NYC Cocktail Bar Institution Employees Only Opening in Singapore

PUBLISHED April 4th, 2016 04:49 pm | UPDATED May 18th, 2020 04:27 pm

It’s official: Employees Only Singapore is opening up at 112 Amoy Street sometime this summer!

A true blue NYC institution over the last 10 years and widely acknowledged as one of the best cocktail bars in the world, this is their first project outside of New York.

Given that Employees Only Singapore will be opened and run by the holy trinity – co-founder Igor Hadzismajlovic, Principle Bartender Steve Schneider, and Executive Chef Julia Jaksic – there’s no doubt that they’ll bring the same “down home hospitality with a night club experience” (Schneider’s words) with them.

Of course, the trio won’t be doing this alone. Inducting them into the Singapore F&B scene are their Singaporean partners, Sarissa Schwartz and her husband, Joshua. Having moved here from New York about five years ago, the pair also has a stake in Match, a New York-style restaurant serving American cuisine, alongside the restaurant’s other partners Massive Collective and The Privé Group.

While there’s no word on whether the Employees Only Singapore experience will be 100% the same as the original bar on Manhattan’s Hudson Street, we hope that we’ll be able to get some of their signature cocktails like the Amelia, a pink-hued tipple of vodka, elderflower liqueur, pureed blackberries and lemon juice, the Mata Hari (think cognac, shaken with chai-infused vermouth, and pomegranate juice), and of course, the Employees Only Manhattan.

Just last week, we saw Singapore claim nine spots in Asia’s 50 best bars, making our little red dot one of the cocktail capitals in the region. Employees Only Singapore might perhaps be a signal that what we thought was the peak, is really just the beginning. Either way, it’s exciting news for all cocktail punters and a smashing addition to the Amoy Street neighbourhood!