Brian Matthys is a bartender and consultant in NYC, currently at La Chine and The Gander. He was previously the head bartender at Le Bernardin for two and a half years and before that at Compose in Tribeca where he worked with a range of quality spirits, sake, beer and wine.  He focuses on seasonal craft cocktails as well as the classics, using the best spirits and modifiers and the freshest, locally sourced ingredients.
 
In 2012, Brian was a recipient of one of the coveted Cocktail Apprentice Scholarships to research Japanese Shochu. Over the past decade he has traveled to Japan a half dozen times studying and researching Sake and Shochu while enjoying Japan’s vast culinary landscape and its abundant powder snow.

Brian has worked numerous industry and consumer events, creating original cocktails for each, executed cocktail pairings for large and small scale dinners and has consulted for spirits brands as well as bars and restaurants. He’s led focused tastings and spoken in-depth on every major spirits category (and many small ones) as well as on cocktails, wine, sake and beer.  Brian is a graduate from the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource, holds the Diploma in Wine & Spirits (DWS) from the WSET and has a Level II Sake Specialist certification from the Sake Education Council.  He’s been featured in many industry publications and has been a winner or finalist in numerous competitions, which have taken him all over the world. He also came in second in a blind Sake tasting competition in Niigata, Japan, where he shocked attendees as the only non-Japanese competitor.