You can find him in his role as a brand ambassador for Suntory, collaborating with the Japanese spirits competition Kuru master as vice-president of the ABF, or in his brand new project: a spirits brand called Madlord! Amidst a very busy schedule, Christophe Davoine granted us some time so we could try to uncover what drives him and his vision of the bar!
What made you want to get into bartending?
I was in a vocational training program for cooking, and due to a lack of maturity, I didn't want to jump into the professional world immediately. The rhythm of school and professional life suited me, and the atmosphere seemed nice in the bar specialization at my high school, UTEC, in Emerainville.
At that time, I didn't know the bar world at all. I didn't have a computer at home or internet. So it was more of a choice out of curiosity to discover this field, with one of my classmates, but with the intention of returning to cooking afterward.
I landed by default at Disneyland Paris, at Café Fantasia. I say by default because when I started, my head chef told me: "if you want to work in a bar, you have to go to the luxury hotels. That's where you'll learn the profession best." I followed his advice by applying to a plethora of Parisian luxury hotels and received almost no response. The only appointment I had was at the Hôtel du Louvre, and it must not have gone well because I wasn't hired... (laughs). The only ones I hadn't contacted and who sent me information were Disneyland Paris, who were looking for apprentices. I went there and with hindsight, I'm delighted: I met passionate people, a very formative team, and that's how I started in bartending at 19.
What is the rest of your journey?
Everything happened very quickly at Disney. I met my bar manager Arnaud Godebin, who was the head bartender at Café Fantasia, a member of the French Bartenders Association. At Disney, I discovered a great team, with high service standards, and a 35-hour work week. It's important to mention this, because it allowed me to free up time for my volunteer work! This is what really triggered my discovery of the French Bartenders Association, participating in meetings, meeting other bartenders, attending masterclasses, discovering the world of competitions, and starting to participate.
Bartending competitions seemed completely crazy to me. It allowed me to push my limits, me, who was shy and introverted, to challenge myself, to get out of my comfort zone, and to have to be ready by a deadline. Competitions allowed me to evolve very quickly, to develop my creativity, my presence, my public speaking skills, and of course to expand my network. All this mixed between my life at Disney, my associative life, and my personal life which also evolved rapidly: I met my wife in 2005, we had our child in 2006, it was very fast! Disney represents 12 years of my professional career!
Then came the title of MOF Barman.
I got the title in 2015, then the question arose: what do we do now that we have a MOF Barman at Disney? They supported me a lot to prepare for it, to succeed in obtaining it, but they were not ready for someone to obtain it.
The 12 years I spent there were fantastic, but it was time for me to see something else. I also wanted to experience Parisian luxury hotel management. That's how in 2016, I joined the Peninsula, until the reopening of the Hôtel de Crillon with Yann Daniel who was the bar director and offered me to take over as head barman. An operational position, really in contact with the teams, behind the bar, creating the menu.
For me, it was an exciting project and I had this desire to be in contact with people.
I really love being behind the bar and with the teams in this profession. Except that all of this was built at a frantic pace. The only moments we had of calm to be able to rethink and improve productivity were at 4 a.m., once the bar was empty and clean. In addition, I live in the countryside near Coulommiers in Seine-et-Marne and I rarely got home before 6 a.m. to leave again at noon, and start a new day. It was intense, condensed into a single year. It was very rewarding: the place was fantastic, as were the teams.
I also had this MOF title in my pocket, which in my opinion was not really highlighted in the establishments where I worked. Other MOFs in other trades shone brightly in internal and external communication, but on the bar side, it was completely nonexistent.
It was time to move away from pure operational work and that frantic pace to get a broader view of things in order to make this title shine through the different missions that were offered to me. It was the right time for me to make a turning point in my professional life, and that's what I did in 2018.
In the beginning, I did consulting and training. I have been committed to the Suntory house as a brand ambassador for 5 years now. Alongside that, I also collaborate with Kura Master, a tasting competition for Japanese sake, awamori, and shochu.
I also work with the French bartenders' association, with whom I try to get as involved as possible as vice-president with Jérémy Lollier and with René Delincourt as president.
Very recently, I also launched my brand of spirits called Madlord, where I am a co-founder.
What motivated you to launch your spirits brand?
There are three of us, partners on the project.
There's me, Anthony Mézil, and Romain Gallego, each with our complementary skills. We're three friends, and it started from an observation about spirits, particularly gin, which is a rapidly developing category. We wanted to highlight a botanic not sufficiently emphasized in gin: pepper. We couldn't find gins that really tasted of pepper!
We wanted to explore that, and it led us down paths we discovered as the adventure unfolded. For the creation, we partnered with the Boudier distillery in Dijon, which has exceptional distillation expertise.
We had our specifications, and we wanted to make a gin, but we didn't set any limits on the recipe creation. We wanted it to represent the best possible recipe highlighting pepper, but without having that fiery aspect, which can be divisive for some people.
I realized very quickly that not all professions have the same value in the eyes of the "blue, white, red" of the MOF. In our professions, cooking, pastry, and sommelier are valued. But hotel management doesn't always understand the bar.
Will Madlord be a single product or a range?
We want to launch a complete range, but always based on the idea of pepper! This is the identity of the Madlord recipes. In terms of legislation, we can't do just anything, but we are exploring how to play with appellations to push the boundaries of certain rules! This is part of the Madlord project that we launched 2 months ago. It's very early days, but the initial feedback is very good! We emphasize tasting it on ice. It's a gin that is 47% ABV and just on ice, refreshed with a bit of dilution, it's perfect. If it can be enjoyed neat on the rocks, it means that afterwards, we can do whatever we want with it in gin and tonic, and other cocktails!
How long have you had this project in mind?
Exactly 4 years. It took us time, each of us caught up in our respective activities, plus the various international geopolitical constraints: we realized that Ukraine manufactured everything, including glass bottles.
We asked ourselves many questions, without setting any limits for ourselves: neither financial nor creative. We also wanted to maintain total control of our brand. On the creative side, the recipe is exactly what we wanted to do.
In terms of development, we are self-financing today, leveraging our professional network to take the time to do things right, to develop and grow step by step. The website will be presented very soon, and we already have our Instagram page to contact us.
What is your philosophy regarding cocktails?
I like things that are quite basic, in the sense of simple and effective. Today, young bartenders and apprentices, unlike in my time, can find a lot of information on social media and the internet. But the downside is that they tend to want to run before they can walk.
I am a proponent of whatever technique is used, it must be reflected in the glass, by being balanced. That it tastes good and respects certain basic rules. I'm more in the efficiency team. I like this term because whatever you do, it has to be effective, even if it's a simple gin and tonic: the right glass, the right ice, the right temperature, the right mixer, the right gin, etc. Do everything to have a good drink.
The consumer must also be able to find their way around: that it is clear, good, and balanced. I am curious about everything that happens. Sometimes, I see things on social media and I say to myself, "Hey, what is that?". I inform myself, I test, I experiment, I appropriate the techniques, I keep what I like, and I set aside what I like less.
I try to understand the limits of each of the techniques and then, I see what I adopt and how I adapt it to different recipes.
Afterward, it's true that today, I'm a bit less behind the bar, and the time spent on R&D is less important than desired.
Among all that you've seen and tested in recent years, what did you like?
A technique I really like and find effective, even if it's not new, is fatwashing. When mastered, it allows you to discover unique flavors. Bacon or butter, for example! A brown butter fatwash is relatively simple and always tends to surprise.
But then, you have to be careful how you present it. Sometimes, you just twist a boulevardier with a hazelnut oil fatwash. Okay, but the average customer is completely lost. You need to be careful to make a very elaborate cocktail accessible, without making the customer feel stupid because they don't understand anything.
Conversely, are there things that exasperate you right now in the industry?
I don't appreciate it when people try to do more to be trendy, while losing the basics of the profession: clean technique, clean work. It always makes me smile when I say this, but I often talk about bartenders' hair. It's stylish, with a nice haircut that flies everywhere. But behind a bar, it's not possible. The dress code, the haircut, for me, these are timeless standards: being well-groomed, being clean. There are cocktail bars where you can't even distinguish the bartenders from the customers...
There's also the way of working, of course: yes, there's a nice gesture, but it's sometimes very dirty. The number of times I've seen bartenders take a bar spoon to stir, taste the cocktail, and then put it back with the clean spoons, only to taste it again later, it's just disgusting! It's especially these things that make my teeth grind.
You won the MOF Barman in 2015. What motivated you to enter this competition?
From the beginning of my career, I have always participated in competitions. I didn't enter the first edition of the MOF because my daughter was born in the meantime and it wasn't the right time. When I learned about the first two laureates, Maxime Hoerth and Stéphane Ginouvez, it gave me chills and made my eyes sparkle.
From that day on, I told myself, if they did it and I work hard, I can do it too. For the four years that followed, until the deadline, I had that in mind every day.
It's a competition that is special and becomes an obsession for some. Unfortunately, some people lose a lot in this competition because they give 100%: they end up losing their business, putting their personal lives in difficulty too. When I committed, I discussed it with my wife and we set the framework for the competition preparation.
With Disney too, there were four of us preparing for it, and we blocked off two hours a week, every week, with Tiffany Weppe, Marie-Laure Dupuis, and Florent Alazard. On the other hand, I didn't touch anything on the weekend. You have to pace yourself because this competition is a real marathon.
What type of bartender would you say the MOF Barman competition is for?
It's hard to say, because it's a competition that has evolved since its creation. To go back to its genesis, it is the competition of excellence, whatever the trade, which is supposed to reflect professional excellence and experience.
In the last edition, it was a competition that addressed cocktail bars as well as palace hotel bars, covering the two main categories. The selections focused heavily on classics, recipes, order taking, organoleptic analysis, and professional simulation in a luxury establishment. The final, on the other hand, was much more focused on creation, the menu of a cocktail bar, with creativity being highlighted.
The MOF Barman wants to be able to reach everyone and for everyone to be able to say, 'Come on, I'm going for it.'
Precisely, you were telling us that the title didn't open doors for you at first, has that changed today?
Indeed, I quickly realized that not all professions had the same value in the eyes of the blue, white, and red MOF emblem. In our professions, cooking, pastry making, and sommellerie are valued. But hotel management doesn't always understand the bar. We can still see this today: many hotels that are reopening often neglect the bar area, with chaotic setups that don't allow for the promotion and optimization of the point of sale.
The MOF was my business card when I started as an independent. But that's what's exciting, because there's still a lot to do. That's also why I invest so much in the associative world, to promote our profession, and to show that we are real professionals.
There are and always will be bars that make classic cocktails. But we also have a whole category of bartenders who are interested, who are working on new techniques. The hardest part is showing the rest of the world that this aspect exists. It's not just a bartender, behind a counter, at a given moment, mixing two bottles. We need to make people understand that there is real expertise behind all of this, and I am convinced that we will manage to evolve things little by little.
You also have the role of brand ambassador for Maison Suntory among your hats...
In my career, I have always seized opportunities. I have now been an ambassador for them for five years. The distribution recently changed in France with Suntory Global Spirit, the new name of the company, with a new team, currently being built in terms of marketing, which allows me to invest a little more in the development of the brand in France.
“Japanese whisky is becoming increasingly inaccessible” is a refrain that is heard more and more often. What is your response to that?
Today, the Japanese whisky portfolio is expanding more and more. There is now a specifications book that was released and implemented since 2024. All Suntory catalog products fully comply with these specifications.
It's certain that when you've seen the evolution of whiskies over the past twenty years, the prices are no longer the same. But it's like any high-end product, we go from nothing because nobody knows the products, to a craze, a reputation that is established. Today, there are prices that certainly align more with the reality of the product's quality.
I understand that some people may be disappointed, but we also have references that, in my opinion, remain accessible. With Suntory, we are here to present the best, to showcase exceptional things, with extraordinary bottles, and that is clearly our role to play in this industry.
We want to show what's best with our know-how, and yet we also have very accessible whiskies, notably Toki, a blended whisky that can be found quite easily, which remains very well-made, with Suntory's expertise and commitment to quality.
What is your favorite way to drink Japanese whisky?
In a Highball! Especially when the weather is nice and hot right now! It's a way of consumption that I didn't master much before working for Suntory and going to Japan. There, I saw how much people enjoy it, and I myself enjoy it more and more today. I find it's a good way to get people to drink whisky: the highball allows for a drink in which you can really taste the whisky, it's refreshing and enjoyable!
How do you make a good Japanese highball?
You need a chilled glass, good ice, a good whisky that can also be chilled, and very fizzy sparkling water. Generally, we use the brand Soda Water, but it's hard to find in France. This one because it's very fizzy and with a slight touch of baking soda that enhances the flavor of the highball. We put the ice, the whisky, we chill the whisky well and gently pour in the soda water, stir very gently to really keep the fizz, a little grapefruit zest, and our toki highball is perfect.
You recently took on new responsibilities within the ABF, what is your vision for the association?
The ABF is an association that helped me grow as a young bartender. Joining the association allowed me to access an incredible network, participate in many events, and today with my current position and this MOF title, it is natural for me to also give some of my time so that new generations can benefit from the opportunities I had at that time.
Bar culture has evolved, there are social networks, etc., they play a big part, but I remain convinced that the human element must also remain at the heart of our profession!
Earlier I was talking about technique, but if we go to a bar and return there, it's also for the atmosphere and the quality of the welcome we find there!
For me, it's important to meet people, and I think the association should also play a role as a safeguard. I was talking about classics, fundamentals. We must be there to guarantee them and ensure their longevity, to be sure that the codes of a classic cocktail, whatever the era, must ultimately remain the same over time, in a well-done manner, with good technique, impeccable hygiene, highlighting creativity, of course, but also having this educational aspect for young audiences.
For complementary bar mentions, when they start their professional lives, it seems essential to me that they should join the association. There are also bar professors and the association of bar professors, APEB, with whom we are working more and more hand in hand to evolve the profession, to always keep the profession in the spotlight. It is a profession that is developing enormously, but on the other hand, complementary bar mentions are struggling to fill up! We are also working on this with them, to help complementary bar mentions fill up, and for them to help us get members in the association.
We still have a lot of work to do. The association was relaunched in 2018. But we are also reaching a new generation of bartenders who have not experienced the association's history, who are discovering the ABF. So it's up to us to show them a modern, attractive image, and above all, what is perhaps complicated today, to make them understand the associative environment.
It's hard to explain why you give your time for free, and sometimes I don't really know how to explain it. For me, it's natural, and I'm convinced that it needs to be done, and that we need to come together.
We have a great team, but it's also a marathon. So we take the time to restart the machine properly. There are people who are not in favor of this, that's okay, we keep moving forward, because it can benefit and reach more and more people, that's the goal.
What is your secret to maintaining a balance between everything you do in parallel and your personal life?
As you say, I seek balance, harmony as they say in Japan. What allows me to do many things is that I have fun in everything I do! These are all different projects, but exciting and motivating. It's not just a job that I do all the time in the same way and that bores me. I find that I am more effective when my brain is buzzing with responses on diverse and varied subjects.
The rest of the week, I also try to exercise to let off steam. I also drink non-alcoholic beverages, which helps to balance, and then to enjoy the drinks I consume, rather than overconsuming, and to find a balance with, once again, all of this, between evenings, work, family, rest, sports, it works pretty well.
In ten years, what profession do you see yourself in?
I think I will still be in the industry, but there isn't just one path, just one way to do our job. Certainly, I'm less behind the bar, but still in the world of spirits, in contact with bartenders and cocktails, depending on the opportunities that arise and what happens.
A final word?
Thank you for this exchange, for your work too, because you always produce articles that are cool and relevant.
I invite people who are passionate about the profession to look at what we do at the ABF, to contact us. We remain associative, we are not there to give everything to people, it's a give and take. Bartenders must also have this willingness to give some of their time, depending on their profile. We don't ask everyone to invest 40 hours a week in the association, but just to be present, to see what's happening at events, to participate in a competition, to work for the common good. I think that's important, and then not to hesitate to come and ask me questions. To take that step between virtual life and having someone in front of you, to be able to discuss, is still something else.
