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Nico de Soto
World's 50 Best Bars
- Discipline
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i. Biography
Nico de Soto runs Danico in Paris and bartends there as owner. The symmetry matters in bar work: years spent in different cities and rooms have resolved into a place where the pace, service style, and drink program sit under one set of hands.
Coming Up
Bar training often shows itself in the sequence of rooms a bartender can handle, and Nico de Soto’s early posts map that clearly. He was bartender at Paris from 2005, where the demands of service and speed would have shaped the basics. By 2007, he was bartender at Melbourne, carrying that same work into another city and another service environment, with each shift adding range to the craft. Management tightened that practice. As bar manager at Mama Shelter in Paris, Nico de Soto took on the broader task of running the room as well as the bar, a move that reflects command of timing, floor rhythm, and the way a bar’s atmosphere is built as much by organization as by the drinks themselves. The progression reads less like a reinvention than a consolidation: more responsibility, more control, and a clearer point of view. Danico is where that experience has been gathered into one address. Nico de Soto is bartender and owner there today, working behind the bar he owns and keeping the operation aligned with the line of work that brought him through Paris, Melbourne, and back again.
Where They Are Now
He bartends at Danico and owns it.
Signature
Japan is listed as Nico’s signature dish. In profile terms, that kind of single-word signature reads like a distilled marker of style: brief, specific, and in keeping with a career shaped across more than one bar culture.
Honors
None are listed.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Nico
What is Nico de Soto's current role?
As of 2026, Nico de Soto is Bartender and Owner.
Where did Nico de Soto work before?
Nico de Soto's earlier career included Paris, Melbourne, and Mama Shelter.
