World Class UAE Bartender of the Year revealed

Global bartending competition World Class UAE has named Nobu Dubai’s Sharfin Auni as its UAE Bartender of the Year for 2026 following the championship’s national finals.

 

More than 200 bartenders entered this year’s edition, with finalists Sharfin Auni from Atlantis, The Palm’s Nobu Dubai and Sexy Fish Dubai’s Patrick Rowson and Rafael Soler competing in a live final focused on technical ability, creativity, speed and guest experience.

 

Auni will now represent the UAE at the World Class Global Finals in Scotland later this year. “Coming back to the finals for the third year and finally taking the title of World Class UAE Bartender of the Year 2026 feels surreal,” she said.

 

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The final brought together judges from hospitality and beverage operators including Saikindō, Atlantis, The Palm, Buddha-Bar Worldwide, La Petite Maison and Fibber Magee’s, including Marco Corallo, Laura Duca, Francesco Galdi, Tibor Krascsenics and Ross Matthews-Smith.

 

Finalists were evaluated through a series of hospitality-focused challenges, including a speed round requiring competitors to prepare multiple serves within five minutes and a guest engagement challenge centred around tableside presentation and service experience.

 

The programme also highlighted wider hospitality industry initiatives through the launch of Humans of Hospitality, a storytelling platform developed to spotlight bartenders and hospitality professionals across the UAE through digital profiles and short-form content.

 

Antoinette Drumm, Managing Director of Diageo MENA, said the finals reflected “the strength and resilience within the UAE’s bartending community” despite ongoing challenges facing the wider hospitality sector.

 

For more information, visit www.worldclassuae.com