Luke Whearty is bar operator, restaurant innovator and drink creator with over a decade of experience presiding over some of the most progressive drinking programs.

A serial entrepreneur in the food and drink industry, Luke cut his teeth as head bartender at the internationally acclaimed Der Raum, where he won several Australian Bartender Awards. After his stint at Der Raum, Luke made the move to South East Asia where he worked alongside Chef Ryan Clift at the highly acclaimed Tippling Club.

In 2013, Luke and Aki, his partner, together with celebrated chef Mark Sargeant, opened Oxwell & Co Restaurant in Singapore. After establishing the place as a mainstay in Singapore’s bar and restaurant scene, Luke and Aki went on to open an esoteric cocktail bar, Operation Dagger. The bar has, since its opening, being recognised as the 2015 Best New Bar at the Singapore Bar Awards, named in the Top 10 for Best New International Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail, and in Conde Nast Traveller’s Top 30 for the Greatest Bars in the World, among several others.

Luke is also the founder of BYRDI, a bottled cocktail brand sold in major bars and restaurants around the world.

Luke will be at the GTBank Food and Drink Festival on Sunday, April 28th 2019, to a discussion on What Grows Together Goes Togther… A lesson from Mother Nature.

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