22. Max La Rocca: "Service is JOY"

Today's surprise guest is my good friend Dima Shovkoplyas from Kyiv, Ukraine. Dima is the Bar Manager and the Co-Owner of Parovoz SpeakEasy Bar. He is the founder of the Parovoz Mixology Course and Committee Member in Spirited awards.  Among many things that he is doing during this period, Dima gave an amazing interview where he shared some of his hospitality secrets. If you want to find out more, follow: Parovoz Spreakeasy: https://www.instagram.com/parovozspeakeasy/ Parovoz Mixology Course: https://www.facebook.com/parovozmixologycourse Parovoz Chips - parovozchips.com

Steve Schneider has earned a reputation as one of the most respected and successful bartenders in the industry. Of his seventeen years professionally crafting cocktails, he has spent the last twelve building his career at one of the most highly esteemed NYC cocktail bars, Employees Only, which in 2011 won the coveted “World’s Best Cocktail Bar” award at Tales of the Cocktail.  In June of 2016, he became a partner in Employees Only Singapore, the company’s first expansion outside of NYC. During his time in Singapore, Employees Only has been listed as one of Asia’s 50 Best Bars each year of its existence, and Steve was in the top ten amongst nominees for “International Bartender of the Year” at Tales of the Cocktail. Find more of Steve’s work: Insta: https://www.instagram.com/mightyschneidey/ Employees only https://www.instagram.com/employeesonlysg/ Elysian Café: https://www.instagram.com/elysiancafehoboken/

Vasilis was born in Piraeus, Athens’ hectic and industrial port area. An area once described as rough and ready, it’s undergoing a transformation. After finishing school, he moved to the centre of Athens, where he studied nursing and begun working in clubs, for the dual purpose of meeting people and making extra cash. Bartenders aren’t always the club types, but Kyritsis claims working in a club came in mighty handy later on. “You had to work quickly, serving a lot of people whilst smiling,” he says. “Without the extra positive of serving cocktails, all we had was our good mood to convince people to drink more and more. In short, working in clubs makes you more humble and polite.” After working at Athens Island Club in 2006, he moved over to the famous Gin Joint, before opening up The Clumsies in late 2014. Just before he opened his own bar, there’s two major formative experiences worth noting. In 2012 Vasilis was crowned national World Class champion, before going on to compete in the global finals in Rio de Janeiro. Diageo’s annual mass-bartender bout was an experience he savoured – both for making industry connections and learning about himself as a bartender. Another defining event was going to Tony Conigliaro’s Drink Factory in London, where he learnt how “bartenders can combine classic bartending with modern bartending.” “The Clumsies is a traditional type of Greek place,” he explains, moving onto his current bar he opened up in 2014 with Nikos Bakoulis – a fellow bartender and the Greek World Class Winner in 2011 – and Lefteris Georgopoulos, Thanos Tsounakas and Giorgos Kaissaris. Open early with specialty coffee and breakfast food curated by Michelin Star chef Nikos Karathanos. Two floors encompass both a high volume bar and the 10 tabled “Room” upstairs where attendees can receive personalized drinks. There’s a lab too for innovation. “One of the reasons we named the bar The Clumsies is that I have always had a touch of clumsiness. I drop things sometimes,” he laughs. “Clumsies means something more comfortable for our guests. It makes you feel more comfortable again. Nobody likes perfect people.” Find Vasilis work: Fb ► https://www.facebook.com/kiritsis.vasilis1 Insta ► https://www.instagram.com/bkyritsis/ The Clumsies: ► https://www.instagram.com/the_clumsies/ ► https://www.theclumsies.gr Hustler: ► https://www.instagram.com/hustler.greece/ ► https://hustler.com.gr Otto’s Vermouth: ► https://www.instagram.com/ottos_athens_vermouth/ ► http://www.athensvermouth.com

Martin Hudák was born in Prešov, Slovakia and began his career behind the bar immediately after graduating from secondary school. He quickly discovered a passion for both coffee and cocktails, and for combining the two, and through determination and hard work moved to London five years later to join one of the world’s best bar teams at The Savoy’s and legendary the best bar in the world American Bar, where he held the position of senior bartender for nearly for years. Not only does Martin hone his bartending skills behind this famous bar but he continues to showcase his expertise by participating in prestigious industry competitions. He has shaken and stirred at the world finals for various global competitions. As well he has made it to the world finals of Coffee in Good Spirit several times. Martin was a double runner up in Melbourne (2014) and Shanghai (2016) with his signature coffee beverage program and his Irish Coffee respectively. And after so many years all his effort result into the title of World Coffee in Good Spirit Champion from Budapest (2017). With this title over one year he travelled more than 50 countries and trained around 3000 passionate coffee and cocktail aficionados during his training programs and cocktail demonstrations touching topics of coffee cocktail future. Likewise, his company Spiritual Coffee is responsible for many coffee cocktail programs during events to be mentioned – London Coffee Festival, London Fashion Week and Bar Shows or personalized coffee cocktail concepts for bars and coffee shops around the globe. Martin is also Global coffee ambassador for Australian craft coffee liquor – Mr. Black Spirits which he represents around the world. Currently based in Sydney where he opened with his team new concept Maybe Sammy as a “swing” on a classic hotel cocktail bar, minus the hotel. Inspired by 1950s Hollywood glamour. And lately won at TOTC – Best New International Cocktail Bar 2019 and also got ranked as Best Australasian Bar and no 11th within 50 World’s Best Bars 2020. Lastly during Drink Magazine Bar Awards ceremony in Shanghai, he was announced by peers as new International bartender of the year 2019. And in March 2020 was recognized by Forbes magazine Slovakia as one of 30 under 30 most talented and inspirational young personalities. And in September 2020 recognized as 49th most influential industry icon in the globe by Drinks International. Martin’s Insagram ► https://www.instagram.com/martin_hudak/ Maybe Sammy ► https://www.instagram.com/maybe_sammy_sydney/ Sammy Junior ► https://www.instagram.com/sammy_junior_sydney/ Spiritual Coffee ► https://www.spiritualcoffee.co

Born in London to a British mother and Colombian father and raised in the Burgundy wine region of France, Stephanie had a unique cultural upbringing that sparked her passion for the drinks & #HospitalityIndustry. It also gave her the added bonus of having not one, but three native languages: English, Spanish and French. Business developer, marketer and trade advocacy specialist who thrives in an entrepreneurial dynamic environment with over 15 years’ experience in the wine & spirits industry, Stephanie is also an accomplished keynote speaker, leading seminars across global drink trade conferences on future drinking trend and various spirits category deep dives.  More recently she co-founded award-winning Avallen Spirits, a pioneering new Calvados brand bringing a modern face to a traditional French classic. Avallen has a mission to be the most sustainable spirit on the market, and save bee populations along the way. Find Stephanie's work: ► https://www.instagram.com/drinkingoutloud/ ► https://avallenspirits.com ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPNvt41750NuM-4adRAE9Ow ► https://www.instagram.com/avallenspirits/

Tess Posthumus is a multi-awarded bartender & bar owner based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Next to being the (co-)owner of Flying Dutchmen Cocktails, Perfect Serve Barshow, Amsterdam Cocktail Week, Difford’s Guide Netherlands and The Collection by Tess Posthumus bar tools, as a hospitality consultant she is responsible for NH Collection The Tailor & VANE Skybar, and the author of Cocktails met Tess and Masterclass: Cocktails. Tess writes monthly for Delicious and More Than Drinks magazine, and is working on her third book ‘Dutch Courage’. Follow Tess and her work on: https://www.flyingdutchmencocktails.shop https://www.facebook.com/tess.posthumus https://www.instagram.com/tessposthumus/

Ariel focuses on the creative process and brings up philosophical questions regarding people’s needs, desires and motivating elements in the Hospitality Industry. He seeks to redefine the Experience of Hospitality and tries to challenge his guests about the way they experience their free time offering them “Overwhelming Hospitality Experiences” In 2008 he opened the very first and, what is today, the oldest running Cocktail Bar in Israel, "223". Since then he has opened several other venues leading up to his recent creation, BELLBOY (soon Bellboy will open in Berlin also 🤭). Both 223 and BELLBOY have been awarded "best bar" by Time Out magazine and in 2012. He has competed in nine national and two global competitions, making Ariel the most awarded bartender in Israel's history. If you want to follow Ariel’s work, follow the links: https://www.instagram.com/arielleizgold/ https://www.facebook.com/arielleizgold https://www.instagram.com/bellboycocktails/ https://www.instagram.com/fantastic_tlv/ https://www.instagram.com/223tlv/ https://www.instagram.com/kalamata.rest/

Salvatore Calabrese, The Maestro, has been making drinks for more than 50 years. From humble beginnings on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, where he made his first cocktail aged just 12, to a succession of top hotel bars, private members clubs and exclusive cocktail bars around the world. As one of the world’s most well known and respected bartenders, Salvatore has made drinks for the rich and famous, from presidents to royalty and is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the modern drinks industry. He has received the Tales of the Cocktail Lifetime Achievement Award and the Imbibe Industry Legend Award and he holds the record of creating the oldest cocktail in history (there were 730 years worth of history in one drink) and the world’s most expensive cocktail. If you want to find some of Salvatore’s #HospitalitySecrets, click play and enjoy one hour of engaging stories from Maestro. Cheers! P.S. Follow Maestro:  ► https://www.facebook.com/maestrocalabrese ► https://www.instagram.com/cocktailmaestro/  ► https://salvatore-calabrese.co.uk ► https://www.acqua-bianca.com

Max La Rocca worked as Bartender and Bar Manager in some of the world’s finest venues, including the luxurious Claridge’s Hotel in London and various Rocco Forte, Relais & Chateaux and Mandarin Oriental establishments worldwide. He has been quoted as an award winning master and an expert by International magazines and his recipes are published on the menus of the best bars in the world and on relevant Cocktail books. After reaching the 3° place in the world amongst 9000 Bartenders at the World Class Global Competition, he has covered for 8 years the prestigious role of World Class Ambassador for Europe. Today he travels the world inspiring not only the Bartender Community as a Bar Trainer, Public Speaker and Cocktail Competitions Mentor & Judge, but also Consumer & Corporate audiences by creating inspiring content and activities, both online and offline, that combine fun, education and great energy with a mindful approach. 👉 https://www.instagram.com/MaxLaRoccaTribe 👉 https://maxlarocca.com/social 📚 COURSES & CONSULTING Max truly believes that “knowledge is power” and that a great way to inspire Hospitality Professionals is by supporting them with “smart and efficient” education that includes elements that spark their curiosity and valuable info that they can use on a day to day basis in their workplace to become better professionals. Having travelled the world, he speaks English, Spanish and Italian, which is extremely important when inspiring a worldwide audience. His Trainings and Seminars are based on techniques and information that professionals can implement immediately, with practical exercises to allow better memorization of the concepts the have been covered. Alongside professional growth, great attention is given to the personal growth as Max truly believes that this is the aspect that will help Professionals excel in what they do when combined with the knowledge about ingredients, techniques, management and leaderships skills. In this view, these are the Courses that he’s delivering globally: 👉 https://maxlarocca.com/courses

“No one cares how much you know, till they know how much you care.” Angus Winchester Angus Winchester’s contacts and knowledge have been built up in over 33 years of interaction with the best bars and bartenders in the world. As founder member of one of the first global bar consultancies, and now running Alconomics Asia based in Hong Kong, Angus has provided on-premise consultancy, profit enhancement advice and training to trend setting outlets from Washington D.C. to Hong Kong, including Salvatore at Fifty and Trailer Happiness in London, Mandarin Oriental Hotels in Hong Kong, Hainan and Bangkok, the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami Beach, Nimb Hotel in Copenhagen, MGM Resorts in Las Vegas and Intercontinental Hotels globally. Angus was VP of Education and Training for Barmetrix which works with operations teams to enhance profits and elevate the Guest Experience as well a rolling out their Business of Bars program in conjunction with Diageo. Via common sense business solutions, group coaching and one on one Angus has a proven record and reputation for helping educate Managers and the next Generation of Industry Leaders. A regular and highly regarded speaker Angus has presented talks at most major Bar and Drinks trade events: Manhattan Cocktail Classic, Tales of the Cocktail, London Bar Show, Bar Convent Berlin, Athens Bar Show, Sydney Bar Show, Restaurant and Bar Hong Kong, Portland Cocktail Week, Cocktails & Spirits Copenhagen and Paris, Venuez in Holland, Antigua Bar Show, Barometer in Kiev and many others. In 2014 he won the prestigious Golden Spirit Award at Tales for being the top rated presenter there that year. He was (as the Global Ambassador for the House of Tanqueray) nominated as Best International Brand Ambassador at Tales of the Cocktail three years running and in 2012 won the award. He also was named Wine Enthusiast Brand Ambassador/Mixologist of the Year for 2012. He was on the final short list for Best Bar Mentor in 2014/15/16 and won the 2016 award. In November 2018 he was installed as Executive Director for the annual GinPosium in Tokyo and named as a Grand Gin Guardian. In August 2019 he was named as the 7th Most Influential Person in the Global Bar Industry by Drinks International Magazine and in 2020 number 92. Oxford educated Angus is 51 years old, likes wearing bespoke suits, brightly colored pocket squares, playing backgammon and flying business class. Find a cosy place and enjoy this episode. Cheers! P.S.