Lorenzo Antinori: ‘When it comes to hospitality, Asia is king’

In 2023, Lorenzo Antinori launched Bar Leone to bring the spirit of his hometown, Rome, to Hong Kong. Now, he’s embarked on a new Cuban-inspired venture in the city.

It wasn’t exactly Lorenzo Antinori’s choice to come to Hong Kong.

In fact, he didn’t know much about the city when he moved from Four Seasons in Seoul to head up the luxury hotel chain’s cocktail bar, Argo. But fast-forward six years and the Roman bartender’s fallen in love with the energy of the city, and the diversity of landscape – from modern skylines to hiking trails, beaches and natural reserves.

And he also has not one, but two independent bars under his belt. In 2021, he left the luxury hotel world in a leap of faith to launch his first solo venture Bar Leone. The bar operates on the motto ‘cocktail popolari’, meaning, ‘cocktails for the people’, and serves up stripped-back cocktails in a bar inspired by his Italian hometown’s neighbourhoods. Since, the bar has shot up the ranks of stardom – bagging first place in Asia’s 50 Best Bars awards in 2024 and 2025 consecutively.

Still, it’s not been an easy ride. Antinori, who had previously worked in hotels, said opening it was the biggest challenge of his life. “I was stepping out of my comfort zone, and opening a bar right after the pandemic, the worst financial time, in Hong Kong. There were lots of gray areas, lots of doubts about the future,” he recalled. But for the owner, the biggest challenge was creating a culture of respect, support and opportunity for staff.

Building a family

“This was our priority,” Antinori makes clear. “We didn’t want to be a bar where staff come and go. We wanted to build a real family structure, where staff are paid fairly.”

And just last month, Antinori, teamed up with drinks maestro Simone Caporale, of Sips, Barcelona, to launch his second venture in the city. Montana is a Cuban-inspired bar that pays homage to Club de los Cantineros, a collective of Cuban bartenders founded in the early 20th century. Guests can sip drinks like El Presidente, a spirit-forward tipple aged in a dulce de-leche bottle, or Piña Colada, a slushy made with barbecued pineapple juice and toasted coconut, amid Florida-tinged 70s decor.

“Cuba is such an important influence in modern bartending because a lot of great stories of cocktails come from there, and we wanted to pay tribute to that location, and to the craft,” explained Antinori. Each day at the 50-cover venue, which officially launched on 15 July, brings a new surprise.

“Even though it’s our second bar, we’re pretty new to this entrepreneurial life,” admitted the bartender. “Opening a second business meant we needed to hire more people, and spend more time on training. Every night there are hiccups, but I think it’s important they’re happening because we can fix them. Aside from that, there’s lots of love from the community – lots of love from our regulars.”

High-quality hospitality

Conveniently, Montana is just a stone’s throw from Antinori’s first site. Punters can begin their evening with a Negroni at Leone, but by the end of the night they’ll be twirling to Latin funk after several daiquiris at Montana. “We close later, we have a different type of vibe, so we love the fact we can still be very connected to the local community,” he added.

For Antinori, it’s the bar’s hospitality that draws in a local crowd. From growing up in Italy, to quitting law school and travelling Australia, to earning his stripes at London’s Savoy, Antinori has lived all over. But it’s Asia that stands out when it comes to quality of service, connection to guests and attention to customer needs.

“Maybe cocktail trends might start in the West, but when it comes to hospitality, Asia is king, because there is more empathy when it comes to the overall experience,” he said.

So, while winning awards certainly boosts morale and revenue, they’re not everything. “The most important thing is having a busy bar, a profitable bar that allows us to pay rent, pay salary and create a good work environment,” Antinori added. “If the business is healthy, I don’t care about awards. If you constantly do quality work, if you put your heart and soul into delivering an honest product, the results will come. There are no shortcuts.”

‘If we don’t feel pressure, something’s wrong’

This is the real stamp of success. Grappling with high rent in one of the world’s most expensive cities is one obstacle. But drawing in and retaining talent is another: “We can be successful now, but if in five years we are not here anymore, there was something wrong, probably the foundation. So hopefully we’ll be able to have this culture grow stronger by the year.”

For Antinori, there’s always pressure. “If we don’t feel pressure, it means there is something wrong, because it means we don’t care. We put in our heart and soul, we try to do quality work, and eventually people will understand what we are doing and they will appreciate it.

“We’ll try our best to be successful with this new venture, but like any new venture, there are always fears. But this is what fuels us to be better and to be competitive.”

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