Meet the team behind Workshop14 and find out how this Hanoi hotspot became one to watch.
Tucked into what was once an architect's studio, this effortlessly refined bar has become the kind of place that transforms casual drinkers into cocktail converts. It's a radically minimal space, removed from the city's noise. To enter, guests step through a traditional wooden gate, into a stripped-back bar serving technique-rich cocktails.
The secret lies not just in the space – though the seamless blend of materials and light helps – but in the methodical approach of its team.
Architect-turned-storyteller Hieu Long, industry veteran Cuong Nguyen (one of Long's co-founders from previous venture The Haflington), biblically bearded beverage director Richard McDonough (the itinerant 'Mood Therapist' known for his modernist cocktails) and bar manager Linh Winnie offer seven reasons for the bar's meteoric rise that earned it the Campari One To Watch Award as part of Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025. That's one for every month of Workshop14's existence to date.
1. They built the bar on sacred grounds
The bar sits within one of the region's 13 traditional craft villages dating back to the 12th Century
Workshop14 sits on land steeped in history. It opened on the site of what was once Princess Tu Hoa's royal palace during the Ly Dynasty in the 12th Century, where silk worms were raised to weave costumes for the royal court of Thang Long. The princess established one of 13 traditional craft villages that served the ancient capital and Nghi Tam became the weaving village that now makes up the main drag where Workshop14 is found today.
"We felt compelled to honour that legacy, not through nostalgia, but through intentional, context-aware design," explains Long. "We consider ourselves the 14th craft village," Nguyen adds. "Inspired by the past but built for the present, we take heritage, technique and bold ideas to create something truly our own."
2. The drinks list is modular and adaptable
Workshop14 launched with just seven signature cocktails
Thanks to Long's intimate knowledge of the space and his ability to design and project-manage the renovation – keeping the basic footprint while adding a steel beam for ceiling support, skylights, and interior adjustments – Workshop14 went from signed lease to opening night in just three months.
McDonough had already been developing cocktails for an as yet undetermined bar project and, when they committed to opening Workshop14, he adapted those recipes and dove into his cocktail diaries for the launch menu. With 10 years' worth of creations as The Mood Therapist, he sifted through for drinks that showcased local flavours and spirits.
The team launched with just seven signatures. That's now grown to 12 with drinks from the R&D lab coming to life when seasonality intervenes and some fruits become unavailable. Then, cocktails like Plum Intended, where grassy rum, bright Moc Chau plum and complex shiso unite in a jewel-hued drink, and Can't Cedar Wood for Lychees – a floral gin & tonic-style beverage – must reluctantly make way for new creations.
3. The team is a well-oiled machine 
Each member of the Workshop14 team specialises in a different area of the bar's operation
Each team member at Workshop14 offers distinct expertise to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
Long handles all aesthetic elements – besides the design and construction, he offers creative direction for photoshoots, social media and brand strategy. "He sets the tone and keeps us in line," McDonough explains. Nguyen manages operations, logistics, staff and systems: "keeping all that sh*t going," as McDonough puts it with characteristic directness.
He focuses on "the stuff that goes in the glass and the international outreach programme". Meanwhile, bar manager Winnie, who spent 10 years in Australia, oversees day-to-day service with what McDonough describes as 'Australian border security-level' attention to detail. She'll usually have Border Security: Australia's Front Line playing on YouTube in the background while they work in the lab that's three minutes from the bar. "I think of her as a border security officer and I'm the guy from Vietnam with the undeclared botanicals," he jokes. "I know I can't get anything past her."
The team cross-trains everyone across front of house, bar, and eventually laboratory work – though McDonough admits, a little protectively: "No one's got to the rotary evaporator yet."
4. Workshop14's drinks are boundary-pushing
Co-founder Rich McDonough is known for his modernist approach to cocktail creation
"We craft cocktails that highlight clean, nuanced flavours often inspired by local ingredients," McDonough explains, "and we use modernist methods to bring each creation to life."
Workshop14's approach to locally grown pineapples perfectly illustrates its philosophy. In its Barry Galdi, the fruit undergoes full laboratory treatment – juiced, then processed through a rotor-stator homogenizer that grinds it down to five-microns for a silky texture, before combining with Campari and mezcal. Served on nitro, it delivers creaminess without dairy, creating a slightly bitter, faintly smoky taste, or, as McDonough puts it: "a tropical cloud on your tongue."
The same fruit becomes its Pineapple Shampagne (spelled 'Sham' due to its non-alcoholic nature), where the team clarifies the pineapple, removes alcohol from blanco vermouth, adds acids to mimic malolactic fermentation, carbonates the whole thing and serves it in a champagne flute.
Plus, its fourth-most popular cocktail is non-alcoholic – the pomelo and hojicha based Thick Skinned. It's a remarkable achievement in a market where non-alcoholic cocktails are often afterthoughts.
5. The cocktail names are conversation starters
The Barry Galdi is just one of its amusingly named drinks
Besides the smirk-inducing Barry Galdi, and the pun-tastic Can't Cedar Wood For Lychees, there's the Is One Un Oeuf? – a bastard offspring of an espresso martini and Hanoi's iconic egg coffee – and Capcha In The Rye, a Manhattan that cracks the code on making clarity and complexity coexist.
With something like 98% of Workshop14's guests being locals, the cheeky monikers sometimes prompt discussion. "It's quite fun watching Winnie and the team try to explain," McDonough chuckles.
The Is One Un Oeuf came from McDonough's favourite dad joke: Why did the French lady only have one egg for breakfast? Because One Is Un Oeuf! Winnie remembers one guest, despite avoiding coffee after dark, going on to order three. "At the end of the day, the name doesn't really matter as long as the drink is good," she concludes.
6. It's a safe space for guests
The bar makes sure that all guests feel comfortable and welcome
Workshop14's battle with the 'meow meows' (local slang for Instagram influencers) erupted when shoots with reflectors and flash photography started disrupting other guests. When disgruntled influencers bombed their Google reviews, the bar fought back by sharing the one-star reviews on Instagram Stories. Early adopters rallied with rave reviews, pushing their score back up.
In a city where women can often feel unwelcome in bars, Workshop14 has created a welcoming space. "We have a lot of women who come either on their own or in a group," McDonough notes, and their drinking preferences have shaped the bar's bestsellers.
7. Cocktail enthusiasts were hopelessly devoted from the off
Six months after opening its doors, the bar earned the Campari One To Watch Award
Around the time of opening, someone stole the 'a' from the word 'flavors' on their door sign that read: 'Workshop14: Creating A New Tradition Of Modern Cocktails & Flavors.'
"The guy who made it was like, 'I'm not freaking creating one letter,' so we haven't replaced it," McDonough laughs.
There have been other wanton acts of devotion too. One guest – a student – came to visit. And returned the next night. And the next night. For five consecutive nights in a row. Only from the Google review he posted a few days later did they realise that on the fifth day, and on an increasingly limited budget, he'd forsaken food all day to be able to afford another drink.
Like the missing letter, these instances have become part of Workshop14's origin story – events that point at the devotion the bar inspires both to Hanoi's cocktail aficionados, and now denizens of Asia's 50 Best Bars list.
The list of Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025, sponsored by Perrier, was revealed at a live awards ceremony in Macau on 15 July 2025.
