Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2021: MO Bar lands hospitality award, Bannie Kang is bartender’s bartender

Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2021 names the winners of its Michter’s Art of Hospitality and Mancino’s Mancino Bartenders’ Bartender awards ahead of the main reveal its annual list on 6th May 2021.

Asia’s 50 Best Bars’ 220-member academy has awarded Mandarin Oriental, Singapore’s MO Bar as the recipient of this year’s Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award. MO Bar, which last year entered Asia’s 50 Best Bars for the first time at No.47, picked up the award this year for being the institution that had provided the best hospitality experience in the last 18 months.

Asia’s 50 Best Bars also named Bannie Kang, co-founder and head bartender of Taiwan’s MU:Taipei, as the winner of its Mancino Bartenders’ Bartender Award 2021. The only peer-judged award in the Asia’s 50 Best Bars programme, Kang was voted for by head bartenders of establishments on the 2021 list.

Both the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award and Mancino Bartenders’ Bartender Award are part of a series of special awards to be announced leading up to the official reveal of the this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars list on 6 May 2021.

Lauded for impeccable service

MO Bar’s award for its top-notch award comes on the back of a year that has been terrible for the hospitality industry wracked by shutdowns and challenging restrictions across the region due to the ongoing COVID pandemic.

“In the midst of these extremely challenging times for our industry, we feel honoured to be awarded the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award and to receive the acknowledgement from our industry peers. This recognition reaffirms the dedication and hard work that the team has been putting in every day to providing exceptional service and creating moments of delight at MO Bar and Mandarin Oriental, Singapore,” said Adrian Besa, Bar Manager of MO Bar.”

The way MO Bar personalises its guest experience is second to none, declared Mark Sansom, Content Editor for Asia’s 50 Best Bars. “We are pleased to recognise the outstanding hospitality experience that is offered to all guests who visit MO Bar,” he said. “We introduced the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award last year to honour the best in hospitality on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars stage, as we believe that excellent service is a vital component of any bar experience, and even more so in today’s climate,” Sansom added.

“We extend our congratulations to Etienne Francois, Adrian Besa and the brilliant team at MO Bar Singapore for this recognition,” said Matt Magliocco, Executive Vice President of Michter’s. “During a year which has posed inconceivable challenges to the hospitality industry, they have resolutely provided the highest-possible level of warmth, comfort and joy to their guests. No team better epitomises the Art of Hospitality,” Magliocco concluded.

Peerless in recognition 

Bannie Kang, co-founder of Mu in Taipei, has been named the winner of the Mancino Bartenders’ Bartender Award 2021 by her peers. The award recognises a personality who has made significant impact in the bar sector in Asia before and during the pandemic.

Local cocktail hounds no doubt will be familiar with both Bannie Kang. Before she moved to Taiwan to found MU:Taipei along with her husband Tryson Quek, they were head bartender and head chef respectively at Fairmont Singapore’s lobby bar Anti:dote. A serial award winner, Kang claimed the title of Best Female Bartender at The Bar Awards in 2014 and 2015, and landing the Diageo World Class Global Winner in 2019.

The power couple then carried their expertise over to MU:Taipei in early 2020, where they continued to push their unique cocktail and food pairings and bring a different dimension to Taiwan’s cocktail scene from their speakeasy restaurant in Taipei’s Da-an district.

“Bannie is without doubt one of the most respected bartenders in Asia. Her impeccable technique, work throughout the pandemic and desire to make a positive impact on the bar community mark her as a preeminent bartender in the Asian continent,” Mark Sansom, Content Editor for Asia’s 50 Best Bars, pointed out.

“Her passion for sharing knowledge and educating budding bartenders is admirable and makes her a worthy recipient of this year’s Mancino Bartenders’ Bartender Award, the only peer-voted award in the Asia’s 50 Best Bars programme. We look forward to seeing what she will achieve with Mu in Taipei, as she continues to push boundaries and inspire her fellow professionals,” Sansom added.

“Winning the Mancino Bartenders’ Bartender Award is like a dream – a dream so big that I never thought it would be possible. ‘No pain, no gain’ is a message I would like to share with the world – trying is only the start of one’s success, as you will only gain what you put in,” Bannie Kang, co-founder of MU:Taipiei, shared.

“Bartenders are the heart of the industry and Mancino Vermouth will always support them in the best ways possible, said Giancarlo Mancino, founder of Mancino Vermouth. “Their creativity, hospitality, hard work and tenacity has always shone, even through the most difficult times. This award is a testimony to that.”

The sixth edition of Asia’s 50 Best Bars will be announced in a virtual ceremony on 6th May, beginning at 6pm HK/Singapore time (3.30pm India; 5pm Thailand; 7pm Japan). Bars and cocktail lovers are invited to join the digital countdown of the list of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2021, through The World’s 50 Best Bars Facebook page and 50 Best Bars TV YouTube channel.

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