Long Tran

For the last few months, I have been traveling and helping out a friend setting up a family pub overseas.

Currently taking up part-time at a few places while searching for my next cocktail project.

I was extremely lucky to be the starting member of a brand-new restaurant with a Thai concept which opened up my world to regional Thai cuisine and for me to realize there are still many things I have yet to learn.

I was employed as the sole bartender for Jungle. A great amount of work was put in this project with very low investment, mostly spent on the hardware of the bar.

The task for me was to create a new cocktail program which is Thai-inspired, using ingredients native to Thailand and the very same ingredients used by the chefs in our kitchen.

During the period of less than 6 months, the number of guests per night has increased by four times and so is the number of reoccurring guests. Jungle is now not only known for its foods but also a great drinking place.

Due to lack of man power, we have decided to take a different approach to the beverage program, relying more on part-timers.

For a casual neighborhood restaurant and bar (neighborhood is a word we take pride in), I have come to believe this might be my best run so far with any of my beverage programs.

I have converted to a part-timer at this very moment.

My journey started with revamping of the 2nd restaurant bar for the group located in Somerset, mostly with redesign and upgrade of previous bar hardware, change of suppliers, creating more suitable cocktail menus and trained new staff for takeover, expand. (they closed down the outlet in recent year)

I set up the 3rd outlet bar program, the first Umeshu specialist bar in Singapore. I created 28 original cocktails divided into 2 very well-received cocktail menus, which is a small part of my bespoke programme consisting of over 100 drinks.

We managed to break sale target 4 months straight in a row by 20%, with an increasing target of every month. Probably one of my best runs so far.

I was given a chance to turn in my resignation due to a minor dispute with a friend of the group.

In the last one and a half year I have been offered twice to return, which I have humbly declined both times.

I remain neutral with the group mostly because of the good memories.

I was introduced and employed at Kuan Zhai Alley for a short period by an ex-coleague to set up a bar program for a brand-new Chinese restaurant.

My priority for the job was to train the staff and create a vibrant drink menu including Chinese influence cocktails, wine, sake, not limited to only Moutai and exotic Chinese hard liquor.

This was my first time working with only a Chinese speaking company (90% of the staff are non-English speaker, and I am unable to speak Chinese).

During my time with the company, I spent most of my time training all the staff about wine, service and the process of making and preparing of cocktails. I also have produced a series of tutorial videos for future references. (all with a translator).

The aim of the company is that every staff member will be able to serve, introduce wine and make signature cocktails proficiently, which they were able to achieve within the period.

The process was not easy by any means due to the language barrier, but surprisingly, a more successful experience for sure.

I joined Mandala in the period of transition from the Straits clan to Mandala member club. This experience for me is more about learning and assisting the with setting up of a brand-new bar.

My secondary role was to take care of the newest of the 3 bars in the Club, training new bartenders as a senior bartender, mostly mixing in peak periods and providing support in slower times.

My primary role was very much to my liking, which was preparation work for the 3 bars. This included producing cocktail premixes in large quantities, fermenting certain beverages like kombucha, coffee prep, bottling, distributing, locating etc.

Having a role to do with multiple bars means understanding and having access to use all the equipment and machinery in the facilities (they have more equipment and machines than in most places). I also enjoyed the extensive professional books library for research.

I am a full-time worker but I also work on my off, 7 days a week for Mandala club.

Some months I accumulated over 100 hours but these extra hours are paid with a part-time rate. There was a disagreement about my salary, which resulted in my resignation.

I did enjoy my time there, but I am positive that I am incapable of making a similar schedule again.

I spent 2020 stuck overseas unable to return to Singapore, working in a hotel bar and a private lounge. This was at the peak of Covid 19 and the only way to work as a bartender was not to be in Singapore.

I had an opportunity to return to Singapore in the early 2021, which was still very tough for a bartender. With very limited options available at the time, I was fortunate enough to get an offer from The other Room as bartender.

My primary role is preparation of both food and beverages during non-operating hours and has very little to do with mixing of beverages during operation. This was quite concerning for me at the time. After completing 3 months of the probation period, I chose to move on to Mandala club.

After working at Mandala club, I was approached once again by the company about a new position as head bartender at The other Roof which is a byproduct of the success of The other Room's concept but on a rooftop.

My task this time was to rebuild a new team for the outlet after the previous team had left. Due to a low budget, I spent the first month renovating the facility and working on a Tiki cocktail menu.

The remaining 6 months of re-opening the outlet, we were able to break even, but no mean to make any profit. As the lease of the outlet came close to an end, we were not able to present a new suitable concept to keep the project alive. The outlet general manager was released due to a case of embezzlement.

With no man power, unapproved plans and concepts The other Roof closed shortly after.

Rakuichi group is a Japanese restaurant chain. The company offered me a position as bartender for a newly opened outlet in Chinatown. Their vision was to improve beverage sales throughout all outlets.

My role was to create a bar programme, train company staff, create menu for the new outlet and expand cocktail programs to the remaining.

The outlet struggled from the start due to lack of investments/ budget with multiple embezzlement cases. The outlet closed shortly after one year of operation, the bar programme never made it across to other chains.

This was my first experience with setting up a bar program alone. It was not the best of success but a very good experience for my journey ahead.

I joined IZY group as a floor staff member at the time. IZY was the only outlet of the group itself, it was a casual Japanese restaurant with a hidden bar named Cache.

After watching the head bartender work over 3 days, I spent the next year training and building a solid foundation to become a proper bartender. My task was very simple: learn everything I could and support the head bartender.

My routine was coming to work 2 hours early every day on my own time to cut ice 6 days per week. This was before block ice service became popular in Singapore. It was a very crucial process in making cocktails.

I was able to assist the head bartender with setting up a new cocktail bar, which is the group's 3rd outlet. This was my first opportunity to set up an outlet from scratch. It was more physical work, but I did learn a great amount.

It was very unfortunate that the bar closed after 8 months due to lack of customers.

To this day, I am still grateful for the opportunity. Because of this, I have come to love bar projects.

I worked in a few pub under the group for a period as a part-timer, pouring beer and making simple and blended cocktails. I left to start working with the IZY group.