#156, Sven Almenning, founder, Behind Bars agency (Australia), and Australian cocktail bars Eau de Vie, Nick & Nora’s, The Roosevelt, The Sanderson, Pearl Diver & Mjolner Viking steakhouses, 13 April 2026

#156, Sven Almenning, founder, Behind Bars agency (Australia), and Australian cocktail bars Eau de Vie, Nick & Nora’s, The Roosevelt, The Sanderson, Pearl Diver & Mjolner Viking steakhouses, 13 April 2026

From The Philip Duff Show by Philip Duff

April 13, 2026 · 1h 34m · Episode 156

About this episode

Philip Duff interviews Sven Almenning about his journey in the Australian cocktail bar scene and the intricacies of bar management.

What can you say about the extravagantly-bearded Norwegian Sven Almenning, who at one stage owned the world's largest bar agency, based in Sydney, running best-in-class bartender engagement programs at scale, and has since morphed into a tycoon of the Australian cocktail bar scene, with 8 or so top-notch venues in Sydney, Melbourne and the like? Well, quite a lot it seems! We talked about savant vibes master Max Greco (quite a bit, in fact), what it takes to create a great bar now in Australi...

People in this episode

Host: Philip Duff

Guest: Sven Almenning

Topics covered

  • cocktail bars
  • bartender engagement
  • hospitality industry
  • Australian nightlife
  • bar management

Keywords

  • Sven Almenning
  • cocktail bars
  • Australia
  • bartender engagement
  • hospitality

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Behind Bars agency

Books & works: Eau de Vie, Nick & Nora’s, The Roosevelt, The Sanderson, Pearl Diver, Mjolner Viking

Places: Australia, Sydney, Melbourne

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