Which Hong Kong restaurant has the best wine list? And which bar boasts the best bartender? 100 Top Tables 2022’s new drinks awards go to Amber at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental and Lorenzo Antinori at Four Seasons’ Argo

Mar 31 , 2022

Lorenzo Antinori, beverage manager at Argo in the Four Seasons Hong Kong, and Jim Leung, assistant head sommelier at Amber in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, are the inaugural winners of 100 Top Tables’ two new drink awards for 2022. Photos: Handout

Amber’s wine menu has a focus on burgundy and the Rhone Valley, along with a friendly selection of glasses, half bottles and carafes for the curious

Antinori, beverage manager at Argo, oversees creative cocktail menus featuring everything from a gin created by an AI to ‘philanthropic and socially conscious’ drinks

Is it a coincidence that we introduced two new drink-oriented awards during our second year of Covid-19 restrictions here in Hong Kong? “We’ve got to do something!” is a go-to refrain for people who have been forced to substitute gyms, cinemas and other after-work experiences with drinks at home.

Alcohol has long been an escape, as well as a social lubricant, and while good times, celebratory events and other gatherings have been mostly consigned to the sidelines in the past 12 months, our enjoyment of a good glass of pinot or well crafted cocktail certainly has not. One might even claim that the restrictions on bars and restaurants have made the drinking experiences we’ve been able to have all the more enjoyable, and even important.

And so we celebrate those people and the venues that have continued not only to provide for the thirsty Hong Kong masses, but that have also innovated and complemented their offerings, creating superlative experiences that have helped add a dash of indulgent colour to the bleak pandemic landscape.

Our award for Best Wine List goes to Amber restaurant in The Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel in Central. With more than 50 wines available by the glass and a focus on burgundy and the Rhone Valley, Amber’s list makes fine wine accessible. “The main consideration is to wow our guests,” says Jim Leung, assistant head sommelier at Amber. “But we want our guests to enjoy reasonably priced wines too, and so pricing is another key factor – we always want to offer value.”

Jim Leung, assistant head sommelier at Amber, created a wine list that caters to diners looking to try different styles.

This means including a large selection of wines by the glass, but also half bottles and carafes, to ensure your selections come sans stress. You can enjoy a glass of Ruinart Rosé champagne for US$37 (HK$290), or a half-bottle of 2017 Joseph Drouhin Clos des Mouches for HK$1,600, all the way up to a magnum of Château Lafite-Rothschild for HK$99,000 – the choice is there.

But a great wine experience goes beyond what is merely on the list, and Leung and his team have innovated here too. “We created offers like late lunch and early dinner, and have introduced a creative four-course Amber Discovery menu which includes a glass of our Amber house champagne,” Leung says. “We also do interesting pairings as The Best of the Best where we pair incredible seafood table-side with a zero dosage champagne.”

Similarly, our new Best Bartender prize – awarded to Lorenzo Antinori, beverage manager at Argo in the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong and beverage ambassador for the Four Seasons APAC group – seeks to reward creativity. Argo the bar, named after the ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts on their mythical adventure to find the Golden Fleece, offers an exploration of spirits and their stories. “I try to create cocktails that can satisfy different palates,” says Antinori, “making them balanced and approachable yet always triggering people’s curiosity. It’s a fine line between simplicity and complexity.”

Argo’s Single Origin Negroni is just one of the drinks Antinori has sourced from around the world. Photo: Four Seasons Hong Kong