We guarantee that Jean Trinh will always be the friendliest face in a room. Jean is the owner of Alquímico, a highly praised bar who is pushing the boundaries on what good we can all do in the world through their own farm and incredible community initiatives. We love anyone who does great things outside of their own four walls. This is how we get better as in industry. While we have yet to visit Alquímico in person, we did get a chance to have their cocktails (incredible!) at Barcelona Cocktail Fest as well, we got some time with Jean Trinh.
Bartender Atlas: Where do you live?
Jean Trinh: I live in Cartagena, Columbia.
BA: And where were you born?
JT: That’s a very long story. I was born in Paris and I’ve been moving a lot during the 44 years of my life. I’ve been in Columbia for the last 13 years.
BA: What is your job title or how would you describe your role in the industry?
JT: I think that my job right now is to connect the many projects we do in Colombia with the guests, with people who can be part of our story and to to improve the life quality of many people.
BA: When you’re at home, obviously you travel a lot with the bar, but when you’re at home, where do you go out to eat and drink?
JT: You know, when I’m at home I love cooking. Because we have a farm in Colombia, I love hosting at the farm and being at the farm and I think sometimes it’s really it’s really important for our industry to slow down and to have, like, a pure moment like that.
BA: Speaking of slowing down, when you’re not at the farm, when you’re not hosting people, when you’re not at the bar, what do you do for fun on your days off?
JT: I love my life. I don’t see any day as work for real. I’m enjoying spending time with any kind of people. I spend a lot of time with farmers and communities, Indigenous communities as well so I love doing this.
BA: What’s one album that you think everyone needs to listen to?
JT: Oh, that’s a good one. Because I live in Colombia, I love Latin music and I feel one album which connected the Latin American community and culture to the rest of the Western countries was a Buena Vista Social Club, talking about old salsa music.
BA: And what’s the best advice that you’ve ever gotten? It doesn’t need to be work-related.
JT: I would love to tell you what I tell my staff. I think you can be a real actor of your everyday life and you can change life as well.
BA: What’s something that you’re excited about.
JT: Wow! I’m excited about the many people I’m gonna meet and as well as the many countries I’ve never been to. I’m really excited because next week we’re gonna open two schools in Colombia and they are projects I’ve been working on with my team for a while so I’m very excited about it. That’s incredible, wow!
RETURN TO ALL HOSPITALITY GEMS
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Posted May 5th, 2026
