Brian ‘Mr. Hangover’ Bonifacio is TGIFriday’s 2014 Bartending Champion
MANILA, Philippines - Flair, audience engagement and a unique brand of humor—these were what brought Brian Bonifacio aka “Mr. Hangover” to victory. Representing TGIFriday’s Glorietta, he won the plum prize as this year’s Bartender Champion at the recently concluded “Shake, Rattle and Pour” Barchamps. Bonifacio bested 14 other contenders to the throne from different Friday’s branches. As the King of the Bar, he went home with a cash prize, the title and the chance to represent the Philippines at the Asia-Pacific Regional Barchamps in Melbourne, Australia in November this year. The regional winner will then join the TGFriday’s World Bartender Championship to be held in the USA next year.
Other winners are Harold Puno (Friday’s Subic, 1st Runner-up), John Jerick Galicia (Friday’s Bonifacio High Street, 2nd Runner-up) and Gian Karlo Torres (Friday’s Greenbelt, who topped the Compulsory Round).
Bonifacio admitted to training hard in representing TGIFriday’s Glorietta, this year‘s barchamps venue and home of Gen Rev “The Revolution” Bacasno, internationally-acclaimed bartender who was last year’s Asia-Pacific Bartender Champion in the competition held in Manila and 2nd runner-up at the “23rd annual World Bartender Championship (WBC) in Dallas, Texas.
“It was a lot of pressure to be competing with old-timers in an event held in my home court and to defend the title which my mentor Gen Rev previously gained,” he explained.
Aside from Genrev Bacasno’s international awards, TGIFriday’s Philippines is known for top bartenders who have won in international competitions such Matthew “Kryptonite” Burgos and Eric “El Terrible” Martinez, who represented the Philippines and won the 2007 1st runner-up and 2006 Championship respectively, at the T.G.I.Friday’s World Bartender Championship held in Las Vegas, USA. Sir Raminad “Ram” Ong, meanwhile, represented the Philippines and Asia-Pacific in several competitions including the 2009 WBC held at the T.G.I. Friday’s Worldwide Headquarters in Carrollton, Texas where he won second place honors. He was named second runner-up in the 2012 international competition in the USA and received the “Most Favorite Bartender Award” for receiving the biggest online fan votes.
