Ex-Artesian bartender joins HK’s Lobster Bar

Balazs Molnar who trained under the tutelage of Alex Kratena and Simon Caporale at London’s Artesian has joined Hong Kong’s Lobster Bar as head bartender.

Hailing from Hungary, Molnar has worked his way around the bars of Budapest, Lyon and London and ended up as a bar-back at London’s world-renowned Artesian Bar which was voted the ‘World’s Best Bar’ in 2015 by Drinks International.

He trained under the tutelage of head bartenders Alex Kratena and Simon Caporale and in less than a year, was promoted to bartender. Molnar also scooped Botran’s Rookie Cup 2015 in Madrid, making him the first European winner.

“Bartending is a kind of freedom for me, to be creative, to create amazing memories for guests, and to entertain people,” said Molnar.

“We need to ensure that everything is perfect at the bar, from the music to the service down to the snacks guests are having.”

Molnar has joined the Lobster Bar and Grill team at the Island Shangri-La headed up by Serhan Kusaksizoglu (Charly).

Lobster Bar was named 27^th in the World’s 50 Best Bars this year and was also placed 4^th in Asia’s Best Bars.

In October last year it was announced that Kratena and Caporale had left Artesian to start their own venture.