Other
Naren Young
Creative director
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Naren Young’s bar work is built from service-floor training rather than formal school lineage. In Sydney, Australia, the early rooms were Bayswater Brasserie, Grand Pacific Blue Room and New Orleans Café, where the craft was learned through orders, glassware, guest-reading and the timing of service. The later New York chapter put classic cocktail structure, bitterness and hospitality into sharper focus. In Young’s work, Negronis, Cynar and precise service sit together: the drink has to be built cleanly, and the room has to function before the first sip lands.
Coming Up
Creative direction at Dante in New York's Greenwich Village gave Naren Young a room where classics, clarity and small adjustments mattered. The work gathered around bitterness, balance and composed hospitality: Negronis with definition, Cynar with character, and service handled with precision rather than excess. The current Miami roles extend that same bar grammar across Sweet Liberty, Medium Cool and Zebra Club. The through-line is practical: a menu should give the guest a way in, the drink should hold its structure, and the room should keep enough pulse for people to stay.
Where They Are Now
Creative direction at Sweet Liberty in Miami places Naren Young’s work inside a social, high-movement bar setting. The task is not only the cocktail list; it is the full sequence of use, from first read of the menu to the final condition of the glass. Creative direction at Medium Cool in Miami and Zebra Club continues a career shaped by named rooms: Sydney service floors, New York cocktail lists and Miami bars where the craft is tested in public, night after night. Writing is part of the working method. “Being a writer for the last 23 years has made me a better and knowledgeable bartender. And being an inquisitive bartender has made me a better writer.” For a bartender, that means observation is not decorative; it is how a room, a guest and a drink are read.
Signature
Signature cocktails include Giostra d’Alcol and Oranges. The useful point is not the names alone, but the requirement behind them: a named drink has to carry identity without losing structure.
In Their Words “Being a writer for the last 23 years has made me a better and knowledgeable bartender. And being an inquisitive bartender has made me a better writer.” “It was when I first saw the movie ‘Cocktail’ — seriously. I thought that looked pretty cool. And I was hooked.”
Honors
Naren Young has received World's 50 Best Bars: Dante named best bar in the world during Young's tenure (2019).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Naren
What is Naren Young's current role?
Naren Young is Creative Director.
Where did Naren Young work before?
Earlier in their career, Naren Young worked at Dante.
What is Naren Young known for?
Cynar.
