Meet the bartender: Kevin Londero, Hacienda Bar, Pullman Hotel

“Hospitality is my little house, I feel at home when I go to work and safe in the hotel,” says Kevin Londero, who was born into the business, growing up in his parents’ small hotel in northern Italy. “When I was ten I started to work like a little waiter, to bring plates to the nannies at the restaurant. Later I studied cocktails and coffee.” Kevin’s focus behind the bar is creating drinks suited for his specific clientele. For Time Out’s Hotel Bars Cocktail Competition, he created the Old Ron, for a feminine take on a traditionally masculine cocktail to cater to the Hacienda’s largely female customer base. “I tried to make a twist for a feminine palate, so a little bit sweet and fruity with a cherry syrup for a different taste. I chose to do a rum-based Old Fashioned instead of whisky, because when I started to do some research about Ron Zacapa 23, I found it’s made up in the mountains, like my little town in Italy.”