chicago, revealing a number of hyper-localised trends. Across the five cities, there was a growing trend for locally produced spirits and ingredients as people become more aware of farm-to-table dining and support local producers. Check out our video recap below:
Each winning bar was a representation of their city with a unique look and character reflecting the people and style of its surroundings. In London, hotel bars, receiving four of the seven awards, dominated the winner’s list. The newly opened Punch Room at the London Edition won both Bar of the Year and Most Stylish Bar, highlighting a trend for high-end chic design and reservations only seating.
In the U.S, the bars that received the most acclaim were the ones that had a rotating or extensive cocktail list. U.S drinkers opted for classic cocktails and twists on classics with a trend for Manhattans and handcrafted Old Fashion’s in New York and Chicago, whilst a tiki style dominated in Los Angeles.
In Paris, the trend was for prohibition style bars with a clandestine feel – a trend that exploded in London in recent years. There was a strong fashion for great food served alongside artesian wines in a typically French style as well as a U.S influence with hip hop culture at the heart of some of the winning bars. The winner of best new cocktail bar – Gravity bar has an experimental feel with cocktails listed by flavours and feelings rather than ingredients e.g. sweet, bitter and categories such as, cold sweat and weightlessness.
An authority on urban nightlife, Time Out has been seeking out the brilliant in the world’s best cities since 1968, and bars have always been a crucial part of the metropolitan culture. This year, Time Out has brought together the most gifted bar owners, mixologists, drinks experts and innovators in the global drinks business to define the best places to drink in five of the world’s most vibrant cities.
Expert panels in each city were tasked with shortlisting their standout cocktail bars in three categories: Bar of the Year, Best New Bar and the Best Bartender/ Bar Team, sponsored by the Austin Tourism & Convention Bureau. As a grand finale, the winners of the Best Bartender awards will be flown to Austin, Texas, for a night of celebration with Tito’s Vodka.
Noel Penzer, CEO of Time Out commented: “With a strong brand heritage in being the trusted expert in city nightlife, Time Out has always been a respected voice, guaranteed to advise on what makes a great cocktail bar. Our global bar programme is a way to showcase this on an international level and spotlight those that are driving this industry forward. We’re particularly please to have the Austin Tourism & Convention Bureau on board as sponsor of the Bartender Award, to support this thriving industry and promote the creativity and innovation in bartending today.”
Find more content on London’s best places to drink at Time Out London at www.timeout.com/barawardsLDN.
The full list of Time Out Bar Awards 2016 winners are:
London
· Bar of the Year: Punch Room at the London Edition
· Best New Bar: Original Sin
· Best Bar Team: Dandelyan
· Most Stylish Bar: Punch Room at the London Edition
· Hippest Bar: Satan’s Whiskers
· Most Creative Bar: White Lyan
· Classiest Bar: Connaught Bar
New York
· Bar of the Year: Maison Premiere
· Best Bar Team: Attaboy
· Best New Cocktail Bar: Bar Goto
· Most Instagram Worthy Cocktail: Shark Eye at Mother of Pearl
· Best Comeback Kid: Donna
· Best Restaurant Bar Program: Mission Chinese Food
· Best Single Focus Bar: Amor y Amargo (bitters)
LA
· Bar of the Year: The Spare Room
· Best Bar Team: Big Bar
· Best New Cocktail Bar: The Walker Inn
· Best LA Mainstay: The Varnish
· Best Bar Design: Break Room 86
· Best Restaurant Bar: Terrine
· Best Culinary Cocktail Bar: Birch
Chicago
· Best New Cocktail Bar: The Sixth
· Bar of the Year: The Whistler
· Best Restaurant Bar: Nico Osteria
· Best Bartender/Team: Graham Heubach, General Manager at Sportsman’s Club
· Best Single Focus Bar: Delilah’s
· Best Design: The Heavy Feather
· Best Beer Bar: Hopleaf
Paris
· Bar yum: L'Avant Comptoir de la Mer
· Coolest wine cellar: Septime The Cave
· Best new cocktail bar: Gravity Bar
· Cocktail bar of the year: Beaver Club
· The safe bet: Beaver Club
· Best bar team: Moonshiner
· The heart stroke of Time Out: Tony