Lorenzo Antinori, the Four Seasons hotel group bar guru who masterminded the rise of Charles H in Seoul, South Korea, and Caprice Bar, Hong Kong, as well as working at previous World’s Best Bar, Dandelyan in London, has just launched Argo after two years in the works. 50 Best meets the Italian maestro for quick-fire questions that will tell you everything you need to know about Argo, a bar which promises to flip global drinking traditions on their head
Let’s start with the basics. What can we expect from Argo?
Well, we have 77 seats and we are open from 5pm until 11.30pm based on the current Covid restrictions in Hong Kong. Since the opening we’ve been doing roughly 200 covers a day and there’s a waiting list every day of the week. Our spirits menu – which we call the Field Guide – has five sections and 57 bottles, all from super unique producers that we’ve been researching for well over two years.
New bar Argo, set in the lobby area of Four Seasons Hong Kong
There were some delays ahead of launch, right?
Yes, we were held up for several reasons, but the main one was that we switched the concept because it wasn’t resonating with anybody. There was a plan to focus on art and to have an ever-changing exhibition of young emerging artists, with a beverage concept that matched it. We realised that it would have been a huge undertaking and that it would have been tough to explain to guests. So we decided to start from scratch in every element.
So, what was this new concept?
The idea for Argo came from us standing by and watching a revolution in the world of spirits. We wanted to present this to our guests who come from all over the world and are very knowledgeable about international food and drink. We didn’t want to focus on a ‘concept’ per se, rather to explore the world around us and look at how the experiences we have been through recently are shaping the way we drink.
Where does the name, Argo, come in?
It’s related to the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts, where they set off on an intrepid adventure to find the Golden Fleece. Argo was the boat they sailed and their mission is similar to ours: we’re exploring the world of spirits, innovation and specifically celebrating the innovators in the world of spirits-making and, at the same time, exploring our surroundings and how these influence how we behave and what we order.
The Red Rock Sazerac, on the Here Today, Gone Tomorrow cocktail menu at Argo
Tell us more about your Field Guide – is it basically a list of the spirits you stock?
Yes, essentially, although there’s more to it than that. Spirit categorisation has not changed in a long, long time and we are looking to disrupt that. We came up with our five new categories that we think represent the modern world.
We have Modernist Spirits, where we celebrate those people challenging traditions and breaking rules; Collaborative Creations, which focusses on bottles from industry-leading spirits producers who are working with top bartenders to challenge the status quo and come up with fresh expressions; Philanthropic & Socially Conscious, where the producers give back to the area and people around them; A Sense of the Land, which celebrates terroir, provenance and ancestral traditions; and Clash of the Worlds, where different schools of thought, practice and tradition meet.
Sounds interesting. Can you give some examples?
There are so many. One of the most interesting is the world’s first spirit to be designed by a computer, an artificial intelligence gin, made in Bristol, England. The computer combined thousands of gin recipes and botanicals before designing the final mix and designing the label. It’s delicious. There’s also the world’s first molecular whiskey from San Francisco, which is crafted note by note using molecules extracted in their purest form. It’s made in just 24 hours, without ageing or barrelling, which means less wood, water and land is used in its production process.
There seems to be more of a focus on the spirits themselves, rather than the cocktails. Is that a fair thing to say?
No, I don’t think so – the spirits we have selected actually help tell the cocktails’ stories. We are very proud of the cocktail list we have created; the launch menu is called Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, which focusses on produce that is endangered. We have selected staple ingredients that may not be here in 100 years’ time – cacao, rice, coffee, vanilla – and created cocktails that tell the tales of the producers who make them. For example, a friend of mine makes single-origin cacao in Malaysia. I went to visit him and he showed me where the cocoa pods grow. Immediately when I saw the pod I thought about how cool it would be to age a Negroni inside the pod. So we came up with our Single Origin Negroni, which has gin, cascara vermouth, Hulu Gali cocoa, Campari and smoked jalapeño. We pre-batch it and then age it inside the cocoa pod.
Argo's Single Origin Negroni
Any followers of your Instagram will know you’ve been going through some pretty heavy R&D processes…
We ask ourselves how we feel about an ingredient and how we might see it evolving in the future. So, for our coffee cocktail, we celebrate the motherland of coffee, Ethiopia. We started thinking about the minerality of coffee from Ethiopia that comes from its volcanic soil and how we can get that across in a cocktail. We brought in beetroot for its earthy notes and used the fresh green coffee bean to create a distillate.
Lorenzo Antinori, beverage manager Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
We try not to use techniques just for the sake of using technique and batch-producing is very important to us as it allows us to maintain consistency. We don't want to alienate anybody: yes, we use a rotary evaporator and a centrifuge, but we equally will use traditional techniques such as cask- or barrel-ageing, it’s completely dependent on the kind of flavour that we want to push.
What's your personal favourite drink on the menu?
I have two. One is the Skynet Old Fashioned – linked to the Terminator films. We use the molecular whiskey I mentioned and look at the evolution of vanilla flavour in spirits. We have tried to forecast certain flavours, so we make the Old Fashioned by simply stirring down the whiskey and mix in a touch of bourbon to add body, then combine it with sweet white miso paste and olive oil. By adding these fat components, it adjusts the body of the drink and gives people something to think about.
The second drink that I really like is also under the coffee section. We have partnered with Fairtrade coffee groups who will give us a new seasonal bean every few months. For the launch, we are using a Costa Rican medium roast and have distilled the coffee with gin. We then add grapefruit oil and London Essence Tonic Water. It’s almost like an Atlantic coffee and tonic, or a Spanish gin and tonic with grapefruit.
Finally, what do you want to achieve with Argo?
We want to showcase as much as we can and explore these amazing modern producers who are shaking up the industry, doing things differently. Doing this will hopefully trigger the curiosity of guests and allow them to see spirits in a different kind of light. It’s very important for us to get this across to guests in a way that doesn’t feel too focused on the F&B ‘industry’ and doesn’t come across as pretentious – maintaining that element of fun is fundamental.
Have you come across a cocktail menu that’s worthy of recognition? 50 Best has just started the search for the inaugural Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu, open to all bars across the globe. Check it out and encourage your favourite bar to enter here.
