André is our sixth finalist, and the second one from the German-speaking part of Switzerland. He’s 29, comes from Portugal and lives in Lucerne.
Where do you currently work, and what makes the bar special?
At the moment im working at Das Weisse Schaf in Lucern, i guess everything…wouldn’t change nothing at the moment in our bar, great working set up, amazing guests who not even look to our menu… „i would like something fresh, sour and not so strong/i would like something like a Negroni but with your twist“, those are some of the sentence from our guess during the all week. It show how much they trust us and like this we keep our creativity in shape
If you got to open your own bar, what kind of place would it be and what would be the signature drink of this bar?
Well it would be for sure a Cocktail bar, can’t see myself just doing G&T or serving beer…hard to say with one my signature drink would be, i guess that would depends on many factors like: how big is the bar, location, decoration but one i do like to work with herbs, marmalades and smokes, im sure it would go in that direction.
What was your most rewarding experience in your bartending career?
i just had an amazing experience 1 and half year ago while i was working in Park Hotel Vitznau. Two regulars came after dinner to me again and order a Bottle of Port wine (9000CHF Bottle), i got it from our wine cellar and when i finished to serve it, they say „Andre go and get 1 more glass you are drinking it with us…! That was for sure one of the high moments from my career, not just because it was a 9000CHF bottle but more like the feeling…hard to explain…
What is the recipe with which you made it into the World Class final, and what was your inspiration for it?
In my cocktail i’m using Talisker Port Ruighe, Port wine, coriander and ginger as well as agave and lemon. The name of my cocktail is Vasco da Gama, and i inspired my self on his travels to India and because i’m Portuguese and Vasco da Gama was born in my hometown i wanted to create something that show a little bit from both countries.
- 45 ml Talisker Port Riughe
- 20 ml Taylor's 10 Year Old Tawny Port
- 10 ml agave syrup
- 15 ml lemon juice
- Ginger
- Coriander
Keep your eyes open, learn with everyone that works with you, even if they have less experience, you can always learn something from everyone. Try to be creative and stay „real“.
Being a bartender can be great but it can takes you to wrong places as well…make the right choice and you won’t have to go to work 1 single day of your life!! Cheers 🙂
