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Hope & Sesame

Guangzhou

The Guangzhou bar boldly rewriting China’s cocktail playbook

Hiding behind an unassuming Cantonese cha chaan teng in Guangzhou's historic Dongshankou district, Hope & Sesame has been instrumental in reshaping Southern China's cocktail landscape since it opened in 2016. The bar was conceived by Bastien Ciocca and Andrew Ho, that latter of whom was recently honoured with the Altos Bartenders' Bartender Award as part of Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025 – a peer‑voted recognition of his leadership and influence on the Asian cocktail scene. The bar unfolds behind a discreet refrigerator door into a meticulously layered space – think exposed brick and raw textures offset by antique timber panelling, low lighting and modern Chinese minimalism juxtaposed with warm vintage touches. It feels more like a found room from another time than a modern cocktail bar, designed for you to lose yourself in it.

At its core, Hope & Sesame is a playground of cocktail innovation. With a beverage programme that seamlessly blends local ingredients and boundary-pushing techniques like ultrasonic infusion and rotary distillation, the bar crafts drinks that are as engaging as they are memorable. Menus shift seasonally and thematically, often drawing inspiration from regional flavours, cultural narratives, or nostalgic tastes reimagined through a modern lens.

A mainstay on the Asia's 50 Best Bars list since 2019, the bar makes its debut in The World's 50 Best Bars 2025 ranking.

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