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Robin Weiss is owner of two Bar-Restaurants and the catering company SpeedBartending. He furthermore works as a consultant for the beverage and hospitality industries.
The former flairtender is Director Europe West of the Flair Bartenders Association and has been a jury member at many competitions.
Why are you coming to the Bar Convent Berlin and what do you expect from the panel discussion with the DBU (German Bartenders Association)?
Because Helmut invited me…
No, seriously, I wanted to be there last year already, and after hearing comments about it, I regret even more that I did not have the time. However, this year the date has been marked red in my calender…
I expect from the panel discussions that we can shed prejudices and possibly start a new, possitive cooperation all together in the near future to the good of the bartending profession. Amen!
How do you like the job as Director Europe West of the FBA and what are your main tasks there?
The passion for flairbartending always motivates me, eventhough this voluntary job takes up a lot of time and isn’t very family friendly.
Together with the other directors and Jim Allison, the president, I am directly involved in all major decisions of our association. In doing that I can participate in forming the future of the FBA, making use of my experiences, especially in the European section.
I am the first cotact point for FBA representatives from Western Europe and South Africa that have question about any aspect of flairbartending. Mainly this involves the planning and organisation of competitions and the divulgence of flairbartending.
Can you quickly explain us what changes are currently happening at the FBA and why?
Well, some changes have already been implemented. We have now for example two different memberships, the free of charge base membership and the premium membership. They differ mainly in the amount of information we provide. Premium members can for example see the videos of competitions earlier than base members.
This is only one of several things we are currently working on. Eventhough the FBA is still young (founded in 1997) we are already quite big and face the challenge of forming a platform for exchange, virtually a center for flair, for members from all over the world.
Bartenders from the states have obviously different questions and whishes than the ones from Asia or Europe.
Which flairbartender has impressed you the most lately?
A mean question… There are currently several bartenders that are really active and astonish me at competitions.
Tom Dyer for example is on the ball at the moment, Rodrigo Delpech anyway, Danilo Oribe, Dario Doimo… there are many who are drastically advancing at present.
If I would have to name only one, it would be Tomek Malek from Poland, who won the Nations. Making it to the finals of that competition alone, would make you a candidate for wining almost every other competition. It is great that he indisputably won that contest considering the starting field.
Which bars in Germany show the best flairbartending?
Difficult question. The best Flairtenders that I know work at events rather than in Bars. In Munich is supposed to be a good one, the two times German Champion Mike "Sushi" Dötzer works there…
However, there are certainly not enough, but we are still at the beginning of this development in Germany. Let’s see what the future brings…
Thank you for the interview, Robin.
Links:
BCB Referenten Porträts:
Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown
Jonathan Ulrich
Jonathan Ulrich beschäftigt sich seit Langem mit Wirtschaftsthemen, die in der Bar in die Praxis umgesetzt werden können. Nach einer längeren Tätigkeit für Maker’s Mark, hat er mit seinem Partner Stefan Hinz 2011 eine Beratungsagentur für die Spirituosenindustrie gegründet.
