Naren Young

Medium Cool

Naren started studying classic cocktails at the tender age of, ahem, 15. Seriously, he did. Over a 30 year career in the hospitality industry, Naren’s skills have taken him around the world in various capacities: from training bartenders and consulting to tending bar at some of the world’s finest cocktail establishments in Sydney (most notably the iconic Bayswater Brasserie at...

Naren is also a well respected and widely published food and drinks journalist who has been nominated four times as one of the top four drinks writers in the world at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, held every year in New Orleans. He is often quoted in the media as an authority on all things cocktail and spirit-related and he has made many appearances on television both in Australia and the US, presenting on Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, the Food Network and NBC.

Naren was once ‘The Cocktail Guy’ for the Avroko Hospitality Group in New York, creating and overseeing the cocktail programs at all five of their U.S properties (Saxon + Parole, Madam Geneva, Public, The Daily, The Thomas). At the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards in July of 2013, Saxon + Parole was crowned the ‘World’s Best Restaurant Bar’, under Naren’s guidance. It won the same award again in 2016, making it the only bar to ever win this award twice. At those same awards held in July 2017 & 2019, Dante, the restaurant bar that Naren helped create in 2015, once again took home another big win in this same category: Best Restaurant Bar.

In 2016, Dante was also a final four nominee in the Tales of the Cocktail Awards for Best New American Cocktail Bar, while Naren himself was also a finalist for American Bartender of the Year and Drinks Writer of the Year. In 2017, Dante was awarded the Best Restaurant Bar in America at Tales of the Cocktail, a title they won again in 2019, as well as taking home the coveted gong for ‘World’s Best Bar’ at those same awards. In 2018, Time Out voted them Best Bar in New York and crowned their famous Garibaldi as the Best Cocktail in New York.

In its first year under the new ownership, Dante was ranked the #34 Best Bar in the World by Drinks International on their coveted and prestigious annual list of the 50 Best Bars. They climbed to #16 the following year, then to #9 in 2018 and in 2019 they took the top spot, ranking them as the official ‘World’s Best Bar’. Naren was the brains behind this finely tuned bar program and he finished up his five year tenure at Dante in February of 2020 after steering the bar to all these huge accolades.

He currently resides in Miami and was, until Covid, spending much of the year traveling internationally, speaking at most of the world’s biggest bar shows, giving masterclasses to bar professionals and judging various global cocktail competitions. When he’s not on the road, you’ll find him at Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Company, one of America’s favorite neighborhood hangouts, where he has been their Creative Director sinch 2020. In 2023, he opened Medium Cool on South Beach as a principal owner, creating a grown-up nightclub and jazz-inflected cocktail lounge that is completely unique for Miami.

In early 2026, he’s set to open his second venue – The Zebra Club – a luxurious high-end supper club and cocktail emporium in the heart of South Beach with celebrated chef Michelle Bernstein in charge of the kitchen and a heavy focus on champagne, Martinis and elegant cocktails coming out of the bar. When he’s not at any of these venues, he’s probably checking out the bars and restaurants of Miami or meditating on the beach. Or just drinking Barolo and eating Doritos on his couch.