Sean Kenyon bartender extraordinaire at Williams & Graham was named American Bartender of the Year at the Spirited Awards Saturday in the Sheraton Hotel New Orleans.
Kenyon was among four finalists along with Jeff Bell (PDT, New York), Marcovaldo Dionysos (Smuggler’s Cove, San Francisco), and Bobby Heugel (Anvil Bar & Refuge, Houston). The Spirited Awards are held each year during Tales of the Cocktail, the world’s premier cocktail festival, bringing together the international spirits community for five days of what’s now, what’s new and what’s next in bartending.
“I am still stunned by the whole thing,” Kenyon told Eater Denver. “I didn’t think I was going to win. Someone from a secondary market doesn’t have as much of a chance to win as much as people from the coasts and with the guys from New York and San Francisco in the running, I just didn’t expect to win.”
According to Eater Denver, Robert Simonson, author and journalist for the “New York Times” tweeted this after Kenyon’s win:
“Jul 19 #spiritedawards win for @SeanKenyon likely to be biggest thing yet to happen to Denver cocktail scene, attention-wise. #totc”
Kenyon told Eater Denver what he said in his acceptance speech. What did Kenyon say in his acceptance speech? “I thanked my wife – I couldn’t do anything I do without her. I thanked my family at Williams & Graham – I love them. I thanked Steve Olson and Andy Seymour, two of my mentors. And I thanked my father; he never sat me down to tell me what to do, but I learned everything I know about bartending and hospitality from him. I prepared nothing for my speech because I am superstitious, but I ended with a call to young bartenders everywhere: Honor yourself, honor your peers, and honor your craft.”
·
Comments are closed.
Leave a comment