The swanky Gold Bar at the Tokyo Edition, Toranomon hotel is hosting its inaugural cocktail festival this March. Five talented bartenders from across Asia plus one from Japan are invited to take over the bar and create exclusive cocktails for the occasion. These specialists come from some of the region’s most acclaimed bars, many of which are featured on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list.
For one day only, each of the esteemed bartenders will shake up two unique cocktails showcasing flavours and ingredients from their respective home countries. And you can enjoy a free flow of these special concoctions with tickets set at ¥7,500 (early-bird price until February 25, after which tickets are ¥8,300).
From the Recraft bar in the Philippines, Cedric Mendoza honed his craft in Singapore’s Manhattan Bar and was instrumental in propelling that institution to its No 3 ranking on 2018’s World’s 50 Best Bars list.
The other bartenders have similarly impressive accolades. Soko Son’s namesake Soko Bar in Seoul, South Korea was No 46 on the most recent Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, while Vu (Will) Ngoc’s Enigma bar in Vietnam was ranked No 96. Also from Vietnam, Duong (Liam) Quy Lam’s bar Hybrid secured the 96th spot on 2021’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars list. His cocktails are known to incorporate locally sourced seasonal ingredients and home-fermented elements.
Representing India is Santanu Chanda, whose bar Home in New Delhi came in at No 30 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list in 2022. Finally, Japan’s representative will be Satoshi Sugiura, whose bar El Lequio helped put Okinawa on the world mixology map when it secured the No 80 spot on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2023 list.
The Gold Bar Cocktail Festival runs from 2pm to 6pm. Tickets are now available via Ikyu and TableCheck.