Australian drinks and cocktails specialist Ryan Noreiks has recently joined the Laris team as Bars & Drinks Manager at artisan cocktail bar Yucca. His main responsibility will be creating the sort of innovative and seasonal drink menus that the Sinan Mansions bar is famous for. 

Originally from Brisbane, Noreiks manned the bar at The Lark - one of Australia's best cocktail abrs - for several years before moving to China. In September 2010, Noreiks arrived to Shanghai to head up the bar at The Alchemist, and quickly made a name for himself as one of Shanghai’s most authentic and innovative bartenders. During this time, The Alchemist won Best New Bar in Shanghai (City Weekend) and Noreiks won Best Bartender in China at the nationwide Diageo World Class competition. He went on to represent China at the world competition in India, placing 9th out of 30 candidates.

Noreiks sounds pretty stoked about his new job. “I’m looking forward to working closely with David Laris and being involved in his different projects. He’s continually coming up with new ideas, either new concepts entirely or thinking of new ways to expand on current ones. And if you look at his projects, they are all focused on great concepts that are simple, authentic and uncomplicated.”

With Noreiks at the hel, Yucca is moving towards artisan cocktails, and will re-open on December 9. The new space will be known as Yucca, Artisan Bar & Provisions. Prior to this, Noreiks will be guest bartending at DLC venues around Shanghai:

The Fat Olive, Sinan Mansions on Wednesday, November 23
The Purple Onion on Thursday, November 24
Le Sheng on Wednesday, November 30
The Social at URBN Hotel on Thursday, December 1