Kratena and Caporale create bar symposium

Alex Kratena and Simone Caporale have teamed up with other leading bartenders to launch their first venture since leaving London’s Artesian – the non-profit P(our) Symposium.

Alex Kratena and Simone Caporale, formerly of London’s Artesian, have launched the P(our) Symposium

The symposium is described as a “bartender collective” that seeks to “build a holistic community for the global drinks industry”.

Kratena and Caporale, who resigned from what has been voted the ‘world’s best bar’ in November last year, have recruited New York City’s Jim Meehan, London’s Ryan Chetiyawardana and Xavier Padovani, Oslo’s Monica Berg and Hamburg’s Joerg Meyer as founding members of P(our).

The symposium will convene annually and feature a series of curated talks by influential bartenders and drinks professionals.

To ensure the platform is “free from any donor’s agendas”, all money raised will be used to cover production costs and will be published on pourdrink.org, set to go live on 11 May.

Everyone involved in the production of the event will be donating their time on a volunteer basis, including presenters and the board.

“We hope P(our) grows into a community that gives our audience an opportunity to learn, engage, share and discuss,” said Kratena.

“In building this platform, we’re addressing our shared responsibilities to support bartenders all over the world. Operating with financial transparency will avoid any hidden agendas and ensure that our mission of sharing a thirst for knowledge can remain pure, and our ultimate focus.”

The first P(our) Symposium will take place on 19- 20 June 2016 in Paris in collaboration with Cocktails & Spirits. Its theme will be ‘The Modern Bartender’, “recognising that the bartender’s role has evolved and is no longer confined behind the bar”.