Hint: It starts with Barce and ends with lona.
Let’s open this article with the exciting news that The World’s Best 50 are opening up a whole new list in 2023 spotlighting the very best hotels across the globe.
Compiled by William Reed, it will use the opinions of 580 industry experts to work out what’s hot in the hotel world. Any location or venue is eligible but no location or venue can nominate themselves.
To celebrate this exciting proposition (we’re a global hotel brand after all), let’s drink to the 2022 edition of the ever-influential World’s 50 Best Bars which hit the hospitality headlines in October.
New York and London might have the most appearances in the list over all - icons like Katana Kitten, Satan’s Whiskers, Swift & Dante all place - but it is Barcelona who appears twice in the top three.
Let’s take a look at them to see why Barce, the Catalunyan capital with the top notch nightlife, did so well on the bar front this year.
In third place, Sips.
Owned by titans-of-industry Simone Caporale and Marc Alvarez, this was never going to be a run-of-the-mill bar experience.
For one, there is no bar to sit at. Instead, the island in the middle of the room becomes a laboratory for the bartenders working head-to-head, using pressure stills and technical wizardry to produce unbelievable drinks. Science and magic focused purely on the mixology, rather than the mingling.
Not only are the cocktails otherworldly, but the pastry pairings from a Michelin-starred chef help elevate the experience even further.
In first place, Paradiso.
Embraced by a bar with the curves of a masterpiece from the Catalan, Dali, Paradiso very much does what it says on the tin… creates a paradise for lovers of a seriously creative libation.
From Carrara, town of the marble mountains in Tuscany, owner Giacomo Giannotti used London as his training ground in the arts of mixology before heading to sunny Barcelona with a clear idea for the bar he would open.
In 2015, Paradiso opened its fridge door (hidden inside a Pastrami cafe, natch) to locals and guests, inviting them in to enjoy a chance to experience Giannotti’s roots and dreams, carefully shaken with inspirations as eclectic as time, compasses and gunpowder, all blended into one unforgettable drinks list.
This is not Aperol Spritz territory. Even the Negroni has evolved with Mango and Chai Tea adding a unique tang to the traditional.
A lesson to any fledgling cocktail bar operator with dreams of doing something a little different.
Who have your bar idols been this year? Let us know over on Instagram at @wired.fnd
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