Monica Berg
{{Short description|Norwegian bartender}}
Monica Berg is a Norwegian bartender, liquor company owner, and digital innovator in London. She is originally from Norway. She received the Linie Honorary Award for her contributions to Norwegian food and drink culture in 2015 and in 2019 received the Altos Bartenders' Bartender Award at The World's 50 Best Bars, making her the first woman to be given the award.{{cite web |last1=Howell |first1=Madeleine |title=London bartender is first female to be awarded prestigious World's 50 Best Bars gong |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/london-based-bartender-first-female-awarded-prestigious-worlds/ |website=The Telegraph |accessdate=31 December 2019 |date=4 October 2019}}
She co-owns the bar Tayēr + Elementary in London with her partner Alex Kratena. Berg has her own liqueur line, Muyu, co-founded the nonprofit P(our), and co-created Back of House, a digital platform used by hospitality workers to anonymously report discrimination, harassment, and other issues.
Early life and education
Monica Berg is originally from Oslo, Norway. As a child, her family took her hunting, fishing and mushroom hunting, experiences that would influence her bartending style.{{cite web |last1=Sgarbi |first1=Giulia |title=What does it take to become the world's leading bartender? Monica Berg on flavour, philanthropy and female craftsmanship |url=https://www.theworlds50best.com/stories/News/monica-berg-worlds-leading-bartender-flavour-philanthropy-female-craftsmanship.html |website=UI - 50B - STORIES |accessdate=31 December 2019 |language=en}} She started working in hospitality when she was 15. It is in Oslo where she began bartending. She attended H.Butlers Bartending School.{{cite web |last1=Masing |first1=Anna Sulan |title=Leading by Example: Monica Berg is changing the way we drink, one cocktail at a time |url=https://blog.resy.com/2019/06/leading-by-example-monica-berg-on-reshaping-a-profession-and-the-years-most-anticipated-cocktail-bar/ |website=Resy {{!}} Right This Way |accessdate=31 December 2019 |language=en |date=17 June 2019}}
Career
After completing H. Butlers Bartending School, she bought and operated the school. By 2012, Berg was working at Aqua Vitae, in Oslo, as a bartender. That is where she met award-winning bartender Alex Kratena, who would eventually become her partner.{{cite web |last1=Odell |first1=Kat |title=World's Best Bar Winner Alex Kratena Opens His First Solo Project in London |url=https://www.foodandwine.com/drinks/alex-kratena-tayer-elementary-london |website=Food & Wine |accessdate=3 January 2020 |language=en}} In 2013, she relocated to London and served as head bartender at Pollen Street Social in London, followed by a bartending at Himkok in Oslo.{{cite web |title=Female bartenders at the top of their game |url=https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/03/female-bartenders-at-the-top-of-their-game/7/ |website=The Spirits Bartender |date=8 March 2018 |accessdate=31 December 2019}} That same year, she represented Norway in the World Class Bartender of the Year final.{{cite web |title=World Class 50 |url=https://www.definitivedrinkingguide.com/post/61771589519/monica-bergs-top-of-the-hops-more-monica-berg/ |website=Definitive Drinking Guide |accessdate=3 January 2020 |language=en}}
Berg was awarded the Linie Honorary Award for her contributions to Norwegian food and drink culture in 2015.{{cite web |title=When Bartenders Talk - Monica Berg {{!}} Food {{!}} Agenda |url=https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/food/articles/2017/february/28/when-bartenders-talk-monica-berg/ |website=Phaidon |accessdate=31 December 2019}} In 2016, Berg co-founded P(our), a nonprofit symposium focused on bartending culture, with Kratena.{{cite web |last1=Buer |first1=Liz |title=– Det er fortsatt ikke likestilling i barverdenen |url=https://www.dn.no/smak/brennevin/london/drikke/uteliv/-det-er-fortsatt-ikke-likestilling-i-barverdenen/2-1-257561 |website=Smak |accessdate=3 January 2020 |language=no |date=26 January 2018}} She was featured in Where Bartenders Drink published by Phaidon in 2017.
Berg and her partner Alex Kratena opened Tayēr + Elementary in London in 2019. That same year, she received the Altos Bartenders' Bartender Award at the World's 50 Best Bars.{{cite web |last1=Bristøl |first1=Mona |title=Norske Monica (37) fikk gjev internasjonal barpris |url=https://www.dagbladet.no/mat/norske-monica-37-fikk-gjev-internasjonal-barpris/71421918 |website=Dagbladet |accessdate=3 January 2020 |language=no |date=23 July 2019}} In 2022 Tayēr + Elementary placed second in the World's 50 Best Bars.{{Cite web |last=Embley |first=Jochan |date=5 October 2022 |title=World's 50 Best Bars: London's Tayēr + Elementary claims second place as Connaught Bar loses top spot |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/reveller/bars/worlds-50-best-bars-2022-london-tayer-elementary-b1030324.html |access-date=1 April 2023 |website=Evening Standard}} In 2019, she also co-launched Back of House, a digital platform for hospitality workers to safely and anonymous report workplace harassment, discrimination, and other problems.{{cite web |last1=Kiely |first1=Melita |title=Monica Berg creates platform to report harassment |url=https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2019/12/monica-berg-creates-platform-to-report-harassment/ |website=The Spirits Business |date=13 December 2019 |accessdate=31 December 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Milliken |first1=Millie |title='You get used to being treated in a certain way that you forget what's normal': Monica Berg on her new online tool, Back of House |url=https://imbibe.com/news/you-get-used-to-being-treated-in-a-certain-way-that-you-forget-what-s-normal-monica-berg-on-her-new-online-tool-back-of-house/ |website=Imbibe |accessdate=3 January 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Hamish |title=Monica Berg launches online safe space - Drinks International - The global choice for drinks buyers |url=https://drinksint.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/8630/Monica_Berg_launches_online_safe_space.html |website=Drinks International |accessdate=3 January 2020}}
In May 2022, Berg was named Creative Director of the Campari Academy.{{cite web | url=https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2022/05/campari-academy-appoints-monica-berg/ | title=Monica Berg joins Campari Academy | date=17 May 2022 }}
Style, cocktails and influences
Berg's cocktails often center around fresh, seasonal ingredients. Berg works with local farmers in the United Kingdom to source ingredients for cocktails. At Tayēr + Elementary, Berg works in what she describes a "collective effort" with other staff members to create cocktails, instead of each bartender creating their own individual drinks. Berg also wants to make accessible cocktails, using a test called "Would you serve this to your mother?" to decide if the beverage should make the Tayēr + Elementary menu.
Further reading
- Where Bartenders Drink. London: Phaidon (2017). {{ISBN|9780714873152}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official|https://www.monica-berg.com/}}
- [https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2017/10/monica-berg-bar-industry-needs-sustainability-of-people/ "Monica Berg: bar industry needs ‘sustainability of people’"] via The Spirits Business
- [https://howtospendit.ft.com/food-drink/201315-norway-s-craft-spirit-revolution "Norway’s craft spirit revolution"] featuring Berg, via How to Spend It
- [https://punchdrink.com/articles/behind-himkok-norway-menu-best-cocktail-bars-oslo/ "Behind the Menu at Norway’s Most Experimental Cocktail Bar"] featuring Berg, via Punch
- [https://vinepair.com/articles/london-best-bars-travel-guide/ "Everything Worth Drinking in London, According to Tayēr + Elementary’s Monica Berg"] via Vinepair
- [https://www.liquor.com/articles/tayer-elementary-london/#gs.puaf48 "These 3 drinks tell the story of London's most important new cocktail bar."] via Liquor.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Monica}}
Category:Businesspeople from Oslo
Category:21st-century Norwegian businesspeople