IMAGES: RON CHIU PRODUCTIONS; GETTY; LATEEF OKUNNU; MANDARIN ORIENTAL, HONG KONG
HONG KONG
Kong socialite one Thursday evening. We’ve been invited to a preview of the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong’s next showstopping restaurant, Terrace Boulud. Helmed by renowned French chef, author and TV personality Daniel Boulud, the rooftop restaurant overlooking Victoria Harbour and Statue Square will be a new addition to the beloved mid- 20th-century hotel. “We’re feeling very bullish about Hong Kong,”
THE COCKTAIL TO TRY
SHIBUMI AT THE AUBREY The 28th-floor bar at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong has epic city views and eclectic Japanese interiors. Bar manager Stefano Bussi’s best-seller is a Shibumi, a glittery take on a Mezcal Sour.
INGREDIENTS 10ml elderflower liquor 22.5ml cinnamon syrup 22.5ml yuzu 30ml mezcal 45ml coconut oregano wine 2d foamer Edible glitter
INSTRUCTIONS Shake with ice and serve over an ice block. Garnish with gold leaf.
mandarinoriental.com
says Australian general manager Greg Liddell over artistic plates of rolled girella pasta with wild mushrooms, spinach and comté cheese. He’s just revealed that the US$100m refurbishment of the Mandarin Oriental is part of an even more audacious US$500m investment into neighbouring marble-clad Landmark mall, with the aim of putting the downtown luxury shopping district on a par with the Champs-Élysées and Fifth Avenue. The following night I find myself surrounded by
smartly suited businesspeople pouring out of the Central District’s office blocks like rice escaping from a burst sack. It’s almost impossible to get into Bar Leone since it bagged the top spot in the Asia’s 50 Best Bars rankings for the past two years, and when I arrive just before its opening at 5pm, a queue of a least 50 people is already snaking down Bridges Street in the muggy 30C heat. “I took inspiration from the neighbourhood bar
where I used to go with my dad in Rome,” its co- founder and man of the moment, Lorenzo Antinori, tells me. “We wanted somewhere that would become the epicentre of the neighbourhood, where friends could meet over a glass of wine, a coffee, cocktail or a bite. I think it’s that sense of community that’s made us successful.” That and Antinori’s creativity and laser-focused attention to detail, no doubt. By five past the hour, it’s a full house.
Clockwise from top: The Aubrey’s design is a celebration of Japonism, the 19th-century European fascination with Japanese art; K11 is one of the world’s first art malls; Terrace Boulud is set to open in January 2026
Slim and looking tanned in his white shirt and chinos, Antinori moves around the room shaking hands with his customers to the music of various Italian greats, including Ennio Morricone, Mina and Memo Remigi. Mixologists shake up passionfruit-laced Aperol Spritzes and fig-leaf Negronis, Campari and orange Garibaldis, while waiters — wearing kitschy 7-Eleven convenience store T-shirts — dish out plates of plump house-
smoked olives and shiny focaccia sandwiches. Seated at the bar, alongside a wall of framed photos of long-haired 1970s Italian footballers, vintage drinks adverts and black-and-white portraits of Al Pacino, I start chatting to two twentysomething women on my left. They’re from Thailand and in town for the Arsenal versus Tottenham Hotspur exhibition match, one of several high-profile events the Hong Kong Tourism Board is funding in a bid to attract a new wave of travellers. To my right is a man from San Diego. He’s spending his eight- hour layover en route from Bangkok to California downing potent Filthy Martinis. I head outside with Lorenzo and ask him how he’s
enjoying his success. “I’m exhausted,” he replies with a big grin before guiding me to his new place, Montana, down one of Hong Kong’s Victorian-era ladder streets (named after the steepness of their stone stairs). The opening hasn’t been officially announced yet, but the word is out, and Lorenzo is greeted by a line of people giving him hugs and high fives. “Welcome!” the doorman yells as he throws open the door, before the bar staff sing out, “Prego!” It’s an endearing schtick that fixes in the mind,
along with the effortlessly cool decor: a ground- floor shoebox of chequered floors, vintage-style bar stools and soft red lighting with a staircase leading to a mezzanine lounge where oversized photographs of Donna Summer, Blondie and Ziggy Stardust pepper the walls. There’s disco beats and stripy pink-and-yellow Piña Coladas topped with little paper umbrellas. If Bar Leone is 1950s Travestere, Montana is 1970s Little Havana. This is Hong Kong in 2025. The horses are still
racing, stocks are sizzling and there’s dancing to be found, if you know where to look. What is going to be written and whether this brilliant city will ever shine as brightly as it did before remains to be seen, but if I had to wager a bet, my money would be on Hong Kong, every time.
HOW TO DO IT: Lightfoot Travel offers five nights in a luxury, harbour view room at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong from £2,170 per person, including return flights with British Airways and a buffet breakfast overlooking the cityscape.
lightfoottravel.com
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER – LUXURY COLLECTION 73
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