Century Grand might garner national award
In the wake of the James Beard Foundation announcing that its annual awards will not take place for the next two years, international cocktail competition the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards has decided to press on.
On Monday, Aug. 24, the organization announced the top four finalists in each category of the cocktail competition. For the first time in the awards’ 14year history, one Arizona bar made the cut. Century Grand, the train-themed immersive cocktail bar near Phoenix’s Arcadia neighborhood, is a top-four finalist for the 2020 Spirited Awards. The bar, co-owned by Jason Asher and Rich Furnari, is nominated in the category for Best New American Cocktail Bar.
Asher and Furnari own Barter & Shake Hospitality and are also the minds behind UnderTow, an immersive underground tiki bar located next door to Century Grand. In its first year of business, UnderTow made the top ten list for a Spirited Award in the same category.
Century Grand burst onto the Phoenix cocktail scene in October 2019 with fans eager to see what UnderTow’s creators would dream up next, though both bars have been closed for nearly six months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new cocktail destination houses three concepts in one: a train-themed bar, a restaurant and a tasting room come bottle shop.
The Barter & Shake team had been “patiently and hopefully waiting” for the final four announcements to be made, but the whole team was surprised and thrilled to learn Century Grand had made the cut, Asher said.
“We are definitely in shock, definitely excited,” he said. “Today was a good day.”
Arizona’s first top-four finalist
The Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards started in 2007 and have steadily grown to become one of the most competitive and sought after awards in the bar industry. The awards include national and international categories.
Over the years, Phoenix cocktail bars Bitter & Twisted and Little Rituals from cocktail master Ross Simon have made the top ten lists in multiple categories. In 2017, UnderTow made it to the top ten as well for Best New American Cocktail Bar. But Century Grand’s top four placement is the farthest any Arizona bar has made it in the competition.
While they still have one more round to go, Kailee Asher who runs marketing and PR for Barter & Shake and is married to Jason, said being the first in Arizona
to make it this far only adds to the excitement.
“It’s another step closer to bringing home a national and international award to Arizona,” she said.
For Jason, the next round also ups the competitive spirit and desire to bring home the top spot.
“We are in some serious good company,” he said. “But I really do believe we, as a community, deserve this. There are a lot of great bars in Phoenix and it has taken a lot of work to get here. It does feel nice to finally bring back the recognition to the work we’ve been doing for the past 10 years or so.”
Why Tales decided not to cancel the awards
Among the seemingly endless list of cancellations that have come out of 2020, the James Beard Foundation recently announced that its prestigious awards will not take place again until 2022.
The Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, however, are set to continue.
“For many months now, we debated whether an awards ceremony is what the world needs right now,” Caroline Rosen, president of Tales of the Cocktail Foundation said in a news release. “Ultimately, we decided yes, we do need to continue to celebrate the resilience of our peers.”
Asher said he believes the foundation made the right call in moving forward with the 2020 awards.
“Tales decided to continue on because the awards can be a beacon of light during these dark times,” he said. “The show must go on because everyone’s been working their tails off.”
For Asher and his team, the work this year transitioned from working to create the best bar possible, to working hard to save the business they had built.
Century Grand remains closed and Asher and Furnari are in the process of trying to persuade the government to allow them to open. The stress of 2020, however, makes getting into the top four a little sweeter, Asher said.
“As a business owner, it’s sort of mentally devastating to try to save your business when its fate is in someone else’s hands,” he said. “So I’ll be honest with you, we really needed this.”
The award winners will be announced over three days, culminating with a digital awards ceremony on September 24.