Can Bar Leone reproduce its winning formula in Shanghai?
Co-founders Lorenzo Antinori and Justin Shun Wah reveal Bar Leone’s next chapter after securing the title of The World’s Best Bar 2025. Rebecca Lo reports.
It was early Monday afternoon and Lorenzo Antinori had yet to sleep after working all Sunday night. Five days after the announcement that Bar Leone was named top dog in The World’s 50 Best Bars, the transplanted Italian coasted on an adrenalin-fuelled high.
“We didn’t think too much about it prior to the announcement,” Antinori admitted as he deftly replied to emails and welcomed customers between responses. “We are always focused on improving the bar experience for our customers. But of course we knew that we were on the list for World’s 50 Best. Being number two last year, we hoped that something special would happen this year. To be honest: it is a bit overwhelming.”
Bar Leone has skyrocketed to the top in just over two years since its opening.
And its founders aren’t ones to rest on their laurels. Antinori and co-founder Justin Shun Wah are now laser-focused on Bar Leone Shanghai, their new Mainland Chinese venue slated to open in less than a month.
“We found a two-storey space in the former French Concession in Huangpu,” said Shun Wah, adding that The Bund, Nanjing Road and People’s Square will all be neighbouring attractions.
“The space there is being built based on my memories and places I loved growing up,” said Antinori. For him, Shanghai offered a natural extension to capitalise on the success of Bar Leone Hong Kong.
Part of the appeal of Shanghai is its easy two hour flight from Hong Kong and the ability to transplant key staff members there who share cultural and linguistic ties. That way, Bar Leone Shanghai can hit the ground running operations-wise until new hires get up to speed – in keeping with Antinori and Shun Wah’s customer-centric philosophy.
In the coming weeks, the co-founders are tag teaming trips to Shanghai to interview any remaining staff members they need while keeping on top of things at Bar Leone Hong Kong and Montana, the bar Antinori co-founded with fellow bartender Simone Caporale. “For Shanghai, we need to hire 30 people all at once,” Shun Wah noted – it is a much larger venue than Hong Kong. “We only needed 15 or 20 people for Bar Leone Hong Kong and Montana combined for their openings.”
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Asked whether they considered Asia’s other bar hotspots, Antinori said Singapore would have been a stretch for his ‘cocktail popolari’ mandate. “I found the Singapore bar scene amazing around 2015 and 2016,” Antinori said. “Now, we see a lot of those very high concepts being repeated. Not that many are approachable. Don’t get me wrong: it’s a great city with a great nightlife. We just feel that Shanghai was a better fit for our next phase.”
He added that bar culture “is about neighbourhood. I grew up going to the café with my father in the mornings for cornettos or other pastries. My father sipped espresso as he read the newspaper and I had apple juice. Or I would drop by the same café after school with friends. As we grew up, we moved onto Negronis and spritzers. This place was the epicentre of our community. And I always had in mind that I would have my own bar with the same kind of spirit.”
Shun Wah said despite being a “simple concept, there was nothing like Bar Leone when it opened. “Every photo here was chosen by Lorenzo including posters from his childhood bedroom. Like our own homes, it has evolved. We change the frame every now and then; we move things around. Lorenzo sleeps here sometimes.”
The co-founders are relying on their Hong Kong team to ease them through the hectic early days, admitting that they work hard to make everyone feel like part of the family. “We are very lucky: four out of five fulltime staff members from our opening are still with us today,” said Shun Wah. “If they see us investing in their well being, we can grow together step by step.”
To supplement its labour force, its Stage programme hires young people from around the globe for six to 12 months on full salaries including accommodation. “If they can get a working holiday visa, we will consider them,” said Shun Wah, adding that Bar Leone’s current roster includes staff from Austria, South Korea, Japan, the UK, Mainland China and Canada.
“Bar Leone Shanghai is not a licensing deal: we have true ownership in the business there,” explained Shun Wah. “It is very important for us to be very rooted in each establishment that we open. That includes being present.”
Antinori said that while some of the signature cocktails popular in Hong Kong will appear on the Shanghai menu, he is fine-tuning new entries tailored for Shanghai expectations and tastes. Pricing will be on par with Hong Kong menus with CNY¥150 (£15.76) the upper limit for drinks made with premium or craft spirits.
“It will be an intense opening phase,” affirmed Antinori. “We can’t wait.”
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