Five questions to fight back the crisis: Thanos Prunarus – Baba au rum

Athens is the last stage of our long journey.  For the last interview we met Thanos Prunarus of Baba au rum.

Thanks Thanos, first of all, tell us who you are

My name is Thanos Prunarus have been working as a bartender since 1999.
I have studied touristic management and opened my first bar as a university student in Crete in 1993! The bar closed after 10 months of great operation as i used to offer to all of my university colleagues, drinks on the house…

Thanos Prunarus

In 1998 i moved to London and by chance (or not) found in my hands the then, Class Magazine. A brand new world opened in my eyes.
I started working as a barista/bartender at a cafe/bar / restaurant in St. James park and a year later moved to Athens formed the first bar menu in the city included Negronis, Manhattans and  Grasshopers.

In 2009 i opened my own bar called Baba Au Rum. An institute that changed the history of the Athenian and Greek bar scene but mostly changed the way that Athenians drink.

Baba Au Rum bar is now a leading rum and cocktail venue, awarded as one of the World’s 50 Best Bars in 2013, 16, 17, 18 and 2019 — always at the top lists worldwide. Baba Au Rum bar is often awarded the Best Bar in Greece and I’m considered as a main rum and cocktail influencer globally.

I used (before Covid-19) to  travel around the world to discover rum, visiting and participating in rum festivals the world over, being a rum speaker and judging the most prestigious cocktail competitions, like the Havana Club Grand Prix in Cuba, Bacardy Legacy, Clement Rhum Ti Punch global competition, Saint James rhum, Lady Amarena global cocktail competition, Angostura & Diplomatico European finals and others.

I’m a member of rum jury at German Rum Festival and the Miami Rum Festival for the Rum Awards.

In 2019  i was announced as one of the world’s 50 most influential persons in the bar industry
Also:

Author of the bar book “Handcrafted”

Co-organize the annual Athens Rum & Whisky Festival

Publishes the International Cocktail and Travel magazine FINE DRINKING.
Member of the International Rum Experts.

Could you describe, in short, your bar, its mood and your philosophy of bar?

Baba Au Rum is a Rum & Cocktail bar located in the historical centre of Athens.

Un drink del Baba au rum

Opened on March 2009, Baba brought fine drinking culture to the streets of Athens for the first time.

Having an extended list of both classic and contemporary cocktails and an unlimited back bar with more than 450 different labels of rum from all around the world but also lots of Single Malts Whisky, Cognacs, Gins and Agave spirits, Baba got to be a multi awarded bar.

2013 was the year that the B.A.R. entered the world’s 50 best bars list for the first time, making Athens a destination for cocktail aficionados! Since then, Baba appeared on the list for 4 more times, in 2016,17,18 and 2019.

Baba’s menu also been included twice (2016, 18) at the list of the Top-10 World’s Best Cocktail Menus, at Tales Of The Cocktail, USA.

In 2019 Baba Au Rum was at the Top 4 shorl list at Tales at the category: Best HiVolume Cocktail Bars.

A team of extraordinary bartenders, united for more than 6 years, serves you consistently but also participate in parallel acts such as the publishing of the international print Fine Drinking Magazine, organize Athens Rum & Whisky Festival, a series of Pop Up Bars, lots of guest shifts and seminars. It’s not just another bar, this is about a company of friends that work and share what they love the most!

Coming to the covid-19 crisis, how did you react humanly, psychologically at the spread of the virus and the consequent lockdown?

First thing trying to learn about more real info avoid fake news.

Una proposta per fronteggiare la crisi