Sven Almenning

The Path

Eau-de-Vie Sydney and EDV Melbourne are the venues attached to Sven Almenning, and the work points to a taste for depth, detail and controlled pacing. In that setting, lighting, service tempo and menu structure all do craft work alongside the drinks themselves. His role sits closer to setting standards than chasing fashion, with classic cocktail culture as the base and contemporary hospitality polish as the finish.

The Work Today

The director role at The Speakeasy Group places Sven Almenning inside the brand’s day-to-day identity and direction. Espresso Zabaione remains linked to him through the Eau de Vie cocktail list, where it functions less as a novelty than as a deliberate response to a common request. The through-line is familiar, not flashy: drinks with recognition, balance and a clear place in the canon. That same bias shows in his own drinking, where the classics remain the reference point.

Signature

Espresso Zabaione is the signature dish/drink attached to Sven Almenning, and its place on the Eau de Vie cocktail list gives it a specific utility: it answers an espresso martini request with a more considered form. The drink’s value is not in novelty alone, but in how it sits inside the venue’s broader logic—menus as working expressions of intent, not just inventories.

In Their Words “I LOVE classic cocktails, and I probably drink more classics than I do exploring a venue’s signature cocktails when I go out.” For Sven Almenning, classic cocktails are the benchmark. The sentence makes the standard clear: familiar drinks are not background, but the measure against which other work is read. That position explains the discipline in the way the broader program is framed. “I’ve had this idea for a cocktail degustation concept and bar for ages; it was just a matter of finding the right venue.” The phrase points to patience and fit. An idea held over time only becomes useful once the room is right for it, and that is a practical way to think about bar development: concept, venue and timing have to align before the work can hold.

Acclaim

Espresso Zabaione is identified as Sven Almenning’s signature drink on the Eau de Vie cocktail list, where it serves as an alternative for guests who ask for an espresso martini. The gesture is straightforward and telling: a classic-minded response, made with enough care to meet expectation without flattening it.