Lobster Bar and Grill HK appoints Bob Louison as bar manager

Recently coming 75th in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2019, Lobster Bar and Grill in Island Shangri-La Hong Kong has appointed Bob Louison as its new bar manager.

Lobster Bar and Grill has long been enjoying a good reputation in Hong Kong, including placing in ‘Asia’s 50 Best Bars’ from 2016 to 2019 and achieving a gold award for the ‘Best Cocktail Bar’ at the Hong Kong Best Spirits Awards 2019.

Veteran French-born bartender Bob Louison is now taking the helm of the reputable bar. Before moving to Hong Kong, Louison was based in Seoul, South Korea, as the general manager of Pussyfoot Saloon, a bar he opened in 2018, and won ‘The One to Watch’ award at Asia’s 50 Best Bars in May 2019.

Louison started bartending in Paris at the age of 18. He then worked at famous bars all around the world in locations including Paris, London, New York and Ibiza, until he finally made his way to Asia in 2008. In 2009, he founded Spirit It Ltd, which provided consulting and bar training for professional cocktail bars, five-star hotels and high-end restaurants.

In 2017, he took over an empty space under a cigar bar in the renowned Itaewon area in Seoul and created Bob’s Speakeasy, a pop-up bar which successfully introduced a different style and finesse to the industry and market. Soon after that, he joined the ranks of CAP’s (Cocktail Apprentice Program’s) Red Coats at Tales of Cocktail in New Orleans.

Emboldened by his experience in New Orleans, Louison returned to Seoul to organise ‘Sool Bar Week’, the first bar week in the city that connects local and international bartenders to create a larger community for the industry.

Embarking on a new career journey in Hong Kong, he aspires to impart his insights and creative philosophy and work with head bartender Paolo De Venuto and a team of talented of mixologists to maintain the bar’s high standards.