Seventeen years after the B-Side Lounge birthed the local craft cocktail revival, Boston is blessed with scores of skilled, scholarly, engaging bartenders making serious drinks. How remarkable then that our most blazing talent is self-taught and works out of his family’s excellent Sichuan restaurant in, ahem, Woburn. With a self-effacing mien that never hints at his armful of international accolades, Duan embodies nonpareil originality. Get a designated driver, head to the Baldwin and start by tasting his fascinating updates on classic Tiki drinks. Ran’s a winner.
The Baldwin Bar at Sichuan Garden II
2 Alfred St., Woburn • (781) 935-8488
sichuangardenrestaurant.com
Other Winners
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Bartender
2014 Winner: Katie Emmerson at the Hawthorne
“Sitting at Katie’s bar is one of life’s great joys,” says fellow bartender Tyler Wang of Audubon Boston, and we heartily concur...
- Hotel Commonwealth, 500A Comm. Ave., Boston
- (617) 532-9150
- thehawthornebar.com
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Bartender
2016 Winner: Jason Kilgore of UNI
The new UNI is a fantastic reimaging of Ken Oringer’s flagship restaurant, ditching Clio’s costly French/Japanese fusion for sushi and affordable izakaya snacks like pork-belly buns, skewers, dumplings and ramen while preserving the old Uni’s extravagant imported sashimi...
- 370 Comm. Ave., Boston
- (617) 536-7200
- uni-boston.com
Photo Credit: Melissa Ostrow -
Bartender
2017 Winner: Gwen Hagerty at Bar Mezzana
At Colin and Heather Lynch’s acclaimed coastal Italian restaurant, justly lauded for fabulous seafood and pastas, Ryan Lotz oversees the South End’s best bar program...
- 360 Harrison Ave., Boston
- (617) 530-1770
- barmezzana.com
Photo Credit: Holly Rike -
Bartender
2018 Winner: Amanda Saladino at The Hawthorne
- 500A Commonwealth Ave., Boston
- (617) 532-9150
- thehawthornebar.com
Photo Credit: Emily Hagen
