Australian Venue Co has partnered with renowned US cocktail bar brand, Death & Company, to open two locations on Australia’s eastern seaboard.
US cocktail bar brand Death & Co, which has locations in New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Washington DC, is bringing its fifth and sixth locations to Australia in partnership with Australian Venue Co (AVC). The two bars will be located in Melbourne and Brisbane.
The award-winning cocktail innovators opened their flagship venue in New York in 2006 and have since influenced both industry and customer trends as leaders in the craft cocktail movement across the USA and globally. The New York venue has won several awards, including America’s Best Cocktail Bar and World’s Best Cocktail Menu at the Tales of the Cocktail convention.
Death & Co is also the birthplace of some famed modern cocktails such as the Oaxaca Old Fashioned, using tequila and mezcal instead of whiskey; Naked and Famous, an equal-parts concoction of mezcal, Yellow Chartreuse, Aperol, and lime juice; and the Conference, another take on an Old Fahioned using rye, bourbon, calvados and cognac. The Death & Co book, published in 2014, has quickly become a definitive guide to the contemporary cocktail movement.
“We’ve admired Death & Co’s work for some time now and have partnered with them on a number of pop-up events at our venues in the past. The opportunity to be the first to bring their world-class expertise permanently to Australia, in Melbourne and Brisbane, felt like a natural extension of our shared vision,” said Ben Hehir, AVC’s head of training and development.
Hehir was the original connection between the two groups.
“The Death & Co team shares our same obsession with customer experience and are focussed on providing humble hospitality to their patrons. Together, we’re focussed on delivering an elevated yet accessible offering; craft cocktails and that NYC-inspired bar experience, paired with the same welcoming atmosphere our pubs are known for.”
The recruitment search has begun for experienced Venue Managers and Bar Managers to lead the two new sites, with a training and mentoring program based in the United States for the successful candidates.
Those picked for the positions will be flown to Death & Co locations in New York City for cultural immersion, Denver for hands-on training during service and Los Angeles as the last stop before returning to Australia to help bring the fifth and sixth bars to life.
The Melbourne and Brisbane locations are slated to open in Spring this year.
Those looking for more information, or to apply can do so here.
