DYLAN RICHES

Born in Prince George, British Columbia, Dylan spent his formative years working and playing in BC’s backcountry. Though he made friends with many woodland creatures and learned to call the trees by name, he yearned for something more in life. He gave up his lumberjack ways, packed his bags, and set out to the big city with nothing but a trailer full of secondhand furniture and a twinkle in his eyes.

Not long after he moved to Vancouver, Dylan found his love for hospitality serendipitously while working as an actor. For several years, he perfected the art of pulling pints and finding the golden ratio of the coveted vodka soda before he found his love of cocktails. When he realized he was spending more time nose deep in cocktail books than he was preparing for auditions, he knew it was time to put down the scripts and follow his heart. He cut his teeth in the cocktail scene behind the bar of Brix & Mortar under the tutelage of Mike Jordhoy and Reece Sims. There, he found his love of competitions after debuting in Woodford’s Manhattan Experience. He did mediocre at best. His love, however, did not wane. He kept honing his craft, and after many montage training sequences, he went on to win the 2019 Speedy Gonzalez title with partner Amber Bruce and the 2020 CPBA Cup.

In 2019, Dylan received the honor of joining the international prep team “Team Taco” at the San Antonio Cocktail Conference where he learned the many skills involved in preparing cocktails for hundreds of people. Shortly after that, Dylan packed his bags once more and moved to Hong Kong where he landed a job at the experimental cocktail bar The Old Man. During his year there, he found his love of using advanced techniques to manipulate ingredients and was fortunate enough to be a part of the team when the bar was awarded #1 by Asia’s Top 50 Best Bars and “Best Bar Team (Asia)” by DRiNK magazine.

Behind the bar, you’ll find Dylan making terrible dad jokes and trying to fit the flavors of the forest into cocktails in an attempt to go back to his roots (pun intended). Feel free to ask him to make you the most average Margarita you’ll ever have.