The World’s 50 Best Bars has named GN Chan, co-founder of Double Chicken Please, New York, as the 2023 Altos Bartenders’ Bartender.
Chosen by the bartenders on the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023, the award honours the person who has made the most impact in the global bar industry over the last year and who pushes the limits of what it means to be a great bartender.
After falling in love with mixology GN, a former industrial designer, left his native Taiwan for New York to master the craft of bartending and mixology. In 2017 GN and his business partner Faye Chen began taking a modified VW minibus across the US, hosting cocktail and dining experiences, building a strong reputation, before setting up a permanent bar, Double Chicken Please, on New York’s Lower East Side, in 2020.
Despite numerous pandemic-related closures, the dual-concepts bar quickly grew national and international recognition for its unique ‘hacking design’ concept and its daily pre-opening queues, in large part to GN Chan’s unwavering hospitality as well as the intriguing design. The bustling, no-reservations front room is casual and fast-paced, offering Taiwanese influenced fried chicken sandwiches and seasonal creative ‘Taptails’ set against concrete and exposed brick walls.
The bar also features ‘The Coop’ serving reimagined cocktails and dishes as well as the central bar featuring whimsical artworks to underpin the unerring sense of fun that permeates the Double Chicken Please concept.
Since opening Double Chicken Please has achieved international acclaim thanks to Chan, Chen and the team’s achievements. In 2022, it debuted on The World’s 50 Best Bars at number six, winning the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award, before being named The Best Bar in North America at this year’s edition of North America’s 50 Best Bars.
William Drew, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Bars, said: “It gives us great pleasure to announce GN Chan as the recipient of this year’s Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award. With his refreshing approach to crafting cocktails, unwavering dedication to his vision and infectious personal warmth, he has established Double Chicken Please as one of the most exciting bar concepts in the world. It is no surprise that his peers have selected him as the winner of this award, as his spirit and dedication exemplify the fundamentals of what defines the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender.”
On winning the award, Chan said: “I am extremely humbled and grateful to be named Altos Bartenders’ Bartender. I would like to dedicate this recognition to Team DCP, who I work and hustle with day to day. It is only together that we have achieved many things we never thought we would be able to, daring to dream big and bigger every day.
“This recognition serves as motivation, driving our determination to continue progressing and fuelling our enthusiasm to share and expand within our beloved community. I have nothing but gratitude from receiving this honour from my peers. Thank you for being the giants, and for letting us stand on your shoulders.”
Carlos Andres Ramirez, Head of Global Advocacy and PR for Altos Tequila, added: “Supporting the community of bartenders has been a pillar for Altos Tequila since its creation in 2010. Twelve years on, we continue to invest in this support via the Tahona Society Competition initiative, the first sustainable project competition.
“From the Altos Tequila and Tahona Society family we want to congratulate GN Chan from Double Chicken Please in New York, the new recipient of the Bartenders’ Bartender Award as part of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023.”
The countdown of the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023, sponsored by Perrier, will also be broadcast live to a global audience who are not able to attend in person. Bars and cocktail lovers are invited to join through The World’s 50 Best Bars Facebook page and 50 Best Bars TV channel on YouTube.
