Profile | Asia’s 50 Best 2023 Bartenders’ Bartender Beckaly Franks of Hong Kong bar The Pontiac on why bartending is ‘part of her DNA’, and ‘making space’ for women
- Beckaly Franks, co-owner of The Pontiac and 3 other Hong Kong bars, is the first woman to be voted Bartenders’ Bartender at the Asia’s 50 Best Bars awards
- The American talks about her bartending journey from the Dixie Tavern in Portland, Oregon – ‘Coyote Ugly on steroids’ – and using her voice to advocate equality
She may have started as a little girl hanging out in her parents’ bar in Portland, Oregon, in the United States, but she grew up to become an award-winning bartender who moved to Hong Kong to open her own venue at the age of just 30.
And in the eight years since then, Beckaly Franks has become a true powerhouse in the city’s food and drink industry – a position cemented this month when she officially became the first woman to be named the Bartenders’ Bartender, the only peer-voted category in the Asia’s 50 Best Bars awards.
Franks is grateful for the opportunity to do what she loves and for the recognition bestowed upon her by the community – and true to form, she says she does not have any impostor syndrome about winning the award, “because I earned it”.
“The bar is my heart, the bar is my bones,” she says. “I’ve always said that hospitality and bartending are part of my DNA. My parents co-owned a bar, and that inclusive community culture is how I grew up.”
In her early 20s, Franks was recruited into performance bartending at the famous Dixie Tavern in Portland, which she describes as “high-volume, rock ’n’ roll, Coyote Ugly on steroids”, referring to the 2000 musical film based on the Coyote Ugly Saloon bars, known for their female bartenders who could often be seen dancing on the counters.
Then, she transitioned to craft cocktails, which, she says, happened because “it came to a point where I needed to venture out on my own”.
“I worked really hard, studied wine and did cocktail competitions while keeping my eye on the bar that I wanted to work out of, which was Clyde Common under Jeffrey Morgenthaler [a US-based bartender and author known for popularising barrel-aged cocktails since 2010].”
“I earned my stripes there and won a bartending competition in New Zealand,” says Franks. “I was part of a team, though I was still one of the first females ever to win a global competition.”
As long as I’m offered an opportunity to use my voice, I’m going to use it
“My destiny was always to come to Hong Kong, but I’ll spare you the manifestation parts of it,” Franks says.
“I came here in May 2015 and the rest is history.”
Two months thereafter, aged 30 and in a new city, she opened The Pontiac – an elevated, female-centric dive bar inspired by the rock ’n’ roll vibe of Portland’s Dixie Tavern. For eight years and counting, the bar has stood strong on the slopes of Old Bailey Street, in Central.
“When I talk about The Pontiac, I always say that it’s a collaboration between the bar and the guest. We can listen to good music and have good conversations and be present with one another,” Franks says.
By 2023, Franks had launched three more venues: Ponty Café, Call Me Al and Artifact, all under the company Hungry Ghost, which she co-founded with her wife, Ezra Star (who also boasts a shiny international résumé in the bar industry).
“We try to build teams and experiences with intention and heart with everything that we do through the company,” she says. “My medium is the art of hospitality and the bar. The culture is ingrained in me.
“To me, bartending is so much more than what’s happening inside the glass, which I’m absolutely passionate about – there’s really no cap to creativity and the things that you can find and learn about the world – but it’s one of the most unique professions for so many reasons.”
Despite being a serial hospitality entrepreneur, Franks considers herself, first and foremost, a bartender. She says she loves “the banter” and making people laugh.
“I know I’m a good bartender because I care. I care so much. But I didn’t realise that anybody was watching because I built it for other people,” she says.
“I’ve definitely worked hard on my career for myself, but I haven’t used it as my platform. I’ve used it to create community and space for other people.”
As for being a woman in a male-dominated industry, Franks speaks only from her own experience: “I don’t know how it feels to be anything other than a female bartender.
“It’s getting passé to be like, ‘How does it feel to be a woman in the industry?’ It’s kind of the same as being a woman anywhere, doing anything, ever. Nothing is handed to you – that’s for sure.”
When Franks was starting out, there were not many opportunities for a female bartender in the industry. Now, she aims to ensure that she is acknowledging female bar professionals.
“I’ve worked [hard] for all the opportunities that I have, and I do my absolute best to make sure that other people have opportunities based on what I’ve created,” she says.
Equality is difficult (or perhaps impossible) to achieve – yet, Franks remains persistent that it is worth fighting for.
“I’m not sure if it will ever feel equal or the same in my lifetime, but I’m an advocate for making space for women. I’m passionate about it, and if I’m here to do anything, I hope it’s that.
“It’s still a climb for women in everything, everywhere. Things are getting better, but I like to say that the fight is forever – I don’t mean that in an aggro way, I just mean that we have to keep chipping away at old blocks and keep supporting each other.
“I have sympathy for people who are exhausted by the narrative. However, there’s just no two ways about it; we have to push and keep driving.”
