Vassilis Roussos was born in Athens, in 1988, and since 2005 he has been active in the field of catering and hospitality.

Encountering important and influential people in his chosen field and working behind more eclectic bars “instilled” in him a love for bartending, which eventually became a choice and a way of life.

He has attended numerous international professional seminars on spirits, homemade materials, raw materials management, sales policy and much more, and has traveled extensively, always on the look-out for new trends, techniques, ideas, flavors and gastronomic cultures. His aim was to transfer and adapt all this concentrated experience to the demands of the local Greek market, in order to establish a new way of doing things. Personal milestones include London, Italy’s enchanting Tuscany, which introduced him to the world of wine, the Netherlands, trendsetting New York and “wild-card” Brooklyn with its countless speakeasy bars, as well as Tokyo, their archrival, where he attended the Japanese bartending school Takayuki Suzuki San.

He has been a bar manager and head bartender for many bar restaurants, has worked with renowned chefs, has created his own bar, and is a co-founder of All About Whiskey School, in collaboration with Whiskey expert and author John Lamond from Scotland.

His latest venture is Pony and Jigger, a company of unexpected, “anti-hero” drinks, that seeks not only to become a permanent fixture in bars, but also to find a place in the hearts of all liquor lovers.

In the mind of Vassilis Roussos

favorite business moment: my first entrepreneurial step at Tiki bar Athens

favorite distillate: whiskey, aged tsipouro

favorite cuisine: Italian, Greek

favorite bar in Athens: Red Lotus, Baba au Rum

favorite bar abroad: apotheke New York

favorite anti hero: Kabamaru

favorite sideshow figure: artoria gibbon the tattooed lady

favorite drink: mai tai, manhattan, el presidente, negroni, margarita

favorite ingredients: fresh pepper, chili

favorite food to make: seafood barley