Bar Leone

The cocktail world spends enormous energy on spectacle, which is what makes Bar Leone quietly radical: its entire thesis is *come in, have an aperitivo, feel at home*. Founder Lorenzo Antinori — later named International Bartender of the Year — recreated the corner bars of Rome in the middle of Hong Kong, all easy conviviality and classics poured properly rather than reinvented into oblivion. That warmth, backed by genuinely excellent drinks, carried it to the top of the World's 50 Best Bars, a first for a bar in Asia. Regulars and first-timers get the same welcome, which is rarer than it should be.