MARCO PIERRE WHITE NAMES WORLD CLASS BARTENDER
Marco Pierre White crowned Edinburgh’s Ryan Chetiyawardana as the ‘UK’s Best Bartender’ at the final of World Class. In a day-long trial, Ryan and his fellow finalists were tested to the limits in a competition which saw them take part in rounds covering bartending knowledge, mixology and an innovation challenge where they had to prove their creativity against the clock.
The 15 bartenders were whittled down to a final four including Ryan, James Hill of Menzels in Sheffield, Andreas Tsanos of Zuma in London and Joey Medrington of Tiger Lily in Edinburgh.
Ryan then went head-to-head with Andreas to battle it out for the grand prize where the two bartenders had to create their final bespoke cocktail and present it to the panel of judges. After a highly competitive and tense round, Ryan was declared the winner with his impressive and delicious Three Storm Flip cocktail (recipe below).
Alongside Marco Pierre White, the infamous Michelin-starred chef, the competition was judged by some of the country’s foremost experts in taste, style and bartending, namely Andy Pearson, TV Mixologist; Bill Prince, Deputy Editor of GQ; Ian Cameron, Managing Editor of Theme and Barrie Wilson, Reserve’s Head of Brand Ambassadors.
Marco says “I’ve been totally blown away by the skill of the bartenders in this final. Their creations have truly shown that a great barperson needs to be as creative and skilful as a leading chef. Ryan was phenomenal – not only with his drinks but also with his knowledge and personality behind the bar and fully deserved the title.”
Ryan will now go on to compete in the prestigious World Class Global Final, taking place later in July, which will see him representing the UK against the finest bartenders from around the world including Australia, China, Singapore, Brazil and Greece. The global winner will go on to have their definitive book of cocktails published courtesy of Diageo and be the face of a global campaign to raise the profile of the industry, themselves and their bar.
“It’s unbelievable” says Ryan, “this was far and away the most challenging and nerve-wracking competition that I’ve ever been in and I’m absolutely thrilled to have won. I was up against the best bartenders in the country – lots of whom I know and admire personally – and performing in front of judges of this calibre has been the highlight of my career so far. I’m hugely excited about the global final and I’m planning to show that cocktail-making in the UK can rival, if not better, anywhere else in the world – it’s an amazing opportunity.”
Diageo Reserve Brands launched its ‘World Class’ bartender programme to recognise the incredible skill sets of bartenders across Britain. The UK final of World Class was the culmination of a year long series of regional category finals – rum, tequila, gin and vodka – from which fifteen winners were chosen to compete in the UK final.
To find out more about Ryan Chetiyawardana, the UK final, the World Class competition and details on how to enter next year’s competition log onto www.weareworldclass.com.
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