YOU may find it ironic that one of New York's most hidden speakeasies is also one of the world's most well-publicised, but Please Don't Tell's (PDT) head bartender Jeff Bell doesn't see anything contradictory in that.

"We want people to know about us. We are a legal operation, the bar has a liquor licence, so why don't we want people to talk about it?" says Mr Bell, 28, who was in town this week as the guest judge for the second semi-final of the Diageo Reserve World Class Competition's Singapore championships. Mr Bell himself finished as the top US bartender in last year's competition, and an overall second in the global finals. "We weren't meant to be hidden. The whole idea behind PDT stemmed from a fun way to separate the hot dog stand from the bar."

Founded in 2006 by Brian Shebairo and Jim Meehan in a space vacated by a bubble tea shop in New York's East Village, entrance to the reservations-only PDT is via a dimly lit phone booth within Crif Dogs, a no-frills hot dog stand.