Bar Leone, on Shin Hing Street
Bar Leone opened in early 2023 on Shin Hing Street, a short, sloping lane that climbs from Hollywood Road into the older part of Sheung Wan. The bar was Lorenzo Antinori's first solo project after a decade at the Mandarin Oriental's Aubrey. It is small (around forty seats), built explicitly as an Italian aperitivo bar, and entirely refused to chase the kind of multi-sensory cocktail-engineering that Hong Kong's top bars had been competing on. Within eighteen months it was named the No. 1 bar in the world by The World's 50 Best Bars. The trajectory, briefly.
The bar itself is exactly what the ranking trajectory suggests. Long marble bar, warm lighting, a soundtrack heavy on Italian classics, a menu that runs Negroni → Spritz → Americano → Sbagliato → a small section of stirred originals → snacks (the bar's arancini are the standing order). Tables can be booked; the bar is walk-in. Arrive at 7pm if you want a stool, 9pm if you want the room at its full energy.