Vasilis Kyritsis's guest appearances

Vasilis Kyritsis

Lush Life

Living Proof: Conversations for Bartenders

Hospitality Secrets

Martin Hudak

Salvatore Calabrese

Steve Schneider

Joseph Ehrmann

Angus Winchester

Alex Ross

John Roberts

Jason Williams

Sam Ross

Jim Meehan

Dale DeGroff

Dan Gregory

Philip Duff

Matt Pietrek

Eugene Lee

OwlTail

Vasilis was born in Piraeus, Athens’ hectic and industrial port area. An area once described as rough and ready, it’s undergoing a transformation. After finishing school, he moved to the centre of Athens, where he studied nursing and begun working in clubs, for the dual purpose of meeting people and making extra cash. Bartenders aren’t always the club types, but Kyritsis claims working in a club came in mighty handy later on. “You had to work quickly, serving a lot of people whilst smiling,” he says. “Without the extra positive of serving cocktails, all we had was our good mood to convince people to drink more and more. In short, working in clubs makes you more humble and polite.” After working at Athens Island Club in 2006, he moved over to the famous Gin Joint, before opening up The Clumsies in late 2014. Just before he opened his own bar, there’s two major formative experiences worth noting. In 2012 Vasilis was crowned national World Class champion, before going on to compete in the global finals in Rio de Janeiro. Diageo’s annual mass-bartender bout was an experience he savoured – both for making industry connections and learning about himself as a bartender. Another defining event was going to Tony Conigliaro’s Drink Factory in London, where he learnt how “bartenders can combine classic bartending with modern bartending.” “The Clumsies is a traditional type of Greek place,” he explains, moving onto his current bar he opened up in 2014 with Nikos Bakoulis – a fellow bartender and the Greek World Class Winner in 2011 – and Lefteris Georgopoulos, Thanos Tsounakas and Giorgos Kaissaris. Open early with specialty coffee and breakfast food curated by Michelin Star chef Nikos Karathanos. Two floors encompass both a high volume bar and the 10 tabled “Room” upstairs where attendees can receive personalized drinks. There’s a lab too for innovation. “One of the reasons we named the bar The Clumsies is that I have always had a touch of clumsiness. I drop things sometimes,” he laughs. “Clumsies means something more comfortable for our guests. It makes you feel more comfortable again. Nobody likes perfect people.” Find Vasilis work: Fb ► https://www.facebook.com/kiritsis.vasilis1 Insta ► https://www.instagram.com/bkyritsis/ The Clumsies: ► https://www.instagram.com/the_clumsies/ ► https://www.theclumsies.gr Hustler: ► https://www.instagram.com/hustler.greece/ ► https://hustler.com.gr Otto’s Vermouth: ► https://www.instagram.com/ottos_athens_vermouth/ ► http://www.athensvermouth.com

Vasilis was born in Piraeus, Athens’ hectic and industrial port area. An area once described as rough and ready, it’s undergoing a transformation. After finishing school, he moved to the centre of Athens, where he studied nursing and begun working in clubs, for the dual purpose of meeting people and making extra cash. Bartenders aren’t always the club types, but Kyritsis claims working in a club came in mighty handy later on. “You had to work quickly, serving a lot of people whilst smiling,” he says. “Without the extra positive of serving cocktails, all we had was our good mood to convince people to drink more and more. In short, working in clubs makes you more humble and polite.” After working at Athens Island Club in 2006, he moved over to the famous <a href="http://www.theginjoint.gr/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gin Joint, </a>before opening up The Clumsies in late 2014. Just before he opened his own bar, there’s two major formative experiences worth noting. In 2012 Vasilis was crowned national World Class champion, before going on to compete in the global finals in Rio de Janeiro. <a href="http://www.diageo.com/en-row/Pages/default.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Diageo’s </a>annual mass-bartender bout was an experience he savoured – both for making industry connections and learning about himself as a bartender. Another defining event was going to <a href="http://www.thedrinkfactory.com/#home" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tony Conigliaro’s Drink Factory</a> in London, where he learnt how “bartenders can combine classic bartending with modern bartending.” “The Clumsies is a traditional type of Greek place,” he explains, moving onto his current bar he opened up in 2014 with Nikos Bakoulis – a fellow bartender and the Greek World Class Winner in 2011 – and Lefteris Georgopoulos, Thanos Tsounakas and Giorgos Kaissaris. Open early with specialty coffee and breakfast food curated by Michelin Star chef Nikos Karathanos. Two floors encompass both a high volume bar and the 10 tabled “Room” upstairs where attendees can receive personalized drinks. There’s a lab too for innovation. “One of the reasons we named the bar The Clumsies is that I have always had a touch of clumsiness. I drop things sometimes,” he laughs. “Clumsies means something more comfortable for our guests. It makes you feel more comfortable again. Nobody likes perfect people.” Find Vasilis work: Fb ► <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kiritsis.vasilis1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/kiritsis.vasilis1</a> Insta ► <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bkyritsis/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/bkyritsis/</a> The Clumsies: ► <a href="https://www.instagram.com/the_clumsies/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/the_clumsies/</a> ► <a href="https://www.theclumsies.gr/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.theclumsies.gr</a> Hustler: ► <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hustler.greece/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/hustler.greece/</a> ► <a href="https://hustler.com.gr/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://hustler.com.gr</a> Otto’s Vermouth: ► <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ottos_athens_vermouth/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/ottos_athens_vermouth/</a> ► <a href="http://www.athensvermouth.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.athensvermouth.com</a>

28. Vasilis Kyritsis: “Keep my passion and the senses always open”

Vasilis Kyritsis is co-owner of Athens bar The Clumsies - #6 on the World's 50 Best list.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vasilis Kyritsis is co-owner of Athens bar The Clumsies - #6 on the World's 50 Best list.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

#58 | The Clumsies with Vasilis Kyritsis