27 Sep 2023
The co-founder of New York’s trailblazing Double Chicken Please receives the coveted peer-voted award in honour of his revolutionary approach to mixology and entrepreneurial spirit
September 26, 2023 – GN Chan, co-founder of Double Chicken Please in New York, USA, has been named the winner of Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award 2023.This prestigious award is voted for by the bartenders on this year’s list of The World’s 50 Best Bars, who put forward the name of one of their peers who pushes the limits of what it means to be a great bartender.
The award goes to a personality who made a significant impact in the global bar sector over the voting period and recognises their commitment to the international community in that time. This is the second of two special awards to be announced ahead of the live awards ceremony on Tuesday 17 October 2023 in Singapore. The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023, sponsored by Perrier, marks the first time the illustrious event has been held outside of Europe since its 2009 inception. The ceremony will once again unite the global bar community in recognition of the best bars in the world.
William Drew, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Bars, says: “It gives us great pleasure to announce GN Chan as the recipient of this year's Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award. With his refreshing approach to crafting cocktails, unwavering dedication to his vision and infectious personal warmth, he has established Double Chicken Please as one of the most exciting bar concepts in the world. It is no surprise that his peers have selected him as the winner of this award, as his spirit and dedication exemplify the fundamentals of what defines the Altos Bartenders' Bartender.”
An industrial designer by training and a former street magician, GN Chan embarked on his bartending journey by complete accident with no prior experience or knowledge. Soon after falling in love with mixology, he left his native Taiwan for New York on a mission to master his craft, honing his skills and winning numerous accolades.
In 2017, GN and his business partner Faye Chen set off in a modified bright yellow 1977 Volkswagen minibus, hosting unique cocktail and dining experiences across the country. The pair quickly garnered an outstanding reputation for their innovative overlap of cuisine and mixology, complete with tongue-in-cheek cocktail names, before setting up a permanent bar, Double Chicken Please, on New York’s Lower East Side, in 2020.
Despite numerous pandemic-related closures, the dual-concepts bar quickly grew national and international recognition for its unique “hacking design” concept and its daily pre-opening queues, in large part to GN Chan’s unwavering hospitality as well as the intriguing design. The bustling, no-reservations front room is casual and fast-paced, offering enticing Taiwanese influenced fried chicken sandwiches and an engaging list of seasonal creative ‘Taptails’ set against concrete and exposed brick walls. By contrast, the wood-panelled and moody interior of ‘The Coop’ serves a lively, complex menu that playfully reimagines cocktails and dishes, an unconventional interpretation of a typical cocktail experience. Dramatic spotlights draw the eye to the central bar accentuated by whimsical artworks underpinning the unerring sense of fun that permeate the Double Chicken Please concept.
In just a few short years, Double Chicken Please has achieved international acclaim thanks to Chan, Chen and the team’s achievements. In 2022, it stormed into the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars at No.6, winning the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award, before being named The Best Bar in North America at this year’s edition of North America’s 50 Best Bars.
On winning the award, Chan says: “I am extremely humbled and grateful to be named Altos Bartenders’ Bartender. I would like to dedicate this recognition to Team DCP, who I work and hustle with day to day. It is only together that we have achieved many things we never thought we would be able to, daring to dream big and bigger every day. This recognition serves as motivation, driving our determination to continue progressing and fuelling our enthusiasm to share and expand within our beloved community. I have nothing but gratitude from receiving this honour from my peers. Thank you for being the giants, and for letting us stand on your shoulders.”
Carlos Andres Ramirez, Head of Global Advocacy and PR for Altos Tequila, says: “Supporting the community of bartenders has been a pillar for Altos Tequila since its creation in 2010. Twelve years on, we continue to invest in this support via the Tahona Society Competition initiative, the first sustainable project competition. From the Altos Tequila and Tahona Society family we want to congratulate GN Chan from Double Chicken Please in New York, the new recipient of the Bartenders’ Bartender Award as part of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023.”
The Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award was introduced to The World’s 50 Best Bars in 2017 and the inaugural winner was Iain Griffiths of London’sDandelyan. Subsequent winners include Joe Schofield, then of Tippling Club in Singapore, won in 2018; Monica Berg of Tayēr + Elementary, London, in 2019; Renato ‘Tato’ Giovannoni, of Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires, in 2020; Lynnette Marrero of Llama Inn, New York, in 2021; and Jean Trinh ofAlquímico, Cartagena, Colombia in 2022.
The countdown of the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023, sponsored by Perrier, will also be broadcast live to a global audience who are not able to attend in person. Bars and cocktail lovers are invited to join through The World’s 50 Best Bars Facebook page and 50 Best Bars TV channel on YouTube.
***
For general media queries please contact the global lead agency:
Amelia Jefferies & Vic Poulson, LX PR
For Asia-specific media queries please contact:
Ivy Woo, Food News
worlds50bestbars@foodnews.com.sg
For US-specific media queries please contact:
Hanna Lee, Hanna Lee Communications
worlds50bestbars@hannaleecommunications.com
For media centre access, please visit:
https://mediacentre.theworlds50best.com
Follow 50 Best
- Follow on Instagram: @50BestBars #Worlds50BestBars
- Follow on X: @50BestBars
- Like on Facebook: www.facebook.com/50BestBars
- Subscribe to the YouTube channel: 50 Best Bars TV
- Visit the website: www.worlds50bestbars.com
About The World’s 50 Best Bars
The World’s 50 Best Bars, sponsored by Perrier, provides a definitive list of the world’s best drinking venues, voted for by an Academy of over 650 experts worldwide. The World’s 50 Best Bars list has been published annually since 2009 and has become the most anticipated ranking for drinks professionals and cocktail aficionados across the world, with the awards the highlight of the bar industry calendar. The list of Asia’s 50 Best Bars has been published since 2016, while the list of North America’s 50 Best Bars was launched in 2022. William Reed, which owns the 50 Best brand, is entirely responsible for the organisation of the awards, the voting system and the respective lists.
How the voting works
The list is compiled by votes from The World’s 50 Best Bars Academy, which comprises more than 650 drinks experts with gender balance, including renowned bartenders and consultants, drinks writers and cocktail specialists from around the world. The Academy of voters is spread across 28 global geographic regions, each headed by an Academy Chair who selects their region’s voters, with the distribution of voters designed to reflect the relative development and sophistication of the drinks sector, and the concentration of quality bars, in each region. Each voter casts seven votes based on their best bar experiences of the previous 18 months. Voters are required to remain anonymous and voting is confidential, secure and independently adjudicated by Deloitte.
About Altos
Altos is a super-premium Tequila, crafted from 100% blue agave in the heart of Los Altos, more than 2,000 meters above sea level, in the western state of Jalisco, Mexico. Born from a collaboration between Altos Tequila’s Master Distiller, Jesús Hernández, and the internationally renowned UK mixologists, Dré Masso and the late Henry Besant, Altos was made by bartenders for bartenders in 2009. The Altos range celebrates the authenticity of Mexico in a modern way, as such each Tequila is crafted in part using the 500-year-old traditional Tahona method, before being distilled in small copper pot stills.
Our Partners:
- Singapore Tourism Board – Official Destination Partner
- Perrier – Official Water Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Bar Award
- Michter's – Official American Whiskey Partner; sponsor of Michter's Art of Hospitality Award
- Nikka Whisky – Official Whisky of the World Partner; sponsor of Nikka Highest Climber Award
- Ketel One Vodka – Official Vodka Partner; sponsor of Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award
- Mezcal Los Siete Misterios – Official Mezcal Partner; sponsor of Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award
- The London Essence Co. – Official Mixer Partner; sponsor of London Essence Best New Opening Award
- Disaronno – Official Italian Liqueur Partner; sponsor of Disaronno Highest New Entry Award
- Altos Tequila – Official Tequila Partner; sponsor of Altos Bartenders' Bartender Award
- Roku Gin – Official Gin Partner; sponsor of Roku Industry Icon Award
- Matusalem – Official Rum Partner; sponsor of ceremonial scarves
- Naked Malt – Official Scotch Whisky Partner; sponsor of a Best in Destination Award
- Tia Maria – Official Coffee Liqueur Partner; sponsor of a Best in Destination Award
- Rémy Martin – Official Cognac Partner; sponsor of Rémy Martin Legend of the List Award
- Campari – Official Bitters Partner; sponsor of Campari One To Watch Award
- The Blend – Official Education Partner; sponsor of 50 Best Bars The Blend Scholarship 2023
- Torres Brandy – Official Brandy Partner; sponsor of a Best in Destination Award
- Bareksten - Official Aquavit Partner; sponsor of Bareksten Best Bar Design Award
- Mancino Vermouth – Official Vermouth Partner; sponsor of the ceremonial shakers
- Amaro Lucano – Official Amaro Partner; sponsor of the ceremonial shakers
- American Express – Official Credit Card Partner
- Scrappy's Bitters – Official Cocktail Bitters Partner; sponsor of a Best in Destination Award
- Organics We Are – Official Natural Product Partner
- Raffles Hotel Singapore – Official Hotel and Venue Partner
- Mandarin Oriental Singapore – Official Hotel and Venue Partner
