Maybe Sammy named Best Bar in Australasia

Maybe Sammy has been named Best Bar in Australasia during the World's 50 Best Bars' live ceremony presented from Barcelona early this morning (AEST).

Martin Hudak, Stefano Catino and Vince Lombardo were in Barcelona for the awards presentation and are quoted on Instagram: "When we opened Maybe Sammy we never would have dreamed we'd be one of the World's 50 Best Bars four years in a row, let alone the best bar in Australasia each time. We're so grateful the bar and our team continues to be recognised for the brilliant work they do."

Maybe Sammy came in at 29th position and Cantina OK! came in at 29th position. The only Australian bars to feature in the top 50 this year.

Mark Sansom, Content Director of The World’s 50 Best Bars, says: “Our heartfelt congratulations go out to each and every bar on the list and we are delighted to once again be able to showcase the incredible diversity of the global bar sector, from grand hotel bars and dive bars to neighbourhood speakeasies and stunning rooftop spaces. The consumer appetite for quality cocktail bars just keeps on growing and to be able to introduce 14 new entries to help sate this and encourage travel plans couldn’t make us happier.”

The World's Best Bar this year is Paradiso in Barcelona. It is the first time that the top award has gone to a bar outside of London or New York.

Judges described Maybe Sammy as:

"An updated cocktail list this year buttressed the bar’s reputation for top-flight and innovative cocktails, but the bar remains true to the vision set forth by co-owners Stefano Catino and Vince Lombardo: a cocktail bar versed in the traditions and style of the grand old hotel bars of Europe and their pursuit of hospitality, but updated with a little Rat Pack-imbued Las Vegas razzle dazzle, and brought Down Under with some Italian-Australian irreverence"

As for Cantina OK!, they said:

"When Cantina OK! opened in March 2019, it was the bar opening that Sydney didn’t know it needed. The questions were asked: how is something that small going to survive? Who wants all that mezcal? Why is there no Espresso Martini? Perhaps the bar’s owners, Alex Dowd and Jeremy Blackmore, knew something everyone else didn’t, because Cantina OK! has not only survived, but thrived.

"Now, with international borders open again and overseas travel possible, the team at Cantina OK! have resumed their Mexican sojourns to source the mezcal that adorns the shelves of their small Sydney shrine to all things agave; every bottle tells a story, of someone they’ve met, someone they’ve shared a drink and a meal with, or someone whose family they know. And the bar is small: at the size of just one car space – and a hatchback at that – there’s some big hospitality happening within Cantina OK!’s walls."

Last week RE and Melbourne's Caretaker's Cottage were both included in the long list of 51-100 World's Best Bars.

The list of the World's 50 Best Bars is available here.