Lorenzo Antinori on Building Bar Leone, The World's Best Bar

Andrew C.
Jun 10
16 min read

Updated: Jun 11

Lorenzo Antinori, Co-founder of Bar Leone

How Lorenzo Antinori, the co-founder of Bar Leone, built the world's most celebrated bar

In hospitality, recognition often follows innovation. Yet every so often, a project succeeds by moving in the opposite direction.

Lorenzo Antinori is the co-founder of Bar Leone in Hong Kong, the venue that rose to become The World's Best Bar and one of the most celebrated hospitality destinations of recent years. In remarkably little time, Bar Leone captured the attention of the global bar industry through a concept that felt both familiar and radical: classic cocktails, genuine hospitality, and the spirit of a Roman neighborhood bar transplanted into the heart of Hong Kong.

Raised in Rome and shaped by a career spanning London, Seoul, and Hong Kong, Antinori belongs to a generation of industry leaders who have witnessed cocktail culture evolve from craft to spectacle and, increasingly, back again. While much of the industry pursued complexity, Bar Leone found success through clarity, warmth, and a deep understanding of why people gather around a bar in the first place.

That philosophy now extends far beyond a single address. Alongside Bar Leone, Antinori's growing portfolio includes Montana in Hong Kong, Bar Leone Shanghai, international collaborations with leading luxury brands, and global activations ranging from St. Moritz to the Academy Awards Governors Ball. Yet behind the accolades, rankings, and expansion remains a remarkably consistent belief: hospitality begins with people.

In this conversation, we uncover the philosophy behind Bar Leone, the return of simplicity in modern cocktail culture, the challenge of preserving authenticity across borders, and the role hospitality continues to play in an increasingly complex world. We also discuss leadership, cultural identity, and the enduring importance of creating places where people feel welcomed, understood, and connected.

Because for Lorenzo Antinori, the world's best bar was never really about cocktails.

It was always about people.

Inside Bar Leone in Hong Kong (Courtesy of Bar Leone)

The World's Best Bar Doesn't Look Like One

On most evenings, Bar Leone feels like a neighborhood gathering place. Guests chatted on the pavement. Bartenders move comfortably between conversations. Negronis arrive without ceremony. Vintage Italian posters and objects hang on the walls. Familiar faces greet one another across the room. There is little of the theatricality that has increasingly shaped contemporary cocktail culture and almost none of the formality one might expect from the world's most celebrated bar.

Yet that apparent simplicity is precisely the point.

When I sat down and chatted with Lorenzo Antinori, our conversation quickly moved beyond rankings, awards, or industry recognition. Instead, we found ourselves discussing something far more fundamental: why people continue to gather around bars in the first place.

Over the past decade, cocktail culture has undergone a remarkable transformation. Menus became increasingly elaborate. Techniques borrowed from professional kitchens expanded the creative possibilities of the modern bar. Bartenders embraced fermentation, clarification, distillation, and increasingly sophisticated forms of experimentation.

The results were often extraordinary. Yet somewhere within that evolution, Antinori found himself returning to the basics. "We wanted to move away from all the bells and whistles," he tells me. "Sometimes you try to add too much, and in the process you lose the essence of what you're actually trying to achieve."

"Sometimes you try to add too much, and in the process you lose the essence of what you're actually trying to achieve."

The observation would eventually become the foundation of Bar Leone. Rather than beginning with trends, Antinori and his business partner returned to the experiences they personally loved most. The answer had very little to do with complexity.

"The drinks were important," he explains, "but what mattered most was the atmosphere, the simplicity of the menu, being able to understand the offering, and having a good conversation with the waiter or bartender."

At a time when much of the industry was pursuing innovation through greater complexity, Bar Leone found success through clarity. The concept feels deceptively simple: excellent cocktails, warm hospitality, an atmosphere built around conversation, and a space where people feel comfortable enough to return again and again.

Yet perhaps that simplicity explains why Bar Leone has resonated so strongly with both industry professionals and everyday guests. Its success reflects something larger than cocktail culture alone. It reflects a growing desire for experiences shaped by human connection.