In Bangkok, where I live, it’s getting hard to keep track of all the bar takeovers. There can be up to 15 of these events—also known as “guest shifts,” where visiting bartenders from around the world make their signature drinks at a host bar—taking place each week. Recently, Dry Wave Cocktail Studio, an award-winning spot in the Thonglor area, was hosting them on a weekly basis, with 14 visiting bartenders in less than two months. The multifloor venue Inside Bar, meanwhile, celebrated its anniversary in August by hosting 27 bartenders in one night. And Lennon’s, a vinyl speakeasy, had Opium Bar taking over its stations in December, despite Opium being just a 20-minute ride away.
It’s not just Bangkok. At bars around the world, guest shifts have been a way for bartenders to exchange knowledge and introduce themselves to a new market. Often sponsored by spirit brands, the events allow producers to raise awareness about their products, while bartenders get to take advantage of brand marketing budgets. And, for the host bars, a guest shift offers the perfect opportunity for the industry to get together in their space. These events seem to benefit everyone, so what’s not to like?
“The almost nightly offering of guest shifts stretches the industry thin,” says Annabelle Joyce, a regional director for the hospitality group Lowder-Tascarella. Those in the industry might “feel obligated to attend, despite hectic work schedules” and often, the same bars are invited—sometimes multiple times to a city in a year. They’re not always worth all the effort. “In the short term, hosting lots of events will bring social media hype and brand awareness,” says Joyce, “but consistent financial success is achieved through offering high-quality, concept-driven experiences to loyal guests.”
Currently, those loyal guests are feeling the strain. During takeovers, most host bars don’t serve their typical menus, which means that customers, who may not even be aware that a takeover is scheduled for the evening, aren’t experiencing the signature cocktails and the ambiance that they came for. “We’ve previously received feedback from guests who traveled from abroad to visit us while hosting a guest shift, only to find they couldn’t order our drinks,” says William Dibbayawan, who leads partnerships and activations for F*nkytown. The Bangkok cocktail bar has since adjusted this approach; guests can now order from the usual menu during takeovers.
Chanel Adams, bar manager of The Bamboo Bar, also in Bangkok, believes a good guest shift starts from thinking beyond just the guest shift. “We need to ask: What specific value will this exchange create?” she says. “We need to reestablish purpose rather than simply conducting events for their own sake.”
Adams says that one way bars can do this is by marketing their events better, with enough time for guests to know what they’re in for. “Consumers see a résumé of prestigious venues but miss understanding the distinctive perspective, specialized expertise or personality that makes this particular bartender worth their attention,” she says.
Before a guest shift takes place at The Bamboo Bar, Adams leads a roundtable, inviting members of Bangkok’s bar industry and visiting bartenders to learn from one another. They discuss all aspects of the trade, from recipe development to social media branding. Recently, for the bar’s series of guest shifts themed around International Women’s Day, bar managers, bartenders and brand ambassadors from China, the Philippines, Malaysia and the U.S. talked about their bar programs and favorite underrated drinking spots, and they shared local spirits from their home countries.
The roundtable concept was an idea Adams developed with Tommy Wong of CMYK in Changsha, China. He says the roundtables allow participants to share “essential info on how to host guests from two different cultures,” which “can help all bars to enhance their guest experiences.”
For some, however, programs outside of these pop-ups are the way forward. Bar Leone recently debuted its paid stage program, in which young professionals can move to Hong Kong and work at the world-renowned bar for six to 12 months, with the possibility of joining the team full-time. And Double Chicken Please, in New York City, held its Bar2Bar program in collaboration with Taiwan’s Moonrock last year. During the exchange, Moonrock’s owner and Double Chicken Please’s floor captain worked on each other’s teams for two weeks. The initiative offered a chance for “learning and long-term connections between hospitality teams around the world,” says GN Chan, co-founder of Double Chicken Please. “We wanted to offer our team a chance to gain insight into their workflow, local ingredients, team dynamics and the broader F&B and cultural landscape.”
Still, despite the oversaturation, guest shifts are not going away anytime soon. They will, just like all aspects of the trade, need to adapt in order to stay relevant. “Guest shifts are at their best when they foster open-mindedness and genuine cultural exchange,” says Adams. But “without evolution, we risk exhausting both the talent and the audience.”
