The World's 50 Best Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award 2022, Mr Jean Trinh
Cartagena, Colombia is the source of this year's winner of Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award 2022, Mr Jean Trinh, co-founder of Alquímico.
The prestigious award is a part of The World’s 50 Best Bars awards list, which has the bartenders of the list vote and name one peer who pushes the limits of what it means to be a great bartender.
“It is such an honour to be named Altos Bartenders’ Bartender by the amazing people of my industry," Mr Trinh says in a statement released. "When the pandemic struck, we were forced to re-evaluate everything about how we lived and worked together but I am so proud of the achievements of my team through this time. Together we have built a stronger community and a more sustainable Alquímico, which I hope will continue to inspire sustainable practices around the world. I am so thankful to receive this recognition from my peers after the rollercoaster we have all been on for the last few years and I hope to welcome them all to Alquímico to share our drinks and our ideas in the years to come.”
A Frenchman with Vietnamese heritage, Trinh grew up in the F&B and hospitality field, thanks to his parents who happened to run restaurants. His career in Cartagena de Indias started with opening his first pop-up bar just six months into his venture into Columbia and within three years, he established Alquímico in a stunning three-storey mansion in the historic heart of the city.
Renowned for serving more than 850 guests daily, Alquímico offers three unique concepts – La Mansión, El Balcón and Terraza – each with their own unique cocktail menu, under one roof. Throughout the bar, Trinh champions the diversity and produce of his adopted home, searching the country for new producers and craftspeople to allow him to put sustainability at the heart of every decision he makes. It's one of the reasons why the bar Alquímico invested in a 25 acre farm in rural Colombia to sustainably and organically grow the freshest produce for the high-volume cocktail programme, and came in useful during the pandemic where Mr Trinh led his team into the concept of #FromTheBarToTheFarm, housing his bartenders and their families and collaborating with local small producers and farmers to learn and develop sustainable agricultural practices. In addition to selling their organic produce, they donated food baskets to the poor, built an apiary to reduce the bar’s reliance on sugar, reforested native trees and created an educational space for the local farming community as well as colleagues within the industry that wished to learn more.
The award description goes to a personality who made a significant impact in the global bar sector over the voting period and recognises their commitment to the international community in that time. It is the second of two special awards to be announced ahead of the live awards ceremony on Tuesday 4th October 2022 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Mark Sansom, Content Director for The World’s 50 Best Bars, says: “We’re delighted to announce Jean Trinh as the winner of this year's Altos Bartenders’ Bartender. From his strikingly inventive approach to the art of cocktail making to his forward-thinking attitude towards sustainability and his unerring commitment to his team and his community, Jean’s spirit rings true to each of the key tenets of what makes a winner of the Altos Bartenders' Bartender Award.”
The countdown of the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022, sponsored by Perrier, will be broadcast live to a global audience who are not able to attend in person. Bars and cocktail lovers are invited to join through The World’s 50 Best Bars
Facebook page and 50 Best Bars TV channel on
YouTube.
