Food Wine Sleep

When Adam finished high school in 1994, hospitality was the last thing on his mind. Wanting to pursue a career in the corporate world, Adam enrolled in Commerce at the University of Melbourne. During his university days, Adam found himself drawn into the excitement and temptations of the nightlife and developed a passion for bars and nightclubs. Adam made himself the promise that one day he’d open his own bar.

After graduating from university at the end of 1998, Adam accepted a job as an accountant at KPMG where he also attained the prestigious Chartered Accountant qualification. As the years went by Adam became bored and decided that working behind a desk all day just wasn’t for him. Following the words of wisdom of Confucius “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”, Adam left KPMG after four years and pursued his dream career within the events and hospitality industry.

From 2003 to 2005, while researching and planning his future bar, Adam did a bit of everything. He established his own nightclub promotions business which is now Invasian, contract accounting jobs, worked as a waiter at Blue Chillies Malaysian Restaurant, appeared in a few TV commercials and spent hours on end at the library reading about everything from cocktails to business management. Finally, in December 2005, along with his business partners, Adam opened Golden Monkey, a sophisticated cocktail and Asian tapas bar inspired by the opium dens of 1920s Shanghai.

Since its opening, Golden Monkey has achieved an amazing amount of accolades and recognition. Most notably it has won three Australian Bartender Magazine Bar Awards: Australia's New Bar of the Year 2006, Australia's Bar of the Year 2007, and Australia’s Bar of the Year 2009. Golden Monkey has also won the award for Bar Team of the Year 2008 at the Australian Liquor Industry Awards, and was the Best Commercial Interior 2007 and overall Grand Prix 2007 winner at the Dulux Colour Awards.

In December 2011, Adam opened his first overseas bar named Beau in Taiwan with Golden Monkey business partner Michael Chen and some overseas partners. Adam is also in the early brainstorming stages of his next venue in Melbourne. One thing’s for sure, never expect anything too stuffy and formal from Adam who says “Life is too short to be serious. My job is, and always has been, to make sure people are having fun. People are working harder and harder these days. They deserve an escape where they can let their hair down and go a little crazy”.

When he is not working, Adam likes to enjoy lazy days outdoors with his wife Nany and daughter Alecia.