Anton Forte and Jason Scott might be considering an extension to the trophy cabinet after their Sydney CBD bar The Baxter Inn collected the Best Bar in Australasia gong for the third time in a row in 2016’s The World’s 50 Best Bars Awards, announced in London last night.
Forte and Scott recently picked up GT’s Best New Restaurant award for Restaurant Hubert, which not only added to the repertoire but to the pile of accolades they’ve attracted since opening their successful Sydney triumvirate of The Baxter, Shady Pines and raucous late night pit of fun, Frankie’s Pizza By the Slice.
The Baxter Inn came in at number 12 on the overall list, dropping six places from last year’s ranking, with the citation including a nod to the bar’s hefty 630-bottle whisky collection.
The top 10 ranking is dominated almost exclusively by bars in London and New York City (NYC’s The Dead Rabbit claimed the top spot this year after coming in second for the last two years), the only exception being Athens’ The Clumsies which squeezed in at number nine.
The World’s 50 Best Bars Awards are voted on by an “Academy” of “bar experts” who fit the criteria of being “influential, knowledgeable and, crucially, well travelled”. This year 476 of these influencers, a third of them from Europe and a quarter from North America fit the bill, each voting for the best five bars they’d been to in the past 18 months.
Australia scored three bars in the Top 50 this year with Melbourne’s 15-year-old The Back Pearl coming in at number 22 and Sydney’s Bulletin Place nabbing the 46 spot.
Asia is the most improved bar region in the Awards, with Speak Low, the first bar from Shanghai to be listed, joining a seven strong contingent led by this year’s Best Bar in Asia winner, Singapore’s Manhattan at The Regent Hotel.
See the full list at worlds50bestbars.com