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Inside Asia’s Best Bar, a group of talented Filipinos doing excellent work
On the second floor of Regent Hotel in Singapore stands Manhattan Bar, an American bar paying tribute to the Big Apple’s cocktail culture. It has been proclaimed Asia’s Best Bar of 2018 and 7th best in the world.
It’s a compact little cube from the outside, with barrels of what anybody would presume to be alcohol on the right and bottles of what would turn out to be whisky and glass jars of ingredients on the left.
Later we would learn that the space with the barrels is actually the first in-hotel rickhouse in the world, and the whisky and glass jars of ingredients? It’s the American Whisky Embassy stored in what they call the Ingredients Room.
These are just a few things that define and put Manhattan head and shoulders above every other bar in Asia — of course there is more.
Entering the bar to see a good looking and well-dressed clientele, delicately enjoying superb cocktails, served by an impeccably dressed staff in a beautifully designed space will have you nodding impressed.
A sip of its delicate negroni will have you nodding in agreement: The four-year-old Manhattan truly deserves the Asia’s Best Bar accolade.
But the people behind the bar will tell you that above everything is the 18-member crew behind it. “It’s always about the people. It’s always the highlight of the place,” begins assistant manager Gab Carlos.
“Anybody can build what we have right now, but it needs people working with this much passion, with this much dedication that each of us have.”
Gab is one of the eight Filipinos on board Manhattan – eight and a half if we count half-Pinoy, half-Singaporean Timothy.
He is one of two right-hand men of bar manager Philip Bischoff, who has been leading the team to new heights, tighter bonds, and better learning. The other is Cedric Mendoza, head bartender, and a fellow Filipino.
There are other Kababayans onboard, too — Roland, Kate, Arian, Elijah, Kelvin, and Jenny — but it is really Gab and Ced who are almost like partners in crime.
The two arrived in Singapore in 2011, four hours apart, and has since been quite inseparable. They’ve become roommates, become housemates, and for several years now, colleagues. The two are graduates of the same university — UST — with Gab two years ahead of Cedric.
Both sport a tattoo of the Manhattan logo on their right wrist, a thing the entire staff plan on having after being named Asia’s Best Bar.
“We never really focus on the idea that we’re number 1. It’s a challenge but the idea is to do what we do, best,” Gab tells GMA News Online.
“If we get it, then good. If we don’t, it’s fine. It’s a just a number, a consequence of what we’re doing,” he continues.
But Cedric shares: “It’s hard because there will be people coming to the bar with a huge bag of expectations. 'You’re number 1 in Asia. Show me what you’ve got' but we’re a bar. The least you should be is to be super serious.”
He insists it’s all about having fun, and providing their guests the experience, but beyond the bar shifts, the clowning around, and imbibing approximately 300ml of alcohol a night — “we taste every single cocktail we serve,” Gab explains — is impressive discipline.
They all talk contentedly about Manhattan’s cross training program. “We’re training floor staff to learn how to do a cocktail,” Cedric says, pointing to team member Sofia and fellow Filipino bartender Kelvin.
They were members of the floor staff whom they trained in bar work on Sundays. “Sundays are slow so we have the time to teach, and they have the time to learn. We did that for a year an now Sofia’s a senior bartender.
“Kelvin came from the floor staff but he’s now a bartender, yesterday he won a competition! I felt so proud,” Cedric continues.
The team attends weekly trainings that the two — Gab and Cedric — spearhead. And then once a month, they’d hold blind testing and masterclasses for more training.
And then there are travels that are open to the crew. “It really helps a lot. We get to visit distilleries, we connect with people. And whenever we go back to Singapore, whatever we learn from the trip, we share with the team. Sofia came back from Kentucky where she learned about whiskies and she trained the team with what she learned from the trip,” Gab says.
The two are frequent mainstays in Manila’s growing cocktail scene, appearing behind Oto’s, Curator’s, Yes Please’s bar. “We are good friends with David Ong,” explains Cedric of the visionary young man who is in the thick of the Manila cocktail scene.
They met in 2015 after Manhattan won the best service crew award at the Bar Awards.
“Everybody decided to go back to Manhattan. Gab and I were already celebrating but when we saw the number of people heading back, and it was a Sunday, we decided to help out. David was sitting by the bar, and we struck conversation,” Cedric continued.
They agreed on a lot of things — the hospitality industry, attitude, behavior — and has since been helping each other out. “Whenever I go back, I look at the bar, and mention what I think they can improve on, and of course, I learn something from them as well,” Gab says.
Learning is a big thing in Manhattan. The six bartenders and 12 kitchen and floor staff read a lot, research a lot, and every week they all embark on a research project. “We assign everybody subjects to research on a weekly basis. The topic is opened to everyone so everybody else can take part in the research. Instead of a downward stream, it becomes a group learning activity, a collaboration more than a lecture,” Cedric says.
It’s not surprising then to hear that Manhattan is the only bar whose entire staff has passed the Bar Smarts exam. “Everyone is certified, including the uncle doing the bar’s prep work for 36 years. The whole staff should have passed the exam. Sure you can start working with us, but within three months, you will have to pass it.”
It’s important, they all agree, because it covers the fundamentals. “Like just to know what vodka is, for instance. Because once you enter Manhattan, you’ll see 12 different kinds,” Cedric says.
And the bar has quite the collection. “We have 105 fresh American oak barrel. The ingredients in the Ingredients Room are from all over the world. The American Whisky Embassy has 200 brands and growing. Whenever we travel, we make sure to get bottles. We are proud to have the unicorn of whiskies — The Pappy Van Winkle,” Gab enumerates their jewels.
It has a lot of innovative ideas, like the three-year-old American Whisky Embassy and Manhattan’s Sunday brunch, featuring milkshakes of all things. But when asked who to credit for all these, none would say "I."
"We really work as a unit," Cedric says. "We’re lucky to be working with everybody, and that’s the label we’d like to showcase to the world."
And it shows. On the Friday night we were there, Manhattan was pulsating with energy the source of which we couldn’t tell: Was it from the well-lit bar, where Cedric was putting on a show? Was it from the floor staff members navigating the space, one leading a group of tired journalists into the private salon, another bringing a tray of cocktails inside the library, and still another waiting on a good looking group to settle on their tab. The crew is tight, the drinks a delight, and they have a solid place to show for it.
