An all-day neighborhood joint in New York’s Greenwich Village was last night named the world’s best bar, beating competition from luxury lounges around the globe and knocking London off the top of The World’s 50 Best Bars rankings.
Dante, which is now owned by Australian friends, serves modern Italian food and a range of cocktails but is still known for its espressos and negronis. The original Caffe Dante first opened on Macdougal Street in 1915, which was then a largely Italian neighborhood. Dante placed ninth last year and has won numerous awards since the current owners took over in 2015.
Second place went to the luxurious Connaught Barin London, followed by Florería Atlántico in Buenos Aires. Fourth was NoMad, New York, followed by the American Bar, London. The Clumsies, Athens, was sixth; Attaboy, New York, seventh; Atlas, Singapore, eighth; the Old Man, Hong Kong, was ninth; and Licorería Limantour, Mexico City, rounded out the Top 10.
Dante classic Negroni.
Source: Lion & Lamb Communications
The U.K. leads the 2019 list with 10 bars, while the U.S. has seven: Six in New York and one in San Francisco. Last year’s winner, Dandelyan, closed after founder Ryan Chetiyawardana, AKA Mr. Lyan, created a new venue, Lyaness, in the same London space. Lyaness placed at No. 39 this year. The awards were announced in a party-style ceremony at the Roundhouse in London.
The 50 Best is an annual ranking voted for by more than 500 drinks experts from around the world. It’s owned and organized by William Reed Business Media, the group behind the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.
Here is the Top 50 followed by the 51-100 rankings, which were announced last week:
1. Dante, New York
2. Connaught Bar, London
3. Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires
4. The NoMad, New York
5. American Bar, London
6. The Clumsies, Athens
7. Attaboy, New York
8. Atlas, Singapore
9. The Old Man, Hong Kong
10. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City
11. Manhattan, Singapore
12. Native, Singapore
13. Carnaval, Lima
14. Katana Kitten, New York
15. Guilhotina, São Paulo
16. Three Sheets, London
17. Himkok, Oslo
18. High Five, Tokyo
19. Salmón Gurú, Madrid
20. Paradiso, Barcelona
21. Indulge Experimental Bistro, Taipei
22. The Dead Rabbit, New York
23. Coupette, London
24. The SG Club, Tokyo
25. Dr. Stravinsky, Barcelona
26. Employees Only, New York
27. El Copitas, St Petersburg
28. Scout, London
29. Jigger & Pony, Singapore
30. Operation Dagger, Singapore
31. Baba Au Rum, Athens
32. La Factoría, Old San Juan
33. Presidente, Buenos Aires
34. Schumann’s, Munich
35. Speak Low, Shanghai
36. Little Red Door, Paris
37. Linje Tio, Stockholm
38. The Old Man, Singapore
39. Lyaness, London
40. Happiness Forgets, London
41. Swift, London
42. Trick Dog, San Francisco
43. Maybe Sammy, Sydney
44. 1930, Milan
45. Sober Company, Shanghai
46. Electric Bing Sutt, Beirut
47. Kwānt, London
48. Artesian, London
49. Coa, Hong Kong
50. Jerry Thomas Speakeasy, Rome
51. Subastor, São Paulo, Brazil
52. Tayer + Elementary, London (new entry)
53. Lost & Found, Nicosia, Cyprus
54. The Bamboo Bar at Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok
55. Scarfes Bar, London (new entry)
56. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
57. Two Schmucks, Barcelona
58. Candelaria, Paris
59. Tales & Spirits, Amsterdam
60. Tommy’s, San Francisco
61. 28 Hongkong Street, Singapore
62. Zuma, Dubai
63. Buck and Breck, Berlin
64. Oriole, London
65. Hanky Panky, Mexico City
66. Bulletin Place, Sydney
67. Sweet Liberty, Miami
68. Danico, Paris
69. Siete Negronis, Santiago (new entry)
70. Baccano, Rome (new entry)
71. Quinary, Hong Kong
72. Blacktail, New York
73. Central Station, Beirut
74. Dry Martini, Barcelona
75. Lobster Bar, Hong Kong
76. Long Island Bar, New York
77. Panda and Sons, Edinburgh
78. Satan’s Whiskers, London (new entry)
79. The Baxter Inn, Sydney
80. Black Pearl, Melbourne
81. ABV, San Francisco
82. Drink Kong, Rome (new entry)
83. Charles H, Seoul
84. Le Syndicat, Paris
85. Bar Tench, Tokyo
86. Nottingham Forest, Milan
87. Donovan Bar, London (new entry)
88. Sin+Tax, Johannesburg (new entry)
89. Bar Orchard Ginza, Tokyo
90. Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore (new entry)
91. Lost Lake, Chicago
92. Tropic City, Bangkok (new entry)
93. The Pontiac, Hong Kong (new entry)
94. Amor Y Amargo, New York
95. PS40, Sydney (new entry)
96. Frank Bar, São Paulo
97. The Gibson, London
98. Mabel, Paris (new entry)
99. Aviary, Chicago
100. Clover Club, New York (new entry)
Richard Vines is Chief Food Critic at Bloomberg. You can follow him on Twitter @richardvines and Instagram @richard.vines.
Wealth
‘Consider Getting Arrested,’ Rich Clients of Private Bank Told
U.K.’s Weatherbys looks to update its genteel, horsey image
Lender not wanting to be seen as ‘bank of yesterday,’ CEO says
The besuited millionaires chuckled and shifted nervously in their chairs as the co-founder of climate-change protest group Extinction Rebellion urged them to embrace their radical sides.
“Consider getting arrested, seriously,” Gail Bradbrook told about 450 people at a London conference this month hosted by Weatherbys Private Bank, whose clients are drawn from among Britain’s wealthiest strata.
Roger Weatherby
Source: Forgather
She was preceded by speakers that included Cambridge University professor David Runciman, who advocated allowing children as young as age 6 to vote in U.K. elections. During breaks, guests could lug full jerry cans up and down a reception room to better appreciate the difficulties of those lacking access to clean water.
It was not your usual bank conference. There was little talk of investments, financial products or tax planning. Indeed, the subject matter was light years away from the lender’s roots as a tony offshoot of a family-owned firm that has been at the center of British horse racing since 1770. And that was partly the point.
“I didn’t want us to be perceived as a sort of leather armchair, old pictures of horses and very much a sort of a bank of yesterday,” Chief Executive Officer Roger Weatherby said in an interview before the Oct. 1 conference. “Our customers -- and particularly the next generation of customers -- will want us to be using our contacts, our profits and our wherewithal to help in whichever way we think is appropriate.”
Such an approach is increasingly important in the once-staid world of private banking. With automation and consolidation on the rise, curating such events is a useful way for firms like Weatherbys to demonstrate the networking and advisory capabilities that justify their higher fees, while exposing clients to speakers and ideas outside their usual orbits.
Even as many European private banks are battling shrinking profits and declining inflows, Weatherbys’ assets have continued to grow. Customer deposit balances increased 15% to 816 million pounds ($996 million) last year. Rival C. Hoare & Co. -- which hosts similar forums for customers -- also saw deposits rise, up 8% to 4.4 billion pounds in its latest fiscal year.
“There is often a closer synergy between the owners of private banks and their clients, with the emphasis on the relationship and being a trusted adviser,” said Caroline Burkart, an associate partner at wealth consulting firm Scorpio Partnership.
Horses and riders race through the Weatherbys Super Sprint in Newbury, U.K.
Photographer: Alan Crowhurst/PA Images
Created in 1994, the bank is an offshoot of Weatherbys Ltd., which provides the British Horseracing Authority with its central administration, as well as services like pedigree research to a range of clients. Johnny Weatherby, Roger’s brother, is chairman of the equine firm. There’s also Weatherbys Racing Bank, which offers financial services to those involved in the sport.
Genteel Landowners
The private bank’s base is diversifying from its traditional clientele of genteel landowners, with professionals, executives and entrepreneurs making up the majority of new customers. The bank’s first Creating the Future conference was held last year and struck a chord with clients. It resulted in two smaller events this year on education and the environment that preceded this week’s gathering. Another targeting those age 20 to 30 is planned for early next year.
“It’s hard to curate it, but it’s a lot easier if you have a bank with a history of looking after families,” said Mike Dickson, the author of “Our Generous Gene,” who helped Weatherbys organize the conferences. “They’re much more concerned about issues that are going to affect their family, their children.”
The bank says such engagement will be good for business -- in the long term.
“We wanted to engage with all our clients, potential clients, introducers and friends on a very different level to that of a transactional banker,” Weatherby said in his opening remarks at the conference. “Transactions can be done by machines.”
UP NEXT
Shred Fitness Concept: How to Get in Shape for Ski Season
Fitness
This Intense Workout Can Give Anyone Crucial ‘Eccentric Strength’
Shred, a new fitness concept, appeals to skiers and non-skiers alike.
About this time every year, as the reports of first snowfalls dusting Western peaks arrive, desk-bound urban skiers begin to daydream. Perhaps they start looking at season passes, scroll through ski videos on their lunch break, or begin blocking off potential weekends with their buddies. But pretty soon they glance down at their legs and wonder: Will they be ready?
Fitness for skiing season is a unique thing. You need to be in generally good shape overall, but it also requires a specific sort of strength and balance and demands a lot of infrequently used muscles that are stressed by irregular angles and forces. It’s not just the big, obvious muscle groups of the lower body that come into play either: The small, stabilizing ones responsible for balance and proprioception—basically active balance and awareness of your body in space—are crucial, not just for keeping you going all day long, but for keeping knees and hips safe from injury.
Just a Regular NBA Game in China After Tweet Controversy
Allen Wan, Eben Novy-Williams and Scott Soshnick
Updated on
Lakers, Nets play to full arena despite Chinese TV boycott
Tweet by Rockets executive turned series into global incident
LeBron James of the Lakers posts up against Joe Harris of the Nets during a preseason game in Shanghai on Oct. 10.Photographer: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
After all the noise and rhetoric, it was just a basketball game.
Thursday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets in Shanghai went off largely without a hitch, even as the National Basketball Association fights to contain a crisis after an executive tweeted comments last week supporting Hong Kong’s anti-Beijing protesters.
Cars
Chevrolet Sends Hard-Top Convertible Corvette Into Market Headwinds
A cornerstone of GM’s upscale line, Vette sales have declined in recent years. But the brass hopes the first ever version with a retractable hardtop will appeal to a new, younger audience.
2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray ConvertibleSource: Chevrolet
The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible, which debuted on Oct. 2 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is the first Vette in history to have a hard, retractable roof, rather than one made of canvas.
The hardtop on the new mid-engine Corvette Stingray Convertible folds seamlessly into the body, maintaining the fighter jet-inspired lines of the coupe version, providing a quieter cabin, and—in a feat of automotive alchemy—offering the same storage space as the coupe, even with the top down.
Cars
Chevrolet Sends Hard-Top Convertible Corvette Into Market Headwinds
A cornerstone of GM’s upscale line, Vette sales have declined in recent years. But the brass hopes the first ever version with a retractable hardtop will appeal to a new, younger audience.
2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray ConvertibleSource: Chevrolet
The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible, which debuted on Oct. 2 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is the first Vette in history to have a hard, retractable roof, rather than one made of canvas.
The hardtop on the new mid-engine Corvette Stingray Convertible folds seamlessly into the body, maintaining the fighter jet-inspired lines of the coupe version, providing a quieter cabin, and—in a feat of automotive alchemy—offering the same storage space as the coupe, even with the top down.
