I met with Emma Sleight, Head of Content, The World’s 50 Best Bars, in Hong Kong the morning after the awards, while the city was still buzzing. Over cocktails, we spoke about community, integrity and what “50 Best” truly represents beyond the rankings.
By Denny Kallivoka
We met — not for the first time — in Hong Kong, the morning after The World’s 50 Best Bars Awards, over the traditional “day-after” brunch. Emma is dynamic, unstoppable, elegant, sharp in thought and expansive in vision. She moves effortlessly between strategy and humanity — a rare balance within a global institution of this scale.
With a cocktail in hand, we spoke about community, recognition, integrity and what “50 Best” truly represents beyond the rankings.
D.K.: Emma, I was reading your CV and was particularly struck by your work around anxiety and wellbeing. How has that experience influenced your role within an organisation that represents modern bars and hospitality culture?
Emma Sleight:
That’s a really good question — and not an easy one. I think, as humans, we’re always drawn to things we care deeply about. When you stop caring about people, you stop caring altogether.
One meaningful experience for me came through Bright Sparks, a charity I was introduced to via a family connection. It supports children in an impoverished area near Chandigarh, ensuring they can attend school rather than being forced into work. I was a former trustee there, and that really reinforced how central people are to everything we do.
That connects directly to 50 Best. At its core, 50 Best is about people — about network and community. That’s the backbone of the brand and the ethos behind all our events. Yes, we celebrate achievements, but just as importantly, we spotlight the individuals and teams behind those exceptional experiences: their careers, their journeys, and how they engage with and give back to their communities.
This is also why sustainability plays such a big role in our work, particularly through awards like the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award, which looks at sustainability holistically — not just environmental impact, but also staff wellbeing, career development, and community engagement.
You see bars doing wonderful things. Take Cat Bite Club in Singapore, for example: they serve a weekly milk punch for a cause, donating profits to local charities. It might seem small in isolation, but collectively, these actions show how bars are increasingly embracing community as an essential part of hospitality.
D.K.: Being included in the 50 Best list is hugely significant. Beyond publicity, what do you think is the real added value for a bar?
Emma Sleight:
Honestly, that’s probably a question best answered by the bars themselves — and each would give you a different response.
Of course, there are tangible benefits. We’ve seen it time and again. When Sips was named The World’s Best Bar, they had queues around the block the very next day. Other bars tell us their bookings are closed for months because demand skyrockets. That success allows them to grow — to hire more people, train more staff, and build stronger teams.
Handshake is a great example. Many young bartenders have passed through Handshake and gone on to open their own places or pursue new projects — something Eric and his team actively celebrate. That ripple effect is incredibly powerful.
There are also emotional benefits, of course. Bartenders are competitive by nature, and recognition feels good. But we’re always clear: awards should be a by-product of great work, not the goal. Once you reach number one, there’s nowhere else to go — which is why the focus should always be on building the best bar you can, not chasing rankings.
D.K.: There’s often debate in the industry about whether marketing influences a bar’s position on the list. How does the 50 Best system ensure integrity and fairness?
Emma Sleight:
First and foremost, the list is subjective — it’s based on opinion. That’s unavoidable. But it’s the opinion of more than 800 voters worldwide.
What’s crucial is that voting is completely anonymous. Apart from the Academy Chairs, no one knows who the voters are — despite what people might think. We don’t dictate where they go, what they should value, or what “best” means to them. Each voter looks for different things.
The Academy Chairs recruit voters, but they don’t know how anyone votes — and they themselves find out the results at the same time as everyone else, on the night of the awards.
If marketing were the deciding factor, you wouldn’t see tiny, under-the-radar bars making the list — yet it happens all the time. Those bars often say, “How did this happen?” And the answer is simple: voters went, loved it, and voted for it. There’s no recipe, no shortcut, and no amount of PR that guarantees inclusion.
D.K.: Sustainability and wellbeing are becoming central issues for hospitality. Beyond awards, how is 50 Best actively guiding the industry in this direction?
Emma Sleight:
With the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award, we work with an independent adjudicator — the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA). We’re very clear that we don’t always have the internal expertise to judge sustainability in depth, so independence is essential.
Bars that apply provide extensive information, and whether they win or not, they receive a full, detailed report from the SRA outlining areas for improvement. That feedback alone is incredibly valuable, which is why we encourage all bars to apply.
Beyond awards, we’ve also expanded our editorial work significantly. We’re not just one night of awards — we’re an all-year-round content platform. Working with the SRA, we regularly spotlight bars worldwide that are doing meaningful work for their communities — whether or not they’re on the list.
That philosophy extends to 50 Best Discovery as well. It’s not a ranking, but a curated database based on votes throughout the year. It allows us to highlight a much broader range of venues — from dive bars to high-end spaces, from street food to fine dining — and celebrate diversity across hospitality.
D.K.: Do you have any favourite bar cities?
Emma Sleight:
I don’t really have favourites — but I do have cities close to my heart. London, of course — I grew up there. San Francisco and Vancouver both have incredible scenes. Milan was a recent highlight. And tonight, I’m heading to Taipei… so that might just become my next favourite.
D.K. Thank you Emma