Bartender International

Armin Azadpour, Hunky Dory, Frankfurt

In recent years, some great new bars have seen the light of day in Frankfurt. Here we find Armin Azadpour, a good friend of mine, who moved from Zurich back to his hometown Frankfurt a few years ago. A brave move, but back then he told himself: "It will all work out". Today, Armin commutes between Frankfurt and Zurich as he runs the newly opened Lupo with Claudio Sacchi and Patrick Schindler.

Armin was born in Germany, but his parents are from Iran. It took him a while to discover his second passion after fashion: bartending. After graduating from school, he started his professional life in a completely different industry by doing an apprenticeship at American Apparel.

He has always had an eye for beautiful things, which shows as soon as you see him, but also when you enter his bar. After his training, he became a visual merchandiser for American Apparel in Germany and Zurich.

Eventually he moved to Zurich, opened a new shop and became store manager. A year later he did an internship with a tailor in Zurich to learn all the necessary skills for designing and sewing clothes.

To make ends meet, he had to work nights, which is how he first got into the hospitality industry, catering to VIPs at the club of Zurich's renowned luxury hotel Baur au Lac. As it was his dream to become a fashion designer, he decided to move to London for two more internships and various courses at the famous Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design.

But Zurich was still on his mind, so Armin moved back in 2008 and started his own fashion line, which included leather jackets and leather goods. It was a tough business, but he was successful and managed to get into some of the best department stores abroad. His best markets were Germany and Japan.

As with all new and successful businesses, the challenge is that production has to keep up with the growth of the business. Armin needed a large sum to pay for materials and production, and when an investor suddenly withdrew, Armin was left alone to try to organise everything himself. While it was a rewarding experience to have his own brand, it was also a very lonely existence.

He retired from the business for a while, thinking back to the good times he had spent in various bars in London while earning money to fund his internships. Fate intervened at the end of 2009 when a friend asked him if he wanted to help him open a new venture called Rivington & Sons, inspired by the famous Schiller's in New York.

His friend wanted Armin to be in charge of the whole bar, attract people and manage the drinks programme. He enjoyed the unexpected jump into bartending and somewhat lost interest in his fashion line. Two years later, another friend approached him and asked him to run a new place called Grande Café & Bar, a busy café and cocktail bar.

"Any idea can work if you put passion and energy into it. Just do it!"

Another three years later, in 2014, Armin's entrepreneurial instinct reawakened and he started dreaming of his own little project. In 2015, he moved back to Frankfurt. With a lot of energy and experience, it was time to open a permanent restaurant. At the end of 2015, he opened Kinly Bar together with René Soffner. René was responsible for the drinks and Armin took care of the interior and the catering with his design know-how.

It started well, but soon the two developed different ideas about the future of the bar and Armin decided to leave the Kinly. He took a few months to get inspired by bars all over Europe and opened Hunky Dory at the end of 2016.

Hunky Dory

The Hunky Dory is in a modern building, but when you enter, you get the feeling that two worlds are colliding. Armin seems to have visited every single flea and antique market in Europe and collected all kinds of treasures from the past.

You would like to leave with half of the establishment again - it is just great. He was lucky that the right people came to his bar right from the start. He had already made a name for himself in Frankfurt, but the bar is on the edge of a trendy district and easily overlooked by pedestrian traffic.

People must want to come here, because there is not much going on in the area at night. The Hunky Dory has a very special concept: Armin wants strangers who come to his bar to start conversations with each other. There are seven open phone boxes on the wall opposite the bar where guests can communicate with each other, invite each other for drinks, order drinks or just chat.

This creates a lively atmosphere and also caters to introverts, Armin explains, as communication is not face-to-face. Another important feature is the small vintage games, ranging from table football to slot machines, designed to bring people together and break the ice.

Inspiration

Armin is lucky enough to be able to travel the world, and that is also something that is very important to him. He tries to socialise and visit other bar shows as often as possible. In his free time, he also likes to visit the best antique markets he can find.

Everything he does in his free time inspires him to create new things. In his opinion, any idea can work if you put passion and energy into it. The fashion expert's credo is: "Just do it".

Favourite bar

Armin Azadpour's favourite bar is the Beaufort Bar at The Savoy in London.

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