[June 20 & 21] Experience our Award-winning Guest Bartenders’ Original Rémy Martin Cocktails

Only on June 20 and 21, The Oak Door Bar and Maduro will welcome two revolutionary cocktail creators from Penang’s Backdoor Bodega, named one of Asia’s 50 Best Bars in 2022 and 2024. On a whirlwind visit to Grand Hyatt Tokyo, Backdoor Bodega’s bartenders will be preparing original cocktails created from a selection of iconic Rémy Cointreau spirits, including Rémy Martin cognac and The Botanist’s Islay dry gin.

Date & Time

The Oak Door Bar
June 20, 2025 / 6:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

Maduro
June 21, 2025 / 9:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.

* Reservations are not accepted. Please come directly on the day of the event.
* Music cover charges apply at Maduro: JPY 2,750 (table) / JPY 1,650 (counter).

Guest Bartender

Once touted as “the most elusive of George Town’s speakeasies” by Lonely Planet, Backdoor Bodega is a “pin shop” with an ever-changing menu of specialty cocktails unique to Penang — featuring locally-sourced ingredients such as ulam, belacan, Penang-made soy sauce, nutmeg fruit, and more. Opened discreetly with zero fanfare behind an actual clothing store in November 2016, this owner-operated speakeasy with a small team of self-taught bartenders has since been recognised as one of the city’s top cocktail bars, becoming the first ever Penang bar to be listed among 100 of Asia’s best bars by Asia’s 50 Best Bars in 2022.

Thanesh Kumar Sivakumar
Backdoor Bodega
Bar Manager

Professionally trained as a French culinary chef, Thanesh began his F&B career at the tender age of 16, working his way through various fine dining establishments in his hometown island of Penang before eventually venturing into bartending at Backdoor Bodega in 2021. With his vast knowledge and experience from the kitchen, Thanesh’s culinary sense brought a new dynamic to the execution of cocktails at the bar, and played a vital role in the creation of Backdoor Bodega’s peranakan-inspired menu. Within two years of bartending, Thanesh has managed to clinch the global champion title of the Jameson Black Barrel Bartender Competition in 2023, and went on to become the Malaysian champion for the Rémy Martin Bartender Talent Academy competition in 2024.

Yung Shen Koh
Backdoor Bodega
Owner / Founder / Bartender

Winner of The Bar Awards’ Bartender of the Year (Penang) 2019, Shen is a self-taught bartender and owner of No Bar Here and Backdoor Bodega, one of Penang’s pioneering speakeasy cocktail bars, and is an honoree of the Asia’s Most Influential 2022 list by Tatler Asia for his contributions to the Penang cocktail industry. Shen is also the organizing host of the annual Penang Cocktail Week and a proprietor of Drafted beer garden.

Notes

The Oak Door Bar

 
Maduro