SHELLEY TAI

WHO: Bar manager, Shelley Tai

JOINED: Nutmeg & Clove, 8 Purvis Street FROM: Hong Kong

INSTAGRAM: @kankantai

BACKGROUND

Hong Konger Shelley Tai, 31, studied fashion merchandising but never got a chance to parlay her studies into a career. Instead, it was her part-time job on the bar floor that got her hooked on hospitality. Her interest and determination led her from barback to apprentice bartender, and finally to bartender at Quinary, Hong Kong and now bar manager at Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore.

WINNING TOUCH

Along the way, she participated in the Diageo World Class Bartender of the Year Hong Kong in 2018 and 2019, eventually winning the title on her second try. “I was very shy and didn’t talk much at my first competition,” she recalls. Don’t mistake her reticence for lack of skill though; she became much more