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People

People

Meet our Bar Manager of the Year
To many the biggest individual award of the Class Bar Awards, Bar Manager of the Year sponsored by Italicus, was won by James Wheeler, a finalist in the category last year.
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31 May, 2023

People

Satan's Whisker's Kevin Armstrong on Roundbuilding - a book about the bartending method
Hamish Smith catches up with Satan’s Whiskers owner Kevin Armstrong, who tells us about his and Daniel Waddy’s book Roundbuilding – a rare attempt to document the bartending method
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08 March, 2023
Lyndon Higginson

People

Lyndon Higginson working on his “last new bar concept”
Hamish Smith catches up with the legendary hospitality entrepreneur Lyndon Higginson, who is unexpectedly working on his last new bar concept.
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24 November, 2022
Tony Pescatori

People

Tony Pescatori on his new bar Alma
Tony Pescatori talks to Hamish Smith about his Nightjar journey and his fresh start at the newly opened Alma.
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29 November, 2022

People

The Watermark's Dariush Haghighi on creating Cool Cats Ice
Dariush Haghighi, owner of The Watermark saw there was a market for locally produced clear block ice in Leeds. So he met it, he tells Hamish Smith.
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29 November, 2022

People

Salvatore Calabrese on "bringing back the theatre to cocktail making"

Hamish Smith has the questions, Salvatore Calabrese the answers.
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10 November, 2022
Rob Wood, Atelier

People

Rob Wood on his new Birmingham bar Atelier
Hamish Smith catches up with Rob Wood. He’s been suspiciously quiet of late – at least, until now.
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19 October, 2022
Nick Thomas

People

Nick Thomas on Manolo replacing Santa Chupitos
The pandemic spelt the end for Liverpool's Santa Chupitos, but in its place comes Manolo. Hamish Smith speaks to Nick Thomas about Graffiti Group's new bar. 
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01 August, 2022
Will Meredith, Tattu Group

People

Will Meredith on his new head of bars role
Hamish Smith chats exclusively with Will Meredith about his move from Lyaness to his new digs at Tattu Group.
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01 August, 2022
Jack McGarry, Jillian Vose & Sean Muldoon

People

Dead Rabbit's Northern Irish creators part ways and announce new bars
Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry, the Northern Irish founders of The Dead Rabbit in New York, have announced a parting of ways.
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06 April, 2022
Eric Yu

People

Eric Yu on 30 years of London bars
Eric Yu has recently celebrated 30 years of the Breakfast Group. Hamish Smith caught up with the hospitality pioneer to talk about three decades of London venues – and a few more to come.
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23 March, 2022

People

John Ennis on the road to recovery and Salt Dog Slims Manchester
John Ennis, co-owner of Graffiti Spirits Group in Liverpool, talks to Hamish Smith about hospitality’s recovery in the North West and his new openings in Manchester. 
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16 March, 2022

People

Jim Meehan on Banks and the evolution of rum
Class speaks to Jim Meehan, who recounts the early days of the cocktail renaissance and the spirits and cocktail landscape from which PDT and Banks Rums were launched. 
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16 March, 2022

People

Bartenders at war: Kyiv's Dima Shovkoplias speaks from the frontline
In an article first published in Class' sister title Drinks International, Hamish Smith interviews Dima Shovkoplias of Ukraine's most celebrated bar, Parovoz Speak Easy in Kyiv. 
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01 March, 2022

People

Zdenek Kastanek on ridding the world of single-use spirits packaging
A spirits distribution system that lowers waste and carbon emissions has been launched in the UK. Zdenek Kastanek speaks to Hamish Smith about Ecospirits and its war on single-use packaging.
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25 November, 2021

People

Sly Augustin on the ruin and resurrection of Trailer Happiness
Trailer Happiness was struck by a freak weather event this summer, just days before the pandemic restrictions ended. Sly Augustin talks to Hamish Smith about bad luck that is starting to turn good. 
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16 November, 2021
Shannon Tebay

People

An interview with the American Bar's Shannon Tebay
The American Bar’s new head bartender is only the second woman – and the first American – to hold the post. Hamish Smith catches up with her ambitions for the historic site. 
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29 September, 2021
Anna Sebastian

People

Anna Sebastian on creating a new hospitality culture
Anna Sebastian was one of many to leave operations this year. She reflects on what needs to change, if not for the current generation of hospitality workers, for those of the future. 
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22 September, 2021
Tato Giovannoni.

People

Floreria Atlantico's Tato Giovannoni on his new London bar
Tato Giovannoni is one of South America’s most decorated bar operators. Hamish Smith caught up with the Florería Atlántico owner in London at the site of his new Soho bar, which opens July 26.
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21 July, 2021

People

Hacha to open its doors to Brixton and underprivileged communities
Aiming to ensure employment opportunities for underprivileged members of BAME communities, Hacha’s new Brixton outlet is a project with a social conscience, finds Hamish Smith
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13 July, 2021
Tomas Estes

People

Phil Bayly & Julio Bermejo's tribute to Tomas Estes
What you know of tequila, of Mexican food and hospitality, is in some part down to the work and passion of the late Tomas Estes. Many in the industry saw him as a friend, but his partner in crime, Phil Bayly, knew him best. His tribute is followed by the words of another tequila legend, Julio Bermejo.
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18 May, 2021
Daniel and Joe Schofield

People

Birth of a classic: the story behind the long-awaited Schofield’s Bar

Schofield's Bar was the world-famous venue that didn't exist - until now. Hamish Smith takes the two-hour train from London to Manchester to finally take up a seat at Joe and Daniel Schofield's much anticpated debut bar. 
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18 May, 2021
Tomas Estes

People

The extraordinary life and times of Tomas Estes
An amateur wrestler, school teacher, restauranteur,  tequila writer and pioneer, Tomas Estes lived a rich and varied life. Here is his life story, written by Hamish Smith, published in CLASS' sister title Drinks International in May 2017.
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28 April, 2021

People

Q&A: New UKBG president Claudia Carrozzi on revolutionary change
Claudia Carrozzi, new president of the UKBG speaks to CLASS about her ideas for transforming the Guild.
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25 March, 2021
Rod Eslamieh, Ellie Eslamieh,

People

Rod Eslamieh on the lockdown gains that funded a new venue
The pandemic was catastrophic for the hospitality industry, but between the cracks, there have been pockets of success. London Bridge’s Chapter 72 was one such triumph, enabling husband-and-wife owners Rod and Ellie Eslamieh to launch a second venue next week. Hamish Smith speaks to Rod Eslamieh about how it all happened. 
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11 March, 2021

People

The reappearance of Chris Moore
A leading light of London’s bar scene, in a puff Chris Moore disappeared. Hamish Smith finds him in plain sight.
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17 February, 2021
Dre Masso

People

Dre Masso returns to London with new bar The Last Talisman

Bartending globetrotter Dre Masso is back. Back with a bar, he tells Hamish Smith
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12 January, 2021
Mia Johansson & Bobby Hiddleston

People

Mia Johansson & Bobby Hiddleston: launching a cocktail bar in a pandemic
Mia Johansson and Bobby Hiddleston have launched a second branch of Swift. They talk to Hamish Smith about opening and trading in central London during the pandemic.
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03 September, 2020
Simone Caporale

People

Simone Caporale: books, bars and Flavour Blasters
Simone Caporale is never just working on one thing. Hamish Smith caught up with the bar consultant and wasn’t short of lines of enquiry.
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10 April, 2020
Don Javier

People

Don Javier: farewell to a legend
Jake Burger pays tribute to Don Javier Delgado Corona, famed for his church to hospitality, La Capilla, and his way with a Batanga
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01 April, 2020