How I’m Making It: Hup San Social Club is South Korean bartender June Baek’s anticipated return to Singapore’s bar scene

But like many restless creatives, Baek felt the siren call of elsewhere. Seoul beckoned with the promise of exploring her Korean roots, where she spent a good seven months with Bar Cham, a pioneering bar that showcases traditional Korean spirits. New York offered the intoxicating hustle that has seduced many a bartender, which saw her take on the challenge as the opening bar manager for Seoul Salon, a hip Korean restaurant in bustling Koreatown in early 2023. Ho Chi Minh City presented the chance to exercise her consulting muscles, directing a beverage programme for a high-volume Hawaiian-themed restaurant and bar.

“I was very eager to expand my horizons,” confesses Baek with characteristic modesty. “While living in these very different cities, I learnt a great deal, not just professionally but also about myself. I reflected on what I wanted to achieve, what I wanted to learn, and where I felt happiest—the things that truly matter in my personal life. And for the first time, I realised it was the people I love.” This epiphany made her realise that sometimes, happiness may not be closer to home than we think.

Rather than be a part of another established outfit, she decided to create her own universe when moving back to the Lion City in late 2024. “Having a small, intimate bar was always my retirement plan,” says Baek. “While I kept hesitating, I suddenly realised, if bartending is what I love most, why wait?”

Hup San Social Club is, in many ways, a distillation of Baek herself: intimate, thoughtful, somewhat unexpected, and devoid of pretension. Her mantra, “Do What Brings You Joy,” is no mere sticker affixed to her earphone case; it may well be a subconscious manifestation to follow her passion. Now, it also shapes the theme of her debut menu.

After years of chasing the new and novel, she’s settled into a confidence that allows her to create drinks that sidestep the trap of performative gimmicks. “I want to create good cocktails that people consistently want to enjoy, drinks that don’t become tiresome,” she expounds.

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Cocktails at Hup San Social Club all come with rich narratives. Take Achar, for instance, a drink representing an interplay of Korean identity and Singaporean experience. “Achar was a type of kimchi I encountered for the first time in Singapore,” Baek recalls. “Every Korean bartender probably has their own kimchi cocktail recipe, and being here in Singapore, I knew I had to create one for Singapore from a Korean perspective.”

Then there’s Bom Fizz, created during the isolating days of Covid when homesickness for South Korea was in full force. Essentially a reimagined Ramos Gin Fizz, the toothsome number features mugwort and toasted sesame, both key ingredients in songpyeon (traditional rice cake), commonly served during Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving).

But perhaps most delightfully outrageous is French Fries, Baek’s tongue-in-cheek fizzy highball that oddly captures the essence of everyone’s favourite side dish. What was initially a one-time creation for a guest shift at a spot known for its burgers, Baek decided to revive the crowd-pleaser and has since perfected the recipe. It drinks familiar, comforting and a tad savoury from tomatoes, mimicking the iconic ketchup pairing.

Baek’s journey is reassuring, to say the least, and it certainly reminds us that prescribed timelines aren’t necessary to finding one’s true calling. Camellia, a cocktail named after a flower that only blooms during winter’s harshest months, poetically encapsulates and embraces her bartending journey thus far. “I started relatively late compared to many others, and it conveys that it’s never too late to start,” she reflects.

In a world constantly urging us to chase the next big thing, Baek’s greatest achievement might be this: creating an inclusive space that celebrates the present moment, fuelled by great cocktails for all to enjoy.

Hup San Social Club
Address: 98 Club Street, S(069467)

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