He mingled with celebrities, appeared in a Hollywood movie, and kept the home of the Rat Pack bustling well after their allure and smooth sounds had faded from the halls. Canberra’s newest import is here to liven up the bar scene with his global talent. Hailing from New Port, Rhode Island Jared Thibault is one of the most impressive mixologists on the scene today.

A new bar is a launching in Canberra this March, and as an impressive addition to the aptly named Bellabar, Thibault will be adding a list of cocktails that will bring you to your knees.

Thibault is talented at putting ingredients together from scratch, has worked at the likes of the Rhode Island’s Hotel Viking, the Palm Spring’s famous Riviera Resort & Spa, Beverly Hill’s Avalon Hotel and was the winner of the Desert Bartender of the Year in 2009.

Thibault started off in Orlando, Florida bartending at a private resort. After proving his skills he was recruited for the prestigious Viking Hotel in Newport where he climbed the ranks to bar manager.

Thibault worked at the Viking for six years when he met a man named Vince Lombino; the charismatic head of Food & Beverage AHL in Australia. When Thibault was asked if he’d like to move to Palm Springs, California and work at the five-star resort (that used to serve as a hang out to the famed Rat Pac), the Riviera Resort & Spa, there was no hesitating, and Thibault jumped at the opportunity. He became bar manager of Riviera’s three bars; the Starlite Lounge, Bikini Bar (which was voted in the top 5 pool bars by Playboy) and sidebar. Whilst there, he picked up the high acclaimed award for Best Bartender in the Desert in 2009.

Having made that ambitious achievement, and with his name now known in the industry Thibault headed over to the famous Avalon Hotel in Beverley Hills as bar manager. The Avalon is famous for holding big events for Lionsgate movies and Thibault was able to mingle with some of Hollywood’s hottest celebrities including Madmen’s Jon Hamm, Jessica Biel and Mandy Moore, just to name a few.

“All the movie stars thought I was a struggling actor, working as a bartender. We had this big launch party for Madmen and Weeds and Lionsgate was setting up and they had to film this scene where a bartender had to flirt with a girl, so I played the role of the bartender. It was fun to appear in a movie. It was featured in LA’s In Style magazine.”

Once again Vince Lombino approached the young mixologist. He offered Thibault an exciting opportunity to move to Canberra as bar manager for the soon to launch Bellabar. Thibault jumped at the chance to move to what he considered a growing hub within the global hospitality scene, where he believes he can help influence and shape the direction of the industry. Thibault is extremely excited about amping up the mixology scene in Canberra. He has a lot of ideas and Bellabar is sure to be one of Canberra’s most visited destinations.

“One of our features at Bellabar is bitters. We are going to have over 30 kinds of bitters, from plum to peach. We also make a lot of our own ingredients, like the ginger beer we will be making from scratch as well as our own tonic water.”

If you think that sounds good, wait until you try Thibault’s jalapeno and bacon infused vodka in the Bloody Mary or his signature cocktail the Sweet n Spicy; two parts of Sazerac rye whisky, one part Benedictine (a sweet after dinner alcohol), a maple syrup foam on top, sprinkled with a chocolate walnut bitters.

One part of the menu at Bellabar is full of vintage classic cocktails, all before the 1940 era and the other part is Thibault’s signature cocktails.

“There’s a bar called Drink located in Boston where you can walk up to a bus boy and ask him the history of your drink and he’ll tell you on the spot. That’s what I want to do with our patrons. Every drink on that menu has a history and has been inspired from something and I want to share that with people.”

All this talk of ingredients and drinks and history has formed a little glint in Thibaults eyes. So where does he get all his passion from?

“Originally I was always this cocky little bartender and when I was about 25, the Viking hired this man named Brian Van Flandern, who won the 2009 world bartender of the year. He came in and showed me how to do things the right way and taught me to be passionate about what I do. I am also influenced a lot by Jamie Boudreau of Seattle and Troy Clarke of Boston.”

Jared Thibault will be heading the bar at Bellabar, which launches in March and where Friday nights are about to become attractive! Alluring personalities, bewitching beauties and exquisite party guests will all be welcome.

Keep your eyes open for launch information!