Stefano Catino

Coming Up

Stefano Catino sits behind a working model of hospitality that is built as much as it is presented: co-founder of Maybe Sammy, and director & founder of Maybe Group & Maybe Cocktail Festival. Those roles point to scale, but the craft sits in the details they imply — shaping a room, keeping standards tight, and treating service as an active discipline rather than a fixed identity. In that frame, Catino’s work reads less like branding than operational attention: the daily labour of making a venue feel exact.

Where They Are Now

Director and founder of Maybe Group is a role that keeps Catino close to the floor as well as the structure. His own line — "I'll never sit down in my own venue." — is plain about the ethic behind it: presence matters, and distance is a liability. That approach belongs to a form of leadership that is visible in movement, not posture, with the work measured in responsiveness, pace, and the ability to stay inside the room’s changing conditions.

Signature

Campari Shakerato is listed among Catino’s signature dishes, and the name is instructive: direct, clipped, and built on recognition rather than excess. In that sense, it matches the broader language of his hospitality work, where clarity and restraint do more than ornament. A signature like this functions as a calling card inside the trade — a small, fixed point that carries the same intent as the larger operation: composed, precise, and easy to read.

In Their Words “I'll never sit down in my own venue.” The quote is compact, but it explains the working posture behind Catino’s public role. It points to a host who stays in circulation, keeping contact with the room rather than observing it from a removed position. In trade terms, it describes a style of service leadership grounded in visibility and constant readjustment.

Honors

Michter's Art of Hospitality Award and Best Bar in Australasia place Catino’s work in a field where consistency is judged publicly. These are recognitions that tend to follow repeatable standards: the kind of service culture that holds under pressure and remains legible to peers. For Catino, the awards sit alongside the same practical register that defines the rest of his profile — hands-on, exacting, and shaped by the demands of running rooms well.