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Q&A: the bar consultant behind some of Asia’s coolest venues
Bobby Carey, creative director of bar and beverage consultancy firm Proof Creative, lays out what goes into launching some of Asia’s top cocktail bars, and shares his insights on which cities are home to the hottest new venues on the continent.
As creative director of Proof Creative, how do you approach developing a unique bar concept?
“Guests will always forgive a bad drink if a room feels nice and the music is good, but guests won’t forgive the best drink in the world if the room just feels off. We’re not just beverage consultants – we take much more of a holistic approach. We’re most famous for conceptualising a venue, not just coming in and saying here’s a menu, here are some drinks, and off you go. I’m working on projects from 2019 that still haven’t finished yet, because when we start, we start before the original building has been torn down.”
How did you get your start in bartending?
“I started working in pubs when I was about 16. You know what it’s like when you go back to your hometown for Christmas and go to that one pub everyone goes back to? That’s where I was for a long time. Then a lot of my friend group was moving to Australia, so I just said, OK, I’m gonna do the same thing, and fell into working in cocktail bars almost by accident. Within six months of opening, the bar I was working in had won best bar in Australia – it was kind of a baptism by fire.”
Do you see any new trends in cocktail flavour profiles?
“We’re seeing a return to simplicity. It got to the stage where bars almost went too scientific and too crazy with the flavour profile. There are certain bars where that’s their concept, but there were so many doing it incorrectly and not nailing it when it came to flavour. Guests don’t want to have a PhD in chemistry to read a menu. Bars still do the hard work in the background, and prep is still an arduous four or five hours before service, but they’re not shoving it in the guest’s face anymore. A lot of people are going back to their roots, and bringing in the flavours from where they come from. ”
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Which trends are coming to the fore in Asian cocktail culture?
“We’re definitely seeing a lowering in alcohol. We work in a lot of dry regions, so for every menu, we don’t incorporate no and low as a secondary aspect; it’s built into the main core of the menu. There’s a whole level of inclusivity to it, so that we’re not knocking out any demographic, especially in this region. Non-alcoholic and low alcohol are ingrained into the culture over here, in every market that we see. There’s value in owners putting that into their menu, because they’re actually having guests staying for longer, spending more money.”
How would you characterise Singapore’s identity as a market?
“It’s a weird one. Singapore didn’t really have an identity maybe 10 years ago; it was always playing second fiddle to New York, Paris, and London. But in the past couple of years Singapore has come through as a powerhouse. There isn’t necessarily an idea of a quintessential Singapore pub or bar, because it’s only 60 years old, so it doesn’t have that history and pedigree. What we have in Singapore is an innovative city. Expectations are really, really high when new things come up over here, so there is a constant state of innovation.”
Where do you think will be the next lighthouse city for cocktail culture?
“No matter where you go in Asia at this stage it’s impossible not to get a good drink. A rising tide carries all ships, and I think Hong Kong and Singapore being so good has really upped the ante. Singapore is sadly pricing itself out of the market in terms of rent and manpower. Getting overseas talent into Singapore is hard, and you have to have 11 local staff for every expat. Jakarta has the ability to be like Singapore at a much lower cost in terms of manpower and for getting a beautiful space designed. And Seoul is the silent killer. They’re not flashy or in your face about it. It’s Japanese finesse at the bars, but they’re a bit more open, engaging and exciting. They stopped looking for international-style projects and very much leaned into their Korean-ness. A lot of bars really come from the heart over there.”
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