Woburn Bartender Once Harassed by Harvard Prof Rises to Accolades

Ran Duan of Woburn’s Baldwin Bar is no stranger to media attention. Although we’re guessing he prefers getting it for his cocktail-mixing proficiency, as opposed to for getting harassed on the internet.

Many of those who recognize his name may quickly associate it with the nasty, litigious emails Harvard Business School Professor Ben Edelman sent him over an alleged $4 overcharge at the Brookline Sichuan Garden back in December. But the cocktail/food trade blog/print magazine Starchefs.com thinks of him more as one of their “2015 Boston Rising Stars.”

Duan was granted the distinction on April 16 at a ceremony at The Colonnade Hotel in Boston, and it might not even pan out to be his biggest mixological achievement this year. The Boston Globe reports he’s bound for Sydney to represent the U.S. in the worldwide Bacardi Legacy competition, against bartending masters from 35 countries.

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