27 year old Durbanite and Assistant Food and Beverage Manager at The Oyster Box, Steven Saunders recently participated in the Diageo Mixology Competition – one of the biggest competitions of its kind in the world, allowing bartenders from 52 different countries to compete for the title of the World’s Best Bartender.
Saunders, a former Hospitality Management Graduate from the International Hotel School and winner of the COO award for Top Trainee in South Africa, went on to run the prestigious Madikwe River Lodge, before being recruited to open four hotels for a local hotel group. He then moved to Europe to work as a European Tour Manager for Contiki, where he took travellers around 28 countries, before finally returning to South Africa.
In 2012, Saunders became the General Manager of Harvey’s Restaurant, where he discovered the Diageo Mixology competition and entered. This year marked the second time he competed at the National Finals.
Just to make the SA finals of the competition is a massive achievement. But at the end of the day, it was all a build up to next year as that is the year to win!
The prize for the winner of the National competition held in South Africa was a stunning trip to Scotland and London to compete against 48 other Bartenders in 12 different challenges.
In September 2015, the Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of the Year Competition will be held in Cape Town for the first time, and Saunders hopes to enter once again and represent his country. “To be a representative on home soil is something unimaginable,” he added.
“I am grateful for everything that my tertiary education at the International Hotel School taught me. I am a confident person in my career due to what I learnt whilst studying, and from the experience I have gained since then,” he said.
