Who | Andre Sykes
Where | Detroit, MI, USA
Current Bar | Black On Both Sides: Owner/ Program Curator, Detroit Foundation Hotel/Apparatus Room: Beverage Director/Bar Manager
Past Bar(s) | The Sugar House, Bad Luck Bar, Alpino, Shelby Detroit, Castalia, Highlands Detroit, Oak & Reel, Detroit City Distillery
Favourite Spirit | Rye Whiskey
Favourite Juice | Apple
Favourite Classic Cocktail | Black Manhattan
First Classic Cocktail you ever had | Old Fashioned
Favourite Part of the Job | Hospitality. Having someone in my car and them leaving with a smile on their face.
Favourite After Work Drink | Shot of Mellow Corn & Rittenhouse on the rocks
Favourite bar in the world | Travel Bar (Brooklyn)
Best known for | Making people feel seen and heard.
Favourite “at work” memory | Standing in the bar with people lined up for laybacks
What’s the most popular cocktail in your city? Lemon Drops 🥲
Favourite thing about your city | The Blackness, the culture, the community.
Favourite drinking song | Last Call, Kanye West
What was the last photo that you took? A group photo of all my people at tales of the cocktail
What is your dream travel destination and why? Tokyo! I’m an otaku and the industry out there is fire!
Any claims to fame? I am a 2x James Beard Semifinalist, a Tales Cap, an iconoclast spirits honoree, a bar 5-day alum, a raise the bar alum, a chilled ambassador, an eater Detroit award winner, and a culinary agents industry leader
Soda or Tonic? Tonic
Gibson or Gimlet? Gibson
Naked & Famous or Last Word? Last Word, it’s a Detroit classic!
Dog person or cat person? Dog!!!
Are you available for freelance gigs? Absolutely!!!
Find them: Instagram | Facebook
Media: CHILLED – Get to Know Chilled 100 Bartender Andre Sykes
TALES OF THE COCKTAIL – The Owners Sleep Blissfully: A Vision for Black Agents of Hospitality to Claim Hospitality Empowerment
STARCHEFS – Black on Both Sides
EATER Detroit – Detroit Gets Its First Black-Owned Speakeasy Bar, Willow, Downtown
DETROIT IS IT – Shelby’s Head Chef and Bartender Talk Future, Hobbies, and How to Find Your Dream Job
HOUR DETROIT – Black on Both Sides Pop-up Offers Spirits and Solidarity
DETROIT FREE PRESS – Willow, Detroit’s first Black-owned craft cocktail bar, opens downtown
