Tasting Kitchen (TK), Asia’s epicurean lifestyle media group, leads the way to the world’s best in food and drink, art and design, and luxury travel adventures.
SHANGHAI: Room H2, No 25, Lane 550 South Shaanxi Road, Shanghai • 上海市徐汇区陕西南路 550 弄嘉善老市 25 号 H2 室 HONG KONG: Units 1-2, 6/F., Oceanic Industrial Centre, 2 Lee Lok Street, Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong • 香港鸭脷洲利乐街 2 号海湾工贸中心 6 楼 1 室
MACAU: Rua do Volong n2-a, Lazarus Verde, Rés-do-chão C, Macau • 澳门和隆街 2 号晶品艺楹地面 C 座
Mark Hammons
FOUNDER & PUBLISHER
创办与出版人 mark@tasting-kitchen.com
Joey Cheang
DEPUTY PUBLISHER
副出版人 joey@tasting-kitchen.com
Mamie Chen
Marilyn Burkley
Robert Burkley
Zita Wan
SENIOR EDITORS
资深编辑
Vivian Pun
DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER
数字媒体经理
Victoria Lei
Odelia Kuok
PROJECT MANAGERS
项目经理
David Hartung DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
摄影总监
J. Carl Kerkman, MFA
IMAGE EDITOR
图像编辑
Jin Lao
IMAGE TECHNICIAN
图像技术员
Kate Nicholson
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
ART AND DESIGN
特约编辑－艺术设计专栏
Alicia Beebe ART DIRECTOR 艺术总监
Lucy Morgan
BUREAU CHIEF, PARIS
巴黎区编辑主管
Annabel Jackson
Chris Zhang
Joyce Kwok
Julie Tu
June Lee
Victoria Burrows
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
特約作家
ON THE COVER
Photography by David Hartung
From Chinese Room’s new “Silk Road” menu comes the Byzantium, a cocktail themed on fragrances favored by the ancient Romans. Made with aromatic ingredients like cedar, mastic, and pears, it is enhanced with tinctures that are crafted from Mediterranean herbs and stored in antique perfume bottles, ready for guests to select and drizzle into the diffuser.
Every great city has two maps. One you can find online –bright with tourist routes, major streets, and landmarks. The other reveals itself only after dark. This is the atlas we open in these pages: a bar-goer’s guide to exploring the heart of a city.
In July, Asia’s 50 Best Bars arrived in Macau for the first time, turning the city into a stage for some of the region’s most accomplished and inventive bartenders. From high-energy guest shifts to once-in-a-lifetime collaborations, the week wasn’t just about rankings. It was a celebration of what happens when talent, culture, and hospitality collide.
Our coverage moves from the glamour of the awards to the intimacy of the venues themselves. You’ll step into Shenzhen’s MO Bar, where service is choreographed as precisely as a pas de deux, and Chengdu’s Chinese Room, where cocktails trace the Silk Road through spices, herbs, and history. You’ll meet chefs and owners who see bars not as backdrops, but as living rooms, laboratories, and stages.
We also travel farther afield: to Bangkok for Cadence’s “twelve plates, one voice”; to Turin, where The World’s 50 Best Restaurants brought global gastronomy into the piazzas and palaces of Piedmont; and to the quiet of Switzerland’s alpine resorts, where restoration comes in the form of thermal water and long, unhurried dinners.
Like any atlas worth keeping, this one isn’t static. It charts not just where to drink now but the ideas shaping how we might drink next – sustainability in sourcing, diversity in ingredients, the balance between tradition and reinvention.
The night map of Asia’s bars is still being drawn. It runs through rooftops and back alleys, grand hotels and hidden courtyards. It’s lit by neon, candlelight, and the quiet glow of a well-made drink sliding across the bar. And it’s guided, always, by the people whose craft turns an evening into a memory.
Dinner (2019), Hilary Pecis, 101.6 x 91.4 cm, acrylic on canvas
(2019)
Hilary Pecis, 101.6 x 91.4
夏日幻梦
summer dreams
Wish You Were Here invites viewers to reflect on vague memories and constructed myths of bygone holidays spent far and near.
WHILE VACATIONERS TODAY post snaps by the dozen on social media, they once mailed picture postcards to friends and family, with all the heady happenings and exhilarating experiences scrawled recklessly across the tiny box on the back. The image on the front might depict palm-lined beaches lounged upon, packed tourist sites roamed across, or exotic foods indulged in.
The paintings, photographs, and collages in Wish You Were Here, a group exhibition running until October 2025 at Ben Brown Fine Arts Hong Kong, evoke nostalgia for that fleeting kind of fun found only in those interchangeable and half-remembered sunlit places.
Curated by New York-based multihyphenate Jie Xia, the fifteen-artist show attempts to simultaneously emphasize and deconstruct fantasies we build around heat-hazed holidays. Some works explore summery illusions, like The Mixable One by Puerto Rican artist Enoc Perez. Recalling the intoxicating glow of 1970s liquor advertisements, its amber and saffron tones meld in a dreamlike blur. In Hula Dancer (from the series Postcards from Nowhere), Brazilian artist Vik Muniz assembles the image of a woman, with her unnervingly fixed smile, from hundreds of torn postcards.
Nasturtiums (2018), Hilary Pecis, 51 x 41 cm, acrylic on canvas 《旱金莲》(2018) Hilary Pecis, 51 x 41厘米，布面丙稀
Then there are works, like the paintings of Los Angeles-based Hilary Pecis shown on these pages, that revel in the delightful mundanity and intimacy of summertime escapes near home. Painted from photos she takes around her neighborhood or in friends’ houses, Pecis’s scenic canvases have a flatness, brightness, and plasticity that’s partly because of her technique – sketching rapidly before gradually refining and accepting the inevitable quirks – and partly because she remembers the original scenes as more vibrant than what a camera lens can capture.
The sun-soaked greenery and jarring brass-andblue tap that fill the frame of her Nasturtiums suggest lazy summer mornings spent watering a wild and rambling backyard garden. And her acrylic-on-canvas piece Dinner portrays the gentle togetherness of domestic life through a delightfully haphazard scene of half-cleared dishes in the bright afternoon light.
In her first US solo exhibition, Wang Mengsha merges classical Chinese ink painting with vibrant surreality.
AS A CHILD, Wang Mengsha covered the walls of her family home with colorful fantasy landscapes. More than just tolerating her inclination toward art, her parents wholeheartedly embraced it. In fact, she grew up in a family of calligraphers and painters, and she shares her hometown of Wuxi with eminent Chinese-American artist Walasse Ting.
Wang’s first solo exhibition in the United States, Borrowed Shadows, wraps up in late August in New York at Alisan Fine Arts, a longtime supporter of her work with two additional galleries in Hong Kong. The show’s title doubles as a two-word explanation of the artist’s creative process: using recognizable forms to build a personal, poetic, even utopian alternative reality inspired by Zen philosophy.
Widely celebrated for pushing the boundaries of traditional ink painting, Wang brings the classically freehand style of xieyi ( 写意 ) into the twenty-first century with vivid hues, auspicious motifs, dreamlike figures, and metaphysical iconography. Think hibiscus blooms and plum blossoms in a Jiangan garden, peaks and waterfalls glimpsed from pavilions, and figures dressed in classical garb chasing larger-than-life butterflies and birds or – playfully and erotically – each other.
In Fantasy Purple, a large-scale painting on rice paper completed in 2024, Wang works in both ink and, unconventionally for the style, acrylic. The pigments in traditional ink, she explains, lack the richness she needs to convey strong emotions or her characteristic breadth of dimensionality. The work depicts a larger-than-life maiden admiring an equally enormous bird surrounded by a cloud of cartoon-like characters and forms: flower-filled vases; horses, butterflies, and fruit; and people bathing, dancing, or amorously coupled. Scale here, as in most of her works, is fluid, nonlinear, and intuitive, enhancing her ethereal aesthetic. To achieve the effect, she uses a traditional Chinese painting technique called scatter-point perspective. The work invites viewers to hold tight to their sense of imagination in a world that continually tries to usurp it.
Mere imitation of past art forms, says Wang, leads to stagnation. What lies at the heart of her practice is the desire for a true connection with Eastern traditions rooted in emotion, a focus on the now, and a sense of childlike curiosity. And though she has never again visited her girlhood home, she wonders to this day if the murals she crafted in that bright, untamed language of youth still remain.
Fantasy Purple (2024), Wang Mengsha, 97.5 x 86 cm, Chinese ink and acrylic on rice paper 《幻紫》（2024），王蒙莎，97.5 x 86厘米，宣纸上墨、丙烯颜料
正义精酿
justice distilled
At Advocatuur, housed in Amsterdam’s former Palace of Justice, Alex Davies crafts rebellious jenever in a hidden distillery.
LEGAL HERITAGE MEETS contemporary mixology at Advocatuur, Rosewood Amsterdam’s sophisticated cocktail bar where a building’s history becomes the foundation for modern hospitality. Named with the Dutch word for “legal practice,” Advocatuur pays tribute to its location while carving out space for innovation.
The bar’s most compelling feature lies tucked within its walls: an intimate, speakeasy-style distillery
酒吧最引人入胜之处，在于隐藏于墙壁之内的 私密、地下酒吧风格的酿酒厂。这里酿制着一款名为 Provo 的金酒，以纪念荷兰延续了几个世纪的酿酒传统。 这款金酒以杜松子为风味基底，是现代金酒的前身，由酿酒大师 Alex Davies 专门研发。
An intimate, speakeasy-style distillery is tucked within the walls of Advocatuur.
一个隱秘的地下酒吧风格的酿酒厂，悄然藏身于Advocatuur的建築牆垣之內。
where a jenever called Provo is crafted in honor of the centuries-old distilling traditions of the Netherlands. This perfect recipe for jenever, the juniper-flavored liquor that is a precursor of modern gin, was developed by Master Distiller Alex Davies specifically for this venue.
The word “Provo” carries particular significance, paying tribute to the counterculture movement of that name that existed in the 1950s and 1960s, known for its defiant spirit and originality. The choice reflects the rich cultural heritage and innovative spirit of Dutch distilling while acknowledging Amsterdam’s tradition of creative disruption.
What distinguishes Advocatuur from typical “heritage hospitality” is its authentic relationship to the building’s ongoing function. The legal profession continues to be an integral part of the structure’s history and will play a significant role in the future of Advocatuur, reflecting both heritage and the bar’s continuous evolution.
This connection to living history is significant, because Rosewood Amsterdam represents the final new hotel development permitted within a monumental building in Amsterdam. The project, which required respectful restoration spanning a decade, gives this
important 1665 landmark back to the city while introducing something genuinely new.
Advocatuur operates within Rosewood’s broader commitment to the celebration of Dutch excellence and cultural collaboration. The hotel’s partnership with local artisans positions the bar as part of a larger conversation about Amsterdam’s creative identity. Serving as a gathering space where locals and international guests come together, the bar exemplifies the hotel’s philosophy of forging authentic connections to place. Rather than treating the building’s legal heritage as static “decoration,” Advocatuur allows that history to inform contemporary experience.
For visitors seeking to understand Amsterdam’s cultural complexity, the bar offers immersive experiences through bespoke mixology sessions that highlight both traditional Dutch distilling and innovative approaches to craft. Each drink becomes a small lesson in how tradition evolves through imaginative interpretation.
Standing within these historic walls with a glass of custom jenever, guests experience not just hospitality but cultural continuity in a space where Amsterdam’s legal legacy and creative future engage in ongoing dialogue through thoughtful design and authentic craft.
Inspired by its former life as Amsterdam’s Palace of Justice, Advocatuur offers inviting interiors.
古巴狂热
cuban fever dream
At Hong Kong’s Montana, Lorenzo Antinori and Simone Caporale are resurrecting a forgotten chapter of cocktail history with 1970s Cuba-Florida precision.
WHEN THE MASTERMINDS behind the world’s second- and thirdranked bars channel their expertise into uncharted territory, the result is extraordinary. Lorenzo Antinori and Simone Caporale have opened Montana on Hollywood Road, creating what might be Hong Kong’s most ambitious cocktail project yet.
The concept emerged from their reverence for Cuba’s legendary Club de Cantineros de la Republica de Cuba: Manual Oficial. “It’s like the Old Testament for bartenders,” explains Caporale, whose research uncovered the cultural collision between Cuba and Florida that defined an era. “These bartenders fought for the idea that this was a profession.”
For Antinori, Montana represents a departure from Bar Leone’s Italian precision. “I don’t think about the drink first,” he says. “Montana is about building a space through rhythm and sound, letting the drinks move with the room.” The venue channels the energy of 1970s CubaFlorida, after US immigration restrictions eased and Cuban bartenders brought their craft to Miami, creating an explosive fusion. “Florida
这个概念源于他们对古巴传奇《Club de Cantineros de la Republica de Cuba: Manual Oficiall》的敬意。Simone 解释：「这就像调酒师的 《旧约圣经》。」他发现了曾定义一个时代的古巴与 佛罗里达之间的文化碰撞。「这些调酒师为了证明 调酒是一种专业而抗争。」
对 Lorenzo 而言，Montana 代表从 Bar Leone 的意式精准调酒风格的转变。他表示：「我不会先 考虑调酒本身。Montana 透过节奏与声音建构空 间，让调酒随着氛围律动。」Montana 承载着 1970 年代古巴－佛罗里达时期的活力，当时美国放宽移 民限制，古巴调酒师将他们的技艺带到迈阿密，催
became this cultural amplifier,” notes Antinori. “It was messy, soulful, electric, and gave birth to a cocktail movement still relevant today.”
Despite their elite credentials, both bartenders emphasize authenticity over spectacle. “We freshly press all juice here because we believe small things create a big difference,” says Caporale. “The Daiquiri, the El Presidente – the recipes don’t need reinventing, but they deserve respect.”
The collaboration thrives on creative tension. “We’re both perfectionists, both opinionated, and that’s exactly what makes it work,” explains Caporale. “It’s like jazz – sometimes we riff, sometimes we clash, but when it clicks, the result is something neither of us could have created alone.” The risk of opening something completely different from their established successes doesn’t faze them. Montana represents evolution – two masters at the peak of their craft, still hungry to create something meaningful. “If we were chasing comfort, we’d stay in our lanes,” says Antinori. “But that’s not why we got into this.”
Emma Sleight, head of content for The World’s 50 Best Bars and Hotels, tells TK about Asia’s rise as a leader in the global cocktail scene.
“I SUPPOSE WHAT MAKES ASIA so special for me,” says Emma Sleight, “is the ability of bars in the region to take their cultural diversity and turn it into cocktails. A really good example of that is Abhishek Tuladhar and his team at Barc in Kathmandu, winner of the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award 2025. They build their cocktails around native ingredients like hog plum, which is an absolute staple of the region. They dry it, preserve it, and use it in syrups and juices.”
Incorporating indigenous ingredients is a way of “geolocating” cocktails – giving them specific flavor profiles that help root them in a particular region. This not only gives a drink a distinct sense of place but also aligns with the goal of sustainability, something that bartenders across the world are embracing and connoisseurs demanding. Using seasonal fruits, homegrown spices, and local liquors is a way both to celebrate the traditions of the country in which the bar is found and also to respect its environment.
Sleight believes the inspiration behind a cocktail can also help connect the guest with the bar’s heritage. “Across Asia,” she says, “bars are innovating in ways that honor their history. For instance, the drinks at Stir in Ho Chi Minh City are inspired by traditional Vietnamese street food. And at Nutmeg & Clove in Singapore, the team are honoring key female figures. Their Agnes Requiem cocktail, for example, references the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame and local gardening hero Agnes Joaquim. Because she is known for breeding a hybrid orchid, the concoction contains orchid, along with jasmine, lemon, eau-de-vie, and rhubarb.”
In charting the evolution of the cocktail scene in the region since Asia’s 50 Best Bars launched in 2016, Sleight notes, “Back then, seventy percent of the bars on the list would be found in capital cities. In comparison, last year’s list, while still recognizing bars in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore, also features places in smaller cities like ZLB23 bar in Bengaluru, India, and Yakoboku bar in Kumamoto, Japan.
“It’s the fearlessness that I love most about the Asian cocktail scene. It is completely unafraid of innovating and trying new things.”
As the continent’s cocktail culture comes of age, the four chairs of the Asia’s 50 Best Bars Academy reflect on what has shaped the past decade – and what’s still to pour.
Nicholas Coldicott
Rachel Tann
IN HANOI, a young bartender serves a drink that tastes like roasted rice and rain-soaked lime leaves. In Seoul, a glass of clarified kimchi gin finds its way into the hand of a curious traveler. And in Tokyo, a barman who’s been carving ice spheres for twenty years adjusts his cuff and raises a jigger like a conductor’s baton at the start of a symphony.
This is Asia’s cocktail culture – bold, diverse, increasingly selfassured. In just over a decade, the vast region’s bars have gone from afterthought to global benchmark, with cities like Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong now firmly etched in the world’s drinking atlas. Behind that evolution is a quiet chorus of visionaries – bartenders, bar owners, and the people who help shape the stage they perform on.
Among these influential voices are the Asia’s 50 Best Bars Academy chairs, the four regional curators and advocates who help shape the list’s voting body. They are connectors, chroniclers, and confidants of their bar communities. And when they speak about the past – and future – of Asia’s drinking culture, it’s with both respect and urgency.
• PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
DAVID HARTUNG
“I’ve long thought that Tokyo has the greatest drinking scene in the world,” says Academy Chair Nicholas Coldicott, whose region is Japan and who is a longtime bar chronicler. “It’s evolved in a direction peculiar to Japan, just as cocktail scenes in Singapore, New York, and London have evolved in their own ways.”
Tokyo, he says, is less a city of trends than of traditions, with each bar a discrete universe of discipline, grace, and tiny calibrations. “Some bartenders here polish every bottle every day, not to shine them but to discipline the mind. Others obsess over the proper way to withdraw the hand after serving a drink.”
And yet, for all that ceremony, there’s range: “You can get excellent cocktails poured straight from a jar and cocktails by someone who refuses to squeeze citrus juice in advance. I expect both ways to survive in Tokyo.” The duality of old-school rigor and modern play is Japan’s signature.
Elsewhere in Asia, the energy is more kinetic. Academy Chair John Ng, whose region is Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau, has spent fifteen years watching Greater China’s bar scene go from cautious to cutting-edge. “Hong Kong has always had energy, but now bartenders have real presence,” he says. “They’re not just making drinks – they’re building brands.”
Ng points to the rise of bar personalities, mixologists like Antonio Lai or Lorenzo Antinori who headline guest shifts and collaborate across continents. But even as star power grows, Ng is quick to champion the wider ecosystem. “It’s not just the big names. The overall quality has gone up. New cities and second-tier markets are catching up fast.”
In Taiwan, bars like Vender and The Public House are gaining
在亚洲其他地区，活力则更显澎湃。中国内 地、香港、台湾和澳门区主席 John Ng 见证了大 中华区酒吧场景从谨慎保守到锐意创新的蜕变。
他说：「香港一直充满活力，但现在调酒师们真正 崭露头角。他们不再只是调制饮品，而是在打造 品牌。」
John 提到了像 Antonio Lai 或 Lorenzo Antinori 等调酒大师，他们不仅在各大酒吧客座 调酒，还跨大陆合作。但即使明星效应日益显著， John 也强调整体生态提升的重要性。「这不仅仅
“In Japan, the average is unusually high, and the best are extraordinary – shaped by discipline, detail, and decades of craft.
在日本，整体水准异常之高，而 最顶尖者尤为非凡，根植于自 律、细节与数十年的匠心 。 ”
Nicholas Coldicott
international attention. In China, cocktail bars are opening not just in Shanghai and Beijing but in cities like Chengdu and Shenzhen. And when Hong Kong newcomer Bar Leone claimed the No. 1 spot on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2024, it felt to many like a turning point. “I didn’t expect it,” Ng admits. “But they did everything right – great product, smart branding, strong collaborations. It’s a benchmark now.”
“Jakarta is rapidly emerging as one of Southeast Asia’s most exciting bar markets – driven by strong domestic demand and bold, original concepts.
雅加达正迅速崛起为东南亚最令人 振奋的酒吧市场之一，由强劲的本 土需求与大胆的原创概念驱动。”
Rachel Tann
That same hunger to create something world-class from scratch is even more palpable in Southeast Asia, where the cocktail scene has exploded with speed and spirit. Academy Chair Rachel Tann, whose region is Southeast Asia and Korea, recalls a time when regional bars barely registered on the global radar. Now, more bars from Southeast Asia and Korea are appearing on the list, with many of the year’s new entries coming from these regions.
The diversity is striking – from Seoul’s innovation and Singapore’s experimental edge to Bangkok’s hospitality-driven identity and Jakarta’s rapid rise. Jakarta, Rachel Tann notes, is the region’s quiet juggernaut: “It’s been emerging fast, with an adventurous local audience and growing domestic demand.”
What binds these cities together is a creative fearlessness rooted in identity. Bartenders here don’t just infuse cocktails with local flavors – they reframe the classics entirely. Think calamansi-infused mezcal, gin fat-washed with coconut cream, pandan-wrapped highballs.
Tann is just as excited about the community behind the bars. “There’s a spirit of collaboration here – guest shifts, cocktail weeks, bar shows – that keeps everyone pushing forward. It doesn’t feel competitive. It feels collective.”
That energy is beginning to reshape South Asia as well, where Academy Chair Priyanka Blah – whose region includes India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives – has helped spotlight one of the continent’s most inspiring transformations. A decade ago, global recognition felt distant; today, bars across the subcontinent are celebrating local products and traditions with renewed confidence.
She emphasizes persistence in newer markets, the role of tourism and brands in accelerating progress, and the growing creative use of distinctive regional spirits such as aila, feni, and arrack. She notes that while many places were historically overlooked, the talent has long been there; what’s changed is the self-assurance and the support systems.
“There is a sense of pride in the provenance, and bars are getting very creative in how they weave local elements into their overall storytelling,” she says. As visibility increases, momentum is spreading beyond the usual centers, with communities learning to navigate red tape and logistical challenges together. The message to bartenders across the region is clear: you belong in the conversation.
是名气和品牌的功劳，而是整体水平都在提高。 新城市和二线市场正在迅速追赶。」
在台湾，Vender 及 The Public House 等酒 吧正获得国际关注。在中国内地，鸡尾酒吧不仅 在上海和北京涌现，还在成都和深圳等城市遍地 开花。当香港新秀 Bar Leone 荣登 2024 年「亚洲 50 最佳酒吧」榜首时，许多人认为这是一个转折 点。John 承认：「我没想到会这样，但他们做得无 可挑剔 出色的产品、聪明的品牌策略、强大 的合作网络。现在它成了新的标杆。」
“There’s real pride in provenance, and bars are weaving local elements into their storytelling with fresh creativity, especially in Kolkata and Kathmandu.
对产地的自豪真实可感，酒吧正以 崭新创意将本土元素融入叙事， 尤以加尔各答与加德满都为甚。”
Priyanka Blah
Whether spoken or implied, that word “belong” threads through every chair’s reflections. Asia’s bars, once defined by imitation or novelty, are now rooted in identity, complexity, and place. Rather than borrowing from the West, they’re adding to the canon.
That shift, says Coldicott, has nothing to do with marketing and everything to do with philosophy. “Japanese bartending isn’t about hard shakes or ice carving. It’s about presence, restraint, intentionality. That’s what’s being exported now. Not technique but ethos.”
Ng agrees: “For a long time, people thought of Asia as ‘emerging.’ Now, we’re the trendsetters. Bars in Europe and the US are looking to us.”
Growth, of course, brings pressure – on labor, on sustainability, on staying true while staying relevant. But the chairs all believe that the future lies not in scaling up but deepening in.
“We’ll see more storytelling,” says Blah, “more bars that reflect their street, their city, their history.”
And more exchange too: “What’s special is how connected everyone is now,” says Tann. “You’ll have a bartender from Bangkok doing a guest shift in Seoul one night and flying to Tokyo the next. There’s no longer a center and a periphery, just a constellation.”
These four influencers see in that constellation not a peak but a horizon beyond which the next generation of Asian bartenders will inherit better tools and higher expectations of creativity and community.
As midnight nears in a bar somewhere in Asia – it could be a grand hotel lounge in Mumbai or a back-alley gin room in Shinjuku – ice cracks, glasses clink, and flavors dance into the memory. Far more than just just serving drinks, these bars are shaping identity, telling stories, and, thanks to those who’ve helped nurture them, finally being heard.
Asia is no longer catching up. It’s calling the round.
“Greater China now blends international sophistication with local flavor – creating a distinct ecosystem that attracts locals and travelers alike.
La Paloma from Coa made by Jay Khan, who in 2025 won the Roku Industry Icon Award.
La Paloma
亚洲之巅 共享荣耀
MACAU SHINES
Wynn Resorts, Official Host Partner of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2025, transformed the city into a global cocktail hub.
T HIS JULY, the renowned Asia’s 50 Best Bars awards, often considered the Oscars of the Asian cocktail world, drew international attention from the hospitality industry as it made its historic debut in Macau. The strategic partner that made such a milestone possible was Wynn Resorts, a longtime collaborator with 50 Best. As this year’s Official Host Partner, Wynn served not only as venue provider but as curator, crafting a spectacular cocktail extravaganza that seamlessly blended world-class bartending excellence with local cultural heritage.
Wynn’s relationship with 50 Best dates back to 2018 and 2019, when Wynn Palace and Wynn Macau hosted the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremonies, the first ever to be held in China. In 2024, Wynn Las Vegas went on to host The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. That event not only garnered worldwide recognition for Wynn in the culinary cultural sphere but also provided a solid foundation for its subsequent role in organizing this year’s bar awards events. By joining forces to champion Asia’s bar industry, Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace continue to work together to propel Macau toward becoming a regional hub where cocktail artistry and industry thinking converge.
Wynn crafted a spectacular cocktail extravaganza that seamlessly blended world-class bartending excellence with local cultural heritage.
永利为世界级调酒文化建构一场跨时代， 并融合本地文化的鸡尾酒盛宴。
The awards week, which unfolded from July 11 to 16, encompassed more than twenty-five themed events, including international guest appearances, collaborative menus, food and cocktail pairings, regional forums, and brand showcases. Activities spanned multiple sites, from opulent Wynn Palace Grand Theater and flexibly modular Wynn Palace Event Marquee to glittering Wing Lei Bar and lakeside restaurant Fontana. Each event was built upon Wynn’s integrated facilities and service capabilities. A recognized mark not only of venue-management excellence but also of a sophisticated grasp of industry rhythm, guest flow, and brand image, Wynn’s recognized expertise allows international-level creativity to blossom and integrate with geographical and cultural contexts.
An especially iconic event was a Wynn triple feature on July 13 that spanned three continents and traversed the origins of cocktail culture from North America to Britain. Through multi-venue coordination, it presented styles, traditions, flavors, and techniques in a visionary collaboration between bartenders and chefs.
First up was the “North American West Coast Road Trip” featuring Canada’s Laowai, LA’s Thunderbolt, and San Francisco’s Pacific Cocktail Haven. The theme was reconstructing Pacific Rim taste profiles through street culture and contemporary urban cocktail sensibilities.
Next was “Best of British” night, staged at Wynn Palace’s Palace Reserve Club. Led by three legendary British cocktail masters from Manchester’s Schofield’s Bar, London’s Kwãnt Mayfair, and Edinburgh’s Hey Palu, as well as Wing Lei Bar’s Mark Lloyd, it showcased contemporary British cocktail craftsmanship and classic British flavor narratives.
The finale, “Sushi Mizumi × Martiny’s” Signature Session, brought together Takuma Watanabe, mastermind of New York’s Martiny’s, and Hironori Maeda, executive chef of Mizumi at Wynn Palace. At Mizumi, these two talented artisans co-created a serene symphony of flavor expressed through the languages of cocktails and modern Japanese cuisine.
Beyond bartender and brand collaborations, Wynn also served as a bridge spanning generations and knowledge bases. Wynn brought together guest bartenders Julio Bermejo, creator of the classic Tommy’s Margarita, and Sam Ross, father of the Penicillin and Paper Plane cocktails. The epic cross-generational interaction created a temporal corridor of flavor exchange between classic and emerging Asian bartenders.
During the “Wing Lei Bar Aperitivo Canto, Presented by Campari” event, renowned Cantonese master chef Tam Kwok Fung of Chef Tam’s
除了调酒师与品牌之间的合作，永利亦 扮演了跨越世代与知识实践的桥梁。经典鸡尾 酒 Tommy’s Margarita 的创作者 Julio Bermejo 与 Penicillin、Paper Plane 之父 Sam Ross 均
DAVID HARTUNG (3), COURTESY OF WYNN (GROUP PORTRAIT)
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Erik Lorincz of Kwãnt Mayfair, London
伦敦Kwãnt Mayfair主
理人Erik Lorincz
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Seoul’s Bar Myung, along with Wing Lei Bar’s Mark Lloyd, lights up the after-party with high-energy pours.
首尔Bar Myung及永利吧团队为余兴 派对带来炽热气氛。
→ Pairing cocktail made by Martiny’s for Mizumi at Wynn Palace. Martiny’s为「泓」日本料 理特别调制的鸡尾酒。
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Hong Kong’s The Pontiac delivers its signature grit and rhythm.
香港The Pontiac以不羁风 格与节奏感征服全场。
Seasons further explored the possibilities for Asian flavors to add their voices to the global cocktail conversation. He designed a series of remarkable refined Guangdong-style small plates to complement Italian cocktails.
The Bartenders’ Feast held on July 14 at Wynn Palace Event Marquee was perhaps the week’s most symbolic occasion for the industry. Three representative Asian bars, Hong Kong’s Tell Camellia, Bangkok’s Bar US (Thailand’s highestranked bar), and Macau’s Wing Lei Bar, jointly presented exclusive menus for global industry professionals. Not just a cocktail showcase, the event was a demonstration of how Asia’s diverse cultural backgrounds can merge through expert bartending technique.
The gala official awards ceremony, held on July 15 at Wynn Palace Grand Theater, presented the diversity and contemporary spirit of Asian bar culture in ritualized form, with striking design and a smoothly flowing rhythm of stage transitions.
The following day’s closing celebration returned to casual warmth at Wynn Palace’s Fontana, where Wing Lei Bar collaborated with Jakarta’s Cosmo Pony and Manila’s The Curator to present the final act against a backdrop of stunning views of Performance Lake. Freshly made dragon’s beard candy by century-old Macau institution Yau Kei Candy represented local culture but also forged genuine emotional connections among guests from around the globe.
Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2025 has not only bolstered Macau’s status as a regional bar powerhouse but has further demonstrated Wynn’s leadership in planning, content co-creation, and industry integration. Macau and Wynn Resorts have made Asia’s distinctive cocktail scene resonate powerfully at the international level and have shown that flavor can transcend sensory experience to become a form of cultural export.
Macau and Wynn Resorts have made Asia’s distinctive cocktail scene resonate powerfully at the international level.
Behind the bar was Potato Head from Bali. 峇里島的Potato Head展演利落节奏。
DAVID
STAR BARS
In its tenth edition, Asia’s 50 Best Bars awards highlighted the growing diversity of Asia’s thriving cocktail bar industry.
BY JUNE LEE
A VIBRANT CHINESE DRUM and dance performance, a backdrop of dazzling gold, and a ballroom full of international bar celebrities marked the evening of July 15 as Wynn Palace Grand Theatre welcomed members of the bar industry through its doors. With preparations taking place months in advance, Macau brandished its best as UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy and first-time host of the annual Asia’s 50 Best Bars award ceremony. For most of the week, hundreds of cocktails were shaken, stirred, and swirled into the hands of eager guests, both in Macau and across the channel in nearby Hong Kong, as collaborations and pop-ups filled the overflowing calendar.
Asia’s 50 Best Bars holds special significance as the first regional event of The World’s 50 Best Bars brand, putting the spotlight on the region’s fine talents and influential bar sector. Although the ceremonies were a digital-only affair in 2016 and 2017, the awards have gone from strength to strength over the last ten editions, gathering members of the Asia drinks industry together and promoting a sense of community and exchange between diverse peoples and cultures.
The list is a result of votes by the Asia’s 50 Best Bars Academy, comprising more than three hundred knowledgeable and well-traveled mixology experts, drinks media representatives, and members of the bar industry from dozens of cities across the continent. This year’s list featured the greatest number of destinations in recent years,
with establishments from twenty cities, including new ones like Shenzhen and Kumamoto, in twelve countries.
Many new records were set, especially for South and Southeast Asia. Thailand, with a total of seven, scored the most bars on the list, taking over from previous chart-toppers Singapore and Hong Kong. India performed impressively with five bars, including Lair in New Delhi, which made a remarkable debut at No. 8. Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur saw four bars each in the top fifty, a record for both cities. In Jakarta’s lineup, all four bars were new to the list, with Modernhaus at No. 12 taking the Three Cents Best New Opening Award as well as the title of The Best Bar in Indonesia. Overall, the votes by the Academy point the way to increasing diversity and inclusivity across Asia’s bar scene, which is good news for everyone who loves to explore cocktails. TK takes a closer look at the top bars and special award winners:
IT’S BEEN A METEORIC JOURNEY for Bar Leone, which debuted on the 2024 Asia’s 50 Best Bars list at No. 1 and has retained the crown, also making it The Best Bar in Hong Kong 2025. Founder Lorenzo Antinori arrived in Hong Kong in 2019, and he opened his first independent bar project in 2023 as an ode to “cocktail popolari,” or “cocktails for the people.” In a nostalgic setting designed to resemble the neighborhood bars of Antinori’s youth, Bar Leone captures the Italian spirit and accessibility of “low intervention” drinks that are nonetheless focused and exciting. Mainstays such as the Filthy Martini and Fig Leaf Negroni are complemented by comfort bites of the equally famous mortadella focaccia and smoked olives.
Bar Leone 的崛起如星驰电掣，它于 2024 年「亚 洲 50 最佳酒吧」榜单初绽光芒，即登榜首，且 稳守桂冠，荣膺 2025 年「香港最佳酒吧」。创始 人 Lorenzo Antinori 于 2019 年来到香港，并于 2023 年开设了他的首家独立酒吧，以此向「大 众鸡尾酒」（cocktail popolari）致敬。Bar Leone 的装修风格怀旧，恍若 Lorenzo 年少时邻近的酒 吧。它撷取了意大利的精神和「低干预」饮品的 精髓，酒品简单而令人沉醉。招牌鸡尾酒如 Filthy Martini 和 Fig Leaf Negroni 佐以闻名的意大利辣 香肠佛卡夏面包与烟熏橄榄等佳肴，惬意非常。
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zest
THE BEST BAR IN KOREA
ZEST RETAINS ITS TITLE as best bar in Korea for the third year, driven by its strong philosophy of sustainability and “fine-drinking” culture. Opened in December 2020 by a quartet of Korean bartenders, including ex-Alice colleagues Demie Kim, Sean Woo, and Jisu Park, Zest abbreviates its name from “zero waste.” Drinks development starts with brainstorming on how to reduce waste, from minimizing packaging by making in-house tonics and mixers to sourcing local ingredients. The hallabong citrus for the Jeju Garibaldi, for instance, is used in multiple ways, from the juice for the cocktail to the pulp for kombucha and peel for seasonal gins. The ethos of care extends to glassware, uniforms, and the welfare of team members.
Zest 连续第三年保持「韩国最佳酒吧」的称号， 这得益于其坚定的可持续发展理念和「精致饮酒」 文化。Zest 由曾在 Alice 共事的 Demie Kim、Sean Woo 和 Jisu Park 等四名韩国调酒师于 2020 年 12 月开设，其名字是「零浪费」（zero waste）的缩写。
JIGGER & PONY CELEBRATES ten years on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, with previous stints at No. 1 (2020) and No. 2 (2021–2023). Singapore’s best-ranked bar, founded in 2012 by Indra Kantono and Guoyi Gan, was spurred by their love of classic cocktail bars they discovered on their travels. Since moving to sleeker, bigger premises in 2018, Jigger has continued making strides with the promise of “convivial hospitality” and a memorable magazine-style menu each year. In the current edition, called Embrace, the drinks range from classics like their iconic Old Fashioned with a citrus wheel garnish to reimagined, change-embracing cocktails like Smashing Sundae with clarified ice cream and a grown-up Spicy Margarita with three spice levels.
Kantono 和 Guoyi Gan 于 2012 年创立，灵感来自他们对在旅途中探索经典 鸡尾酒吧的热爱。在 2018 年迁至更时尚、宽敞的现址后，Jigger & Pony 继续秉承「热情好客」的承诺，每年推出令人难忘的杂志风格酒单。在 当前的 Embrace 酒单中，酒品既有饰以柑橘片的经典 Old Fashioned，也 有像用澄清冰淇淋调制的 Smashing Sundae 和具有三种辣度选择的 Spicy Margarita 等创新之作。
THE BEST BAR IN THAILAND
CLIMBING SEVENTEEN PLACES from its spot last year, Bar Us made a stunning impression on voters, claiming The Best Bar in Thailand accolade. Founders Sudarat “Taln” Rojanavanich and Veerach “Aum” Sawaengsupt are both interior designers, bringing a theatrical sensibility to a minimalist black space, with a laboratory-like display of ingredients and staff in distinctive beige robe uniforms. Conceived as a “drinking room” as opposed to a dining room, the menu is organized into Starter, Main, and After sections, with an All Night lineup of reinvented classics. Begin, perhaps, with an appetizing Fig + Sour featuring coconut and clarified carrot juice before a pad Thai- or ramen-inspired cocktail from the Main section, and finish with a clean, aromatic, or sweet creation from the After. Switch around your order as you prefer – there are no rules as to how you should enjoy your experience here.
Bar Us 较去年跃升 17 位，令人瞩目，更 荣膺「泰国最佳酒吧」。创始人 Sudarat “Taln” Rojanavanich 与 Veerach “Aum” Sawaengsupt 皆是室内设计师，他们为这个 极简黑色空间增添戏剧之感，食材如实验室 般陈列，员工身穿独特米色长袍制服。Bar Us 定位为与餐厅相对的「酒厅」，酒单分 为开胃菜、主菜及餐后酒部分，其中的 All Night 系列是经典鸡尾酒新绎。点单时不妨 由一杯以椰子与澄清胡萝卜汁调制的 Fig + Sour 开胃酒开始，再品主菜部分的泰式炒河 粉或拉面风味的鸡尾酒，最后再来一杯清爽、 芳香或甜美的餐后酒作结。您可以根据自己 的喜好随意点单 随心体验，无拘无束。
Dry Wave Cocktail Studio
DISARONNO HIGHEST NEW ENTRY AWARD
SUPAWIT “PALM” MUTTARATTANA is the well-known hospitality veteran behind Dry Wave Cocktail Studio, which opened in January 2024 in Bangkok’s hip Thonglor neighborhood. Named as last year’s Campari One To Watch, the bar debuts this year at No. 5, giving Thailand two spots in the top five for the first time. The artinfused bar brings to life the duality of contrasting elements, with “dry” representations of natural wood and marble, and a “wave” wall design echoing the ocean. The Super Classic menu continues the duality, expertly fusing two classics into each drink. Love Bird in Venice, an inspired blend of tequila, prosecco, grapefruit, and peach, combines the Paloma and Bellini. At a higher level of difficulty is the 1806–1988, a melding of bourbon from the old-fashioned and fruity notes from the cosmopolitan.
Super Classic 酒单延续了此双重性，每杯饮品也巧 妙融合两款经典鸡尾酒。Love Bird in Venice 以龙 舌兰酒、普罗塞克酒、葡萄柚和桃子调制而成，融 合帕洛玛和贝利尼鸡尾酒。1806–1988 则结合了 old-fashioned 鸡尾酒中的波本威士忌和大都会鸡 尾酒中的果香，难度更高。
Hope & Sesame 庙前冰室
THE BEST BAR IN MAINLAND CHINA
SINCE ITS DEBUT six years ago, Hope & Sesame has steadily climbed, this year into the top ten of Asia’s 50 Best Bars list. Located in the heart of old Guangzhou discreetly tucked away behind a Cantonese store shopfront, the ten-year-old speakeasy bar was an early testing ground for cocktail innovation when the city had yet to develop its cocktail scene. Expect the unexpected when it comes to drinks with a global pantry’s worth of ingredients, from black garlic and wasabi to cookie dough, taro, and Thai tea. Adding to the accolades, its dynamic cofounder Andrew Ho was also named Altos Bartenders’ Bartender 2025, the only peerjudged honor in the Asia’s 50 Best Bars lineup.
此外，其充满活力的联合创始人 Andrew Ho 获评为 2025 年 Altos Bartenders’ Bartender，为「亚洲 50 最佳酒吧」榜单唯一由同行评判的荣誉。
Barc
MICHTER’S ART OF HOSPITALITY AWARD
IN 2024, Barc was Nepal’s first establishment to enter the list of Asia’s 50 Best Bars, and now it’s scooped up the coveted Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award. “From the beginning,” says founder Abhishek Tuladhar, “our vision was to bring the flavors of Nepal through our drinks and to create a space that blends global standards with the warmth and soul of our local culture.” Guests at Barc feel right at home when culture, emotion, and community converge.
HONG KONG NATIVE JAY KHAN famously got his start working at a karaoke club at age eighteen and earning his bartending knowledge as he rose up the industry ranks. More than twenty years later, the Coa cofounder, widely lauded as an agave spirits advocate, has seen his bar named No. 1 for three consecutive years on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list. A former recipient of the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award as well, Jay Khan has indisputably taken his place as one of Asia’s bar industry icons.
香港人 Jay Khan 在 18 岁时在卡拉 OK 俱乐部工作，从而开始了他的职业生涯，并在 晋升过程中习得了调酒知识。二十多年后，这位 Coa 酒吧的联合创始人，作为龙舌兰 酒的倡导者而广受赞誉，其酒吧连续三年在「亚洲 50 最佳酒吧」榜单上位居榜首。
Jay Khan 也曾获得 Altos Bartenders’ Bartender 大奖，无疑为亚洲酒吧行业的代表之一。
FROM THE SAME FOUNDERS as Bar Us (No. 4), Messenger Service bar lands the Best Bar Design Award as well as the No. 90 spot on the 51–100 list. The bar relocated in late 2024 to a hundred-year-old heritage shophouse in Yaowarat in Bangkok’s Chinatown, where it welcomes guests with a minimalist wood-and-cream interior with bottle-lined walls. The grocery storeinspired menu comprises signatures like the Calamansi + Jasmine, based on the margarita.
Messenger Service 与 Bar Us（第 4 名）由同一批创 始人创立，酒吧不仅获得了最佳酒吧设计奖，更位 列延伸榜单的第九十位。Messenger Service 于 2024 年底迁至曼谷唐人街耀华力路一栋有百年历史的商 铺，以简约木质、奶油色内饰及摆满瓶子的墙迎接客 人。受杂货店启发的酒单上，有包括如基于玛格丽特 调的 Calamansi + Jasmine 等招牌鸡尾酒。
Backdoor Bodega
SIETE MISTERIOS BEST COCKTAIL MENU AWARD
A TRUE PENANG ICON, Backdoor Bodega has been serving up bold Malaysian flavors since 2016, with everything happening in the back room of a clothing store. Going the extra step is the bar’s menu, dubbed The Backdoor Bodega Guide to Penang. This nifty labor of love includes an actual guide to getting the best out of Penang, with such aids as dining recommendations from the bar team, an essential glossary of local words, and insights into the island’s history and culture, which serve as inspiration for the drinks.
THIS YEAR, when Sora entered the extended 51–100 list as Phnom Penh’s first-ever bar to be recognized by Asia’s 50 Best Bars, it was also judged the recipient of the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award. Located on the thirty-seventh floor of Rosewood Phnom Penh, Sora has been grounded in sustainability from the start. More than 70 percent of its ingredients are sourced locally, including from the hotel’s hydroponic garden. It also repurposes leftovers from the hotel’s kitchens to distill its own vermouth, featured in the zero-waste Sora Martini.
今年 Sora 成为金边首家挤身「亚洲 50 最佳酒吧」延伸榜 单的酒吧，更获得 Ketel One 可持续酒吧奖。Sora 位于金 边瑰丽酒店的三十七楼，从一开始就以可持续发展为理念。
酒吧 70% 以上的原料来自当地，包括酒店的水培花园。
它还将酒店厨房的剩菜重新利用，用于蒸馏自己的苦艾酒， 制成零浪费之 Sora Martini。
Alice
NIKKA HIGHEST CLIMBER AWARD
LIKE A FAIRY TALE COME TRUE, Alice bar has spent ten years on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list. The charming, sophisticated hideaway is accessed via a staircase to a basement flower shop, where a door opens to reveal a playful playground of cocktails inspired by the Lewis Carroll books. This year, the bar clinched the Nikka Highest Climber Award by zooming thirty-three places, from No. 46 to No. 13.
Andrew Ho, winner of Asia’s 50 Best Bars’ peer-voted award, is bringing Mainland China’s distinctive and rapidly evolving cocktail culture to the world stage.
AMONG THE HONORS bestowed by Asia’s 50 Best Bars, the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award holds special significance. It is voted on by professionals from bars on the 50 Best list and represents a profound recognition by peers of an individual’s long-term practice and contributions. This year, the award went to Andrew Ho, founder of Hope & Sesame in Guangzhou.
Shunning the spotlight, Ho has for years dedicated himself to frontline, day-to-day, hands-on bartending. He and his teams from Hope & Sesame, Bar Sanyou, DSK Cocktail Club, and consulting platform Spirits Architects have steadily constructed a business operations model that combines market logic with cultural values rooted in Chinese terroir yet integrated with international trends. His focus extends beyond the craft of mixology to ensuring that the entire brand system consistently produces outstanding work.
And he has come to understand that high-quality brand value primarily relies on persistence and the development of processes, training, and cultural dissemination rather than individual star power alone. Believing that mixology must be a collective endeavor, Ho regards each venue as a platform where various professional disciplines can be nurtured and supported.
His respect for professionalism is also evident in the long-standing cooperation and solid trust he has fostered with colleagues, industry peers, and supply chain partners. It’s the strength of these relationships that serves as invaluable brand support and forms the cornerstone of a healthier industry ecosystem.
“My mission is not yet accomplished,” said Ho in his acceptance speech. For him, winning the award is not the end but a continuation of his efforts to drive future progress. He envisions a progression from “flavor competition” to in-depth exploration of cultural connotations and a transition from emphasis on individual performance to the establishment of a collective ethos.
Looking ahead, he hopes to transform Hope & Sesame into a potent cultural platform, one that develops more accessible products and fosters wider understanding of and participation in Chinese cocktail culture. His focus is not just on where the next bar will be but on how the next
narrative in the cocktail community will emerge. Ho’s award is not only a recognition of his efforts over the past decade but also a reflection of the shift in values within the Asian cocktail industry as it moves from glitz and self-absorption to a focus on community growth, content creation, and talent development. The votes from his peers are a resounding affirmation of one skilled and dedicated individual, but they also represent a tacit desire among colleagues to see ever-greater numbers of bartenders who, like Ho, bring resilience and depth to a thriving aspect of Asia’s contemporary culture.
↑ Bar Sanyou 庙前三酉
← Hope & Sesame 庙前冰室
→ White Daisy
吧在哪里？」，更是「如何建立下一种酒圈叙 事？」。
Andrew 的获奖，不仅是对过去十年努力 的肯定，也是亚洲鸡尾酒产业价值观转变的缩 影，从个人荣耀转向关注社群成长、内容质量 与人才培育。那一张张来自同行的选票，不只 是荣誉的加冕，更是一份来自同业的默契：愿 有更多像他一样的推动者，持续为这个亚洲当 代文化中蓬勃发展的产业注入韧性与深度。
BY MARK HAMMONS
Clare Teng, MO Bar’s manager, and Tiger Chang, head bartender MO Bar
SIGNALS IN THE SKY
In a city of speed and spectacle, the quiet choreography of service at MO Bar has earned global acclaim – and reshaped Shenzhen’s hospitality horizon.
BY JOEY CHEANG AND VIVIAN PUN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID HARTUNG
ON A WARM SHENZHEN EVENING, the city’s lights twinkling in the distance, guests at MO Bar raise their glasses to carefully crafted cocktails. Perched on the 79th floor of the Mandarin Oriental, Shenzhen, MO Bar overlooks a city known for tech startups and neon skylines – a view that mesmerizes. Yet within this towering lounge, a quiet revolution is underway.
In 2025, MO Bar made its debut on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list at No. 21, becoming the first hotel bar in mainland China to earn the distinction. This wasn’t just a local triumph – it marked a turning point for the city’s bar culture, signaling that world-class hospitality had taken root in an entirely new place.
MO Bar’s interior offers industrial-chic luxury. MO Bar采用复古工业风格设计。
“Culture only matures when the whole industry improves.
只有整个行业进步，深圳的酒吧文化才能真正成熟。
”
Clare Teng 滕菲
MO Bar’s “overnight success” was actually years in the making. When it opened in early 2022, it began much like any elegant hotel bar – a convenience for business travelers. “At first, some people thought we were just another lounge,” recalls Clare Teng, MO Bar’s manager. “We had to earn every guest’s trust and show them we could be a serious destination for locals, too.”
With Shenzhen’s bar scene still in its infancy, MO Bar faced a choice: follow trends with gimmicks and happy hours, or set new standards. The team chose culture and quality over quantity and flash. Teng, a hospitality veteran with an eye for detail, believed excellence required more than creative cocktails – it demanded rethinking service itself.
“Shenzhen’s bar industry is still young,” she says. “What we need isn’t more bars, but more professional talent and mature systems.”
In an industry where it’s “easy to open, easier to close,” MO Bar bucked the trend. Early recognition came from a top-ten ranking in the Spirits Awards Asia-Pacific. But inclusion on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list was recognition of a different nature – proof that Chinese hospitality could compete with global standards and perhaps help redefine them.
Step into MO Bar and you’ll sense it immediately: a silent choreography unfolding in the background. When Teng notices a guest needs to use the restroom, she makes a subtle handwashing gesture – a discreet signal for a teammate to escort the guest to the restroom. Nearby, another bartender notices a guest’s nod and quickly makes a square gesture, and moments later, a portable charger arrives.
“We use walkie-talkies for updates,” Teng explains, “but gestures are often more elegant and effective.” This system of silent communication, refined over years, has become the signature of MO Bar’s service. It keeps the room quiet and focused, ensuring needs are met without disrupting any moment. The guiding philosophy is simple: the best systems aren’t the most high-tech – they’re the ones that fit the atmosphere.
Behind the scenes is a team that operates like a jazz quartet – precise, intuitive, and completely in sync. This harmony begins at the top.
SHENZHEN
深圳的温暖夜色中，城市的灯火在远处闪烁， MO Bar 的客人举杯共饮精心调制的鸡尾酒。位 于深圳文华东方酒店 79 层的 MO Bar，俯瞰着 这座以科技初创企业和霓虹天际线闻名的城市 景观。然而在这个高耸入云的酒吧里，一场静悄 悄的革新正在进行。
MO Bar 的「一夜成名」实际上已酝酿多年。 当它在 2022 年初开业时，看起来与其他高端酒 店的酒吧并无二致 —— 为商务旅客提供便利。
MO Bar 经理滕菲回忆道：「起初，有些人认为 我们只是另一个行政酒廊。我们要赢得每位客人 的信任，证明 MO Bar 也能成为本地人的重要打 卡点。」
深圳的酒吧业仍处于起步阶段，MO Bar 面 临决定性的选择：跟随潮流依赖花哨促销和廉价 酒水，还是树立新标准？团队选择了文化和品 质，而非数量和噱头。滕菲是一位酒店业资深人 士，具有敏锐的洞察力，她相信卓越不仅需要 创意鸡尾酒，还需要重新思考服务本质。她说： 「深圳的酒吧行业还很年轻，我们需要的不是更 多的酒吧，而是更多专业人才和成熟体系。」
在这个「开业容易，守业难」的行业里， MO Bar 逆势而上。早期的认可来自烈酒奖亚太 区十强榜单，入选「亚洲 50 佳酒吧」榜单则是 质的飞跃 —— 标志着中国酒店业能够与全球标 准竞争，甚至重新定义这一标准。
走进 MO Bar，你会立刻感受到：一场无声 的团体共舞正在上演。当滕菲注意到客人需要
Teng and head bartender Tiger Chang (who also serves as the beverage director for Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen) lead with what they call a “pushpull” dynamic.
“She’s the engine,” Chang says. “Always moving, always ready.” Teng smiles and calls Chang the balancer: thoughtful, methodical, steady. “He’s the type who needs a little push,” she says. “I’m impatient by nature. But that’s exactly why we work so well together.”
This dynamic shapes MO Bar’s broader culture – a place of self-examination and collective decision-making. “We’re not a place built around a star bartender,” Chang says. “Our strength is in the team.” It’s not just philosophy – it’s strategy. By designing a culture that doesn’t depend on any single personality, MO Bar has created something rare in hospitality: a model that’s replicable and resilient.
Much of this culture is instilled through MO Bar’s apprenticeship-style training program. Each new team member is paired one-on-one with a mentor from day one. “We do rotating theme training every day,” Teng says. “It’s not classroom lectures. It’s hands-on learning, side by side.”
This approach, besides developing skills from cocktail making to tableside etiquette, builds mutual trust. New staff absorb the unwritten rules of grace and discretion. They learn when to step forward and when to stand still. In a profession usually defined by high turnover and burnout, MO Bar’s staff choose to stay. There are no service scripts here, only shared intention.
“We work to create a place where people want to grow,” Teng says.
Quality service sets the tone, but MO Bar’s position on the global stage owes equally to what’s in the glass. Under Chang’s direction, the bar’s cocktail program has evolved into a playground of story, structure, and experimentation.
这种平衡塑造了 MO Bar 更广泛的文 化 —— 自我审视、共同决策。滕菲说：「我们 不是围绕明星调酒师建立的酒吧，我们的力量 在团队之中。」这不仅是理念，更是策略。通 过打造不依赖个人的文化，MO Bar 创造了酒 店业中罕见的可复制、有韧性的模式。
Turquoise, Blush, Azure (from left to right)
The team of MO Bar MO Bar团队
Chang’s menus draw inspiration from Chinese culture and the modern world just outside the bar’s windows. An early theme, “Movable Type,” paid homage to ancient printing techniques, with drinks layered like narratives – smoky base notes followed by bright top notes and unexpected garnishes. His current collection, “Colors of China,” draws from the traditional 24 solar terms – seasonal markers on the lunar calendar.
“I want guests to taste a story,” Chang says. “If someone has a cocktail and feels like they understand something about this place, we’ve succeeded.”
Chang’s creativity is shaped by a spirit of exchange. From the beginning, he’s connected with peers across Asia – hosting guest bartender shifts from Taiwan, Nepal, and Japan, and learning from visits to Tokyo’s Ben Fiddich and Bangkok’s Vesper. A trip to Nepal exposed him to new techniques for infusing cocktails with wild local herbs – ideas he quickly brought back to Shenzhen.
“This industry thrives on sharing,” he says. “Cocktails can be art, but they’re also conversation.” This spirit is embedded at MO Bar, where collaboration isn’t just encouraged – it’s institutionalized. The team regularly hosts industry peers – bartenders, general managers, even hotel owners – curious about the bar’s training, systems, and style.
这种文化很大程度上通过 MO Bar 的学徒式培训灌输，每个新 团队成员从第一天起就与导师一对一配对。滕菲说：「我们每天进行 主题轮训，不是课堂讲授，而是动手学习，并肩实践。」
这种方法不仅打磨从鸡尾酒制作到桌边礼仪的全套技能，还无 形中建立深厚信任。新员工领悟优雅和分寸的无形准则，学会何时 上前，何时守候。在一个人员流动率高和倦怠的职业中，MO Bar 的 员工选择长期坚守。这里没有刻板的服务流程，只有心意相通的待 客之道。
滕菲说：「我们努力创造让人愿意成长的地方。」
优质服务奠定基调，但 MO Bar 的国际声誉同样归功于杯中乾 坤。在张明儒的领导下，酒吧的鸡尾酒已发展成故事、结构和实验 的游乐场。
“This industry thrives on sharing. Cocktails can be art, but they’re also conversation. 这个行业因分享而繁荣。鸡尾酒可以是艺术，但也是对话。
Tiger Chang 张明儒
Teng welcomes them with open arms. “If we want Shenzhen to become a real hospitality city, we have to lift each other up,” she says. “Culture only matures when the whole industry improves.”
MO Bar’s rise reflects more than the ambitions of a single bar –it signals a broader shift in the possibilities for Shenzhen’s hospitality scene. A city once seen as a supporting player in nightlife (compared to Hong Kong or Shanghai) now has cocktail venues worth visiting as destinations. Patrons no longer transit elsewhere for better drinks. They book tables at MO Bar.
The clientele is diverse: local professionals unwinding after work, hotel guests celebrating special occasions, visiting bartenders eager to understand the buzz.
“It’s funny,” Chang says. “People used to say Shenzhen had no nightlife. Now they come here asking how we did it.”
The space itself mirrors the city it overlooks – aspirational, expansive, full of light. Marble bar tops catch the warm glow of amber lighting; leather seating curves gently toward floor-to-ceiling windows that frame the ever-evolving skyline. The drinks change with the seasons. The view never stops.
Order a cocktail and you’ll catch MO Bar’s essence in a single sip: crisp, fresh, layered – a reminder to slow down and notice what’s unfolding. The bar invites the city to do the same.
As midnight approaches, staff move with quiet focus. Glasses are refilled. Thanks are exchanged through eye contact. There’s no spectacle here – just elegance, intention, and refinement that rarely calls attention to itself.
MO Bar may have made history with its place on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, but that honor is just a waypoint. The real revolution continues to unfold above the city – in gestures, in mentorship, in drinks crafted with intention. In Shenzhen’s race toward the future, MO Bar reminds us that progress sometimes moves silently, one perfect pour at a time.
点一杯鸡尾酒，你会在第一口捕捉到 MO Bar 的精髓：清洌、鲜活、层次分明。每杯特调也提 醒人们放慢脚步，留意正在展开的美好 —— 酒吧 正邀请整座城市也共同践行这种哲学。
午夜临近时，员工们静静专注地工作：把杯 子续满，通过眼神传递谢意。酒吧没有夸张的表 演，只有优雅、精准，以及不刻意引起注意的精致。 MO Bar 可能因其在「亚洲 50 佳酒吧」榜单 上的排名创造了历史，但这个荣誉只是路标。真 正的革新仍在城市上空展开 —— 在手势中，在传 承里，在用心调制的鸡尾酒中。在深圳奔向未来 时，MO Bar 提醒我们，进步有时会悄无声息地发 生，就像每次完美的倾注。
镜花水月 微醺入梦
radiant dreams
Nestled on an old street in downtown Chengdu, Chinese Room has captivated the city’s trendsetters with its imaginative seasonal cocktails and chinoiserie charm.
THE FANTASTICAL AND ORNATE ALLURE of chinoiserie once swept through European high society. Heavily influenced by the eighteenth century’s prevailing rococo style, chinoiserie embodied the West’s romanticized vision of China.
“Chinese porcelain and silk,” explains Ke Chen (CK), a partner at cocktail bar Chinese Room, as well as its designer, “were once among the most coveted luxury items in the West, accessible only in limited quantities even to the aristocracy. They would decorate a chamber in their mansions as a ‘Chinese room,’ displaying their collections of Chinese furniture and art objects to trumpet their taste and status.”
夜鹃（Chinese Room）的合伙人及设计师陈可说： 「中国的瓷器、丝绸曾是西方最为昂贵的奢侈品，即使 贵族也只能少量购入，于是他们会把宅邸的一个房间装 修成 Chinese Room，收集来自中国的家具 和陈设，以彰显自己的身份和品位。」
BY CHRIS ZHANG • PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID HARTUNG
A graduate of Central Saint Martins arts and design college in London with a degree in jewelry design, Chen previously worked as a jewelry designer at Tiffany & Co.’s New York headquarters. “In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,” he notes, “all of Europe was enamored with China. Today, we can present the brilliance of Chinese culture from a Western perspective, and that’s why I chose chinoiserie as the theme – I hope young people will come to understand and love our heritage.”
The design of Chinese Room draws inspiration from the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, built for George IV in the nineteenth
“Today, we can present the brilliance of Chinese culture from a Western perspective, and that’s why I chose chinoiserie as the theme.
中国的璀璨文 化可以用西方人 的视角来呈现， 这正是我用 『中国风』作为 主题的原因。”
Ke Chen 陈可
Shuai Yang and Ke Chen 杨帅及陈可
Byzantium: Mediterranean
Fruit Salad
century and renowned for its opulent “Chinese” style interiors. The bar is divided into five distinctly themed rooms, each leading a step deeper into a radiant dreamscape that transitions from darkness to light.
The black entrance hall, known as the Salle de Banquet, houses the bar counter, crowned by an imposing gilded painting of dragons and phoenixes. A corridor named the Couloir des Dragons leads to four additional rooms: the green Jardin Exotique, themed after a Chinese courtyard; the red Pagode du Vin Caché, featuring an antique wine cabinet; the yellow La Maison de Porcelaine, adorned with blue-andwhite porcelain; and the pink Madame de Pompadour, a tribute to rococo art. The Pagode du Vin Caché is a particular standout with its old British fireplace beneath the pagodashaped wine cabinet dating back more than two centuries.
The bar’s renovation, carried out with meticulous attention to detail, took a year and a half. Each piece of furniture and element of decor was either custom-designed or sourced from abroad. One example is a delicate “palace lady” candlestick, whose graceful maiden form sets it apart from traditional designs.
Within this fanciful setting, the team remains true to its mission of expressing Chinese culture through innovative
cocktails. “Our initial menus featured themes like ‘Twelve Chinese Zodiac Animals’ and ‘Twelve Two-Hour Periods of the Day,’ says Shuai Yang, Chinese Room’s manager and a former bartender, “but we felt they weren’t enough.
“Our new ‘Silk Road’ menu is a more concrete concept that will span three seasons. The popularity of chinoiserie in Europe originated with the Silk Road, which fostered cultural exchange between East and West, and our current menu represents the northwest route during the Tang dynasty, a peak era of cultural exchange in Chinese history when many foreign culinary traditions were introduced to the Central Plains. Our vision is for each cocktail to correspond to a stop along that route by incorporating local fruits, spices, and vessels into the presentations, recreating the flavors of a millennium ago using modern techniques. All recipes build upon classic cocktail structures but add creative twists. Cocktails, after all, are a Western import, and we don’t want to invent something out of thin air – everything has its roots.”
The Hexi Corridor, for example, is a riff on the New York sour using Michter’s Sour Mash Whiskey as the base. Inspired by the legend of Li Guang apricots, a specialty of Gansu Province, it incorporates local apricot-peel tea and
Kushui roses. Garnished with white peaches and wild strawberries, it is finished with Ningxia red wine for a balanced sweet-and-sour flavor. The Baghdad cocktail builds on the coffee martini structure by adding dates – much used in ancient Arab desserts – along with tiramisu liqueur, chocolate, and orange marmalade for a uniquely bittersweet profile.
Yang also recommends the Byzantium, whose concept is based around perfumes favored by the ancient Romans. “Beyond drawing inspiration from ingredients,” he says, “we wanted to connect with local history and culture.” From various Mediterranean herbs, the bartender crafts tinctures that are stored in antique perfume bottles placed on dry-ice trays for guests to drizzle into the diffuser. The recipe, echoing the perfume theme, includes cedar, mastic, pears, and other ingredients that evoke the exoticism of the Western Regions while adding a layered fragrance profile.
Yang is already exploring ideas for the next seasonal menu. Believing that creativity shouldn’t be prompted by study alone, he plans to actively retrace the Tea Horse Road through the mountains of Southwest China, discovering teas, fruits, local liquors, and culinary traditions to infuse the new cocktails with a more vivid sense of Silk Road culture.
“The current menu is just temporary,” Chen points out. “But later it will be compiled into an art book that doubles as a menu, available for purchase by guests who love it.” He is also designing jewelry inspired by Chinese Room and a line of chinoiserie-style home decor.
The vision of the Chinese Room team extends beyond a single bar. They aim to build a cultural brand that reaches beyond China, offering fascinating stories and a fusion of flavors to the wider world.
破局新章
the
next act
World Class champion Shelley Tai brings extensive industry experience to her first bar, MIUS Hong Kong, opening this August.
“I NEVER THOUGHT I’D END UP HERE.” With a look of quiet determination in her eyes, Shelley Tai sits in soon-to-open MIUS Hong Kong on a rainy morning, droplets streaking the floor-to-ceiling windows. When she won the World Class Hong Kong and Macau bartending championship in 2019, she never could have imagined that six years later she’d be sitting here, preparing for the most important August of her life.
From the spotlight of competition stages to the daily grind as operations director at Singapore’s Nutmeg Collective and now to overseeing every design detail of MIUS Hong Kong, Tai’s path hasn’t followed any conventional playbook – yet every step has counted. “I’ve always followed my instincts,” she says. “Curiosity matters more than planning.”
「我从来没有想过会走到这一步。」雨丝打在 MIUS Hong Kong 的落地窗上，这个雨天早晨显 得格外安静。Shelley Tai 坐在即将开业的酒吧里， 眼神透露出沉静的笃定。2019 年夺得「帝亚吉 欧世界调酒大赛」香港及澳门区冠军时，她从未 料到六年后的自己会在这里，准备迎接人生中最 重要的一个八月。
BY JOEY CHEANG • PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
DAVID HARTUNG
That curiosity has shown her three different faces of the bar industry. Competition taught her precision – every drop must have its reason. Operations taught her the bigger picture, that a bar’s success is never just about the bartender. And ownership has taught her what real responsibility means. “When you have to answer for every decision, that’s when you understand what a clear vision really is,” she says.
MIUS Hong Kong embodies exactly that clarity. This neighborhood cocktail bar has no complex concept, no attention-grabbing gimmicks, just the philosophy Tai has always believed in – “doing simple things exceptionally well.” From the warmth of the lighting to the music selection, from bartender training to that crucial first moment when a guest sits down, every detail has been carefully considered.
The pandemic changed many people’s trajectories, and Tai’s was no exception. Choosing to leave Hong Kong at the most uncertain moment and starting over in Singapore made her reassess what team
从比赛台上的聚光灯，到新加 坡 Nutmeg Collective 担任营运总 监的日日夜夜，再到如今把关 MIUS Hong Kong 的每一个设计细节， Shelley 的路走得并不按部就班，却 每一步都至关重要。她说：「我一直 跟着直觉走，好奇心比规划更重要。」
“Positive energy is contagious. When your team genuinely loves this place, guests can definitely feel it. 正能量是有感染力的。当团队真心热爱 这个地方，客人一定感受得到。”
Shelley Tai
really means, what trust really looks like. “I realized what I care about most is that feeling of mutual support,” she says. “Not just professional collaboration, but genuinely caring about each other’s growth.”
This understanding found full expression at Nutmeg Collective. As operations director, Tai learned more than numbers and processes – she learned the management of hearts. “Systems matter, positioning matters, but ultimately it’s always about people,” she says. Coming from a bartending background herself, she knows too well that front-line staff need not just clear direction but the feeling of being seen, being trusted.
All of this experience will flow into MIUS Hong Kong’s DNA. Tai’s competition background ensures the quality of drinks, and her operations experience guarantees professional service, but what she values most is giving the team a sense of belonging, giving guests the feeling of coming home. “Positive energy is contagious,” she says. “When your team genuinely loves this place, guests can definitely feel it.”
Complete creative freedom allows Tai to fully realize her vision. MIUS Hong Kong won’t chase trends or play with concepts but instead will focus on creating what she believes Hong Kong is missing: a bar with both professional standards and human warmth. “We want to build the kind of place you’d want to come to every week.”
When it comes to achieving her goals, Tai has set her own standards. Not revenue figures, not media coverage, but seeing regulars returning again and again and then bringing their friends along. “That’s real success.”
The upcoming opening of MIUS Hong Kong carries with it not only Tai’s aspirations for Hong Kong’s bar scene but her own sense of fulfillment as well. More than just the birth of a bar, it represents a new chapter written by a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry. “I hope our story proves that good bars need both technical skill and genuine heart,” says Tai. “When you truly care for every person, everything else follows.”
开业在即的 MIUS Hong Kong 承载着 Shelley 对香港酒吧业的期许，也寄托着她个人的成就感。 这不只是一间新酒吧的诞生，更是一个女性创业 者在男性主导的行业里写下的新篇章。她说：「我 希望我们的故事能证明，好的酒吧需要技术实力， 也需要真心关怀。当你真心对待每一个人时，其 他一切都会随之而来。」
heartfelt hospitality 待客之道
At Two Moons, a visionary entrepreneur brings connection and community to Macau’s flourishing bar scene.
WHEN FRANKIE LEONG returned to Macau during Covid, he found the city’s bar sector at a crossroads. Always known for its casino lounges and hotel bars, Macau lacked the kind of intimate, industry-focused establishment that could nurture local talent and connect the city to the broader Asian bar community. What happened next would reshape the landscape.
At London’s legendary Milroy’s of Soho, Leong had learned from industry veterans Martyn “Simo” Simpson and Eddie DeSousa that hospitality was about genuine care rather than mere service – and he saw an opportunity. Instead of parlaying his international experience into some flashy concept, he opened Two Moons as exactly what Macau had been missing.
BY JOEY CHEANG
• PHOTOGRAPHY
BY JIN LAO
“We just wanted to be a small neighborhood bar,” he says. But, beyond serving drinks, his vision extended to making Two Moons a laboratory for authentic bar culture. He began hosting whisky dinners that educated local palates, organizing guest shifts that brought international bartenders to collaborate with Macau talent, and creating a space where industry professionals could gather.
Leong’s role as cultural ambassador reached well past the walls of Two Moons. He became unofficial tour guide to visiting bartenders, taking them to explore the city’s Portuguese and Cantonese food culture, introducing them to local traditions, and making sure they experienced Macau beyond its casino facade. Business trips were turned into cultural exchanges, and visiting bartenders left as advocates for Macau’s bar scene and unique heritage.
The impact was broad. Local bartenders who’d been working in isolation suddenly had a place where they could exchange techniques, taste rare spirits, and learn from visiting professionals. International bartenders arriving in Macau found not only a good bar but a fellowship that welcomed them and showcased what the local scene had to offer.
“Every time I go out, instead of just going as a customer, I go out to build relationships,” says Leong in describing an approach that transformed him from bar owner to industry connector. The measure of his contribution came during Asia’s 50 Best Bars week, when industry influencers descended on Macau. Though designated establishments were the official venues, Two Moons became a popular casual gathering spot. Informally recognized as “best after-party hangout” presided over by Macau’s “favorite host,” it was validation by Leong’s peers of the approach he has championed.
Today, Two Moons has become Macau’s de facto bartending academy, networking hub, and cultural bridge. Leong’s strategy has been straightforward – focus on authentic hospitality and let a thriving community grow organically around it.
At Living Room and A.P.D., W Macau – Studio City redefines the luxury bar experience through rhythm and sensory design.
Anti-Adonis
IN A CITY RENOWNED for entertainment, W Macau – Studio City transforms indulgence from mere surface spectacle into a language of rhythm and perception. Here, space becomes not merely a showcase of visual tension but a meticulously choreographed urban narrative. Fashion, nightlife, and five-sense experiences interweave in a multidimensional sensory performance.
The spatial logic of W Macau – Studio City, unfolding like a film alive with dramatic suspense, progresses from opening scene to emotional climax as participants are effortlessly guided by the cadences of movement, light, and shadow. Among the hotel’s spaces, Living Room and, concealed within it, A.P.D. (A Perfect Dose) bar form the most rhythmically compelling realms in the storyline. Both situated on the hotel’s lobby level, one is bright and open and the other dim and hidden, representing the transition between day and night and the shift in emotions that goes with it.
Serving as a welcoming hub, Living Room features a delightful design based on the lorcha, a historic sailing vessel that combined Portuguese and Chinese elements. Above the sitting area inspired by the seabed are light rings and a mirrored ceiling representing the glimmering water’s surface seen from below. Living Room offers beverages throughout the day, serving specialty coffees by day and transforming into a glamorous cocktail bar at night. Reflecting the hotel’s consistent emphasis on inclusivity and contemporary customer trends, some cocktails are available in nonalcoholic versions, allowing all guests to share in Living Room’s exceptional flavor and sensory experiences.
Living Room 潮堂
在这座因娱乐产业而闻名的城市，澳门新濠影汇 W 酒店以风格 为轴，将奢华从外显转译为节奏与感知的设计语言。这里不只 是视觉张力的展演空间，更是一场节拍编排精密的城市叙事： 时尚、夜生活与五感体验，交错构筑出多重维度的感官剧场。
BY JULIE TU
A hidden entrance on one side leads to A.P.D., W Macau – Studio City’s signature cocktail bar tucked away behind the public spaces. Named with the initials for “A Perfect Dose,” the bar is based on the concept of supplying “the perfect dose needed by each guest at this moment.” Through a comprehensive design that encompasses lighting, materials, music, and the language of cocktails, A.P.D. fashions a stimulating nightlife experience centered on “sensory healing.”
It’s a unique environment, themed around infusion and smoke. Guests are immersed in a “botanic” universe
从潮堂侧边的隐藏入口踏入，则来到 A.P.D.—— 这家隐身于 公共空间背后的调酒吧，亦是澳门新濠影汇 W 酒店主打的风格
More than showcases of cocktail culture, the dual realms of Living Room and A.P.D. are enveloping stages where multisensory dramas are enacted.
潮堂与A.P.D.
所构成的双重场域，不仅是调酒文化 的展演，更是五感体验的沉浸式舞台。
where mixologists put on a spectacular show using organic herbs plucked straight from A.P.D.’s vertical hydroponic wall. These, as well as spices, aromatic plants, and tropical fruits, are imaginatively combined in a series of vibrant creations brimming with intriguing contrasts. Like prescriptions for mind and body, A.P.D.’s drinks are designed to correspond to the current emotions and needs of guests, who are invited to choose their own “perfect dose.”
SANDIA, for example, intertwines the heat of spicy watermelon with the sweetness of tropical fruit for a refreshing summer experience. CURRY DE COCO blends curry leaf, coconut, and butter coffee to showcase a captivating tension between warm spices and creamy texture. PIMIENTO VERDE pairs green pepper with grapefruit and soda for a crisp and spicy flavor that awakens the senses. And RÚCULA, made with arugula, coconut oil, and agave, is a tantalizing tug-of-war between serenity and exuberance with a refreshing herbaceous finish.
Like its design, Living Room’s operational approach demonstrates forward-thinking openness. Through collaborations with acclaimed guest bartenders from across Asia, the team gains inspiration from a diversity of cultural and flavor influences. “These experiences allow our young team to interact directly with international top practitioners,” says W Macau Senior Mixologist Victor Pun. “They learn practical methods and how to think creatively, and they ultimately develop our own new classics.” He also notes that although A.P.D. and Living Room have distinct styles, both are committed to offering immersive guest experiences and fostering a creative internal culture that enables bartenders to participate more openly in the development of drinks and overall ambience.
W Hotels, as an exemplar of innovation among global hotel brands, projects a presence that is not only an extension of style but an adventurous experiment fine-tuned to both local culture and the needs of international travelers. More than showcases of cocktail culture, the dual realms of Living Room and A.P.D. are enveloping stages where multisensory dramas are enacted. From architectural flow to flavor design, they demonstrate that true luxury lies not only in an alluring facade but also in creative mastery over details and transitions.
Here, everyone – whether travelers, locals, or sensory explorers of nightlife – can find a “dose” that perfectly resonates with their state and discover their ultimate moment amid the everflowing rhythms.
酒吧。A.P.D. 命名取自 A Perfect Dose，概念源于 「每一位宾客此刻所需要的完美分量」。这座酒吧透 过灯光、材质、音乐与调酒语言的全方位设计，建 构一场围绕「感官疗愈」的夜生活体验。
Obsidian Bar shines, like its namesake stone, with a glamorous glow.
Matrix
WHEN THIS YEAR’S ASIA’S 50 BEST BARS extended list was unveiled, Obsidian Bar in Shenzhen debuted in the rankings at a noteworthy No. 51. “I joined the team in 2019,” says bar manager Paul Hsu, “and from the very beginning, our goal was to make it onto Asia’s 50 Best. We’ve put in a lot of effort.” Hsu’s accolades include winning the China regional championship in the 2023 Diageo World Class competition, and this year, Victor Su, the bar’s head mixologist, was China regional runner-up.
BY CHRIS ZHANG
Obsidian Bar’s unique design includes a restaurant on the first floor, a cocktail bar on the second, and a VIP lounge on the third. “When we took over this building,” says Hsu, “the ceiling was nearly twelve meters high. We chose to use steel structure to build three distinct spaces with different themes. The structure features windows, carvings, and circular holes that are replicas of those invented by London workers during the Second Industrial Revolution to bring light into their living quarters by making use of discarded railway tracks.”
In further tribute to the Victorian era, most of the cocktail recipes are derived from classics dating from 1830 to 1850, with only presentation methods changed and novel ingredients used to create desired flavor profiles.
Hsu recommends the bar’s NATIVE MARTINI. “The earliest martini was quite different from the dry one we’re familiar with – it had a more prominent vermouth flavor. We took that as inspiration, using a variety of existing products to create our homemade vermouth and selecting local ingredients like Hainan aloe vera juice, Xinhui orange peel, and rice cakes. The final product is delightfully rich.”
Obsidian Bar has recently embarked on an evocative new journey by refashioning the second floor, offering an aromatic welcome drink made with Chinese tea, and creating a ceremonial hand-washing experience with hydrosol made from seasonal fresh flowers.
如今，Obsidian Bar 已开启了新旅程。它不仅 对二层空间进行了改造，还贴心准备了仪式感环节： 客人可以享受以时令鲜花制作的纯露净手，并品尝 用中国茶调配的迎宾酒。美好的维多利亚时代旧梦 与当下季节风物于此完美交融。
The team of Obsidian Bar Obsidian Bar 团队
品味阿育吠陀
sipping ayurveda
At Justindia, Chef Justin Paul plays with form as he follows the principles of a traditional Indian system of medicine in creating a unique cocktail menu.
WELL-KNOWN IN MACAU, Chef Justin Paul famously earned a Michelin star for The Golden Peacock, now closed. But he’s back on the scene in the NAPE district with Justindia, which the Michelin Guide Hong Kong & Macau 2025 recognized with its Bib Gourmand award. At this low-key, intimate spot complete with bar counter, Paul is also developing his own line of chutneys and preserves.
The chef comes from the Indian state Kerala, which is an unusual place, because, although the population is a mix of Hindus, Catholics, and Muslims, both pork and beef are widely available and consumed across the board. Kerala is also the birthplace of Ayurveda, a traditional Indian system of medicine, and this “lifestyle,” as Paul refers to it, remains central to life there. “Every family has at least one doctor of Ayurveda,” he says with pride.
To cater to a range of local palates, Justindia’s menu represents a number of Indian cuisines, with five regional chefs working side by side in the kitchen. The cooking is uniformly informed by Michelin-star standards – dishes are perfectly balanced, with a delicacy in delivery and a fantastic range of textural and flavor profiles.
Australian grass-fed lamb shank, brown onion, saffron, organic ghee 勒克瑙羊膝
Significantly, a bar counter is part of the restaurant design. Alongside a selection of award-winning whiskies, a smart wine list, and a range of world beers, there is also a menu of cocktails. Variously based on gin, vodka, pisco, Campari, tequila, and whisky, they’re served without fussy garnishes in various glasses of minimal shapes and flavored with ingredients like curry leaf, fenugreek, cardamom, and tamarind.
Created by Paul in conjunction with the restaurant’s mixologist, Joseph Anil, the cocktail menu is uniquely based on Ayurvedic principles, although alcohol itself is not traditionally a part of them. The shelves behind the bar are packed with glass jars full of the rich Ayurvedic bounty of Kerala: Idukki cardamom, Munnar tea, vetiver root, smoked black limes, and the black peppercorns for which the region is also famous.
Ayurveda, which places emphasis on the sensory experience of food and on its general impact on health and well-being, classifies foods according to taste (rasa), energy (virya), and post-digestive effect (yipaka). The cocktail, then, can bring together common Indian ingredients known for their health benefits, including fenugreek, turmeric, ginger, and garlic. The alluring fragrances of spices like cumin, cardamom,
and clove, as well as Indian cuisine’s layered and nuanced flavor profiles, offer a vast range of sensory enticements.
While the cocktails at Justindia provide a holistic Ayurvedic experience, they also beautifully complement the kitchen’s dishes, gently cutting through spice and acidity, and, with their complex flavor spectrums, they echo Chef Paul’s careful culinary compositions.
Phalon Ki Chaat, a cocktail made with pineapple, bell pepper, tamarind, and mustard, delivers a subtle experience. Its ingredients are soaked overnight in tequila, and, after freezing and clarification, the liquid is strained through a coffee filter. Paul’s favorite, Bombay Kulfi, has a milk-clarified golden rum base and includes pistachio, cardamom, and Madagascar vanilla. Anil’s pick is Kaala Nimbu, in which black lime, lemon, and Aperol are given a base of Latin American mezcal. With its inherent smokiness, this cocktail is for him the perfect pairing with anything emanating from the tandoor.
Joseph 的首选是 Kaala Nimbu，它以黑柠檬、柠 檬和 Aperol 为基底，搭配拉丁美洲的梅斯卡尔酒， 烟熏风味浓郁，Joseph 认为它与泥炉烤制的菜肴 堪称绝配。
Joseph Anil
MACAU GASTRONOMY
Kaala Nimbu
The Bay by Chef Fei redefines the art of Cantonese dining with a seamless blend of heritage and innovation.
Caviar and Langoustine Tartare
CANTONESE CUISINE, one of China’s eight great culinary traditions, emphasizes the purity of ingredients and the precision of technique. This philosophy comes alive at The Bay by Chef Fei at Mandarin Oriental, Shenzhen. Here, each dish not only captures the essence of Cantonese cooking but also tells a story – of tradition, of innovation, and of the culinary passion of its chefs.
“Weights and measures are dead; the chef’s craftsmanship and inspiration are alive.” This sentence, encapsulating Chef Fei’s approach, means that a dish’s success is not about strictly following recipes but about respecting and understanding ingredients. “A true chef doesn’t just control knives and heat but rather ‘talks’ to the ingredients,” he says. “Every cut of meat, every piece of fish has its ideal way of being cooked, and it’s our job to discover it.”
This is exemplified in dishes like Caviar and Langoustine Tartare, influenced by French plating but infused with Chinese flavors. The langoustine, cooked with a lowtemperature technique to retain its tender texture, is paired with rose salt, pickled shallots, white onions, and kaffir lime leaves. While the flavors evoke Shunde’s classic lo hei (raw fish salad), premium caviar adds visual elegance and a burst of umami. “I want diners to take photos after the first bite,” Chef Fei laughs, “but more importantly, I want them to savor it and come back for more.”
Chef Fei, who is a native of Chaoshan, has a deep emotional connection to the culinary traditions of his hometown. The menu at The Bay reflects this, particularly in signature dishes like Poached Threadfin with Pickles and Plum Sauce. A tribute to Chaoshan flavors, the dish features rich, fatty threadfin fish simmered with the pickles and plum sauce to yield a delicious combination of sour, salty, and sweet flavors that achieves a perfect balance with the fish’s natural sweetness. “The soul of Cantonese cuisine lies in being ‘light but not bland, fresh but also refined,’” Chef Fei explains. “Every detail of this dish adheres to that principle.”
Chef Fei, executive chef at Mandarin Oriental, is acclaimed for helming Michelin-starred and Black Pearl-awarded restaurants in Guangzhou and Shanghai.
Wok-Fried Australian Lobster with Basil and Soybean Sauce
The Bay’s private dining rooms are named after mountains and rivers from Classic of Mountains and Seas 餐厅的包房以《山海经》中的山川命名。
Working alongside Chef Fei is his trusted partner in the kitchen, Chef Water, who serves as Chinese executive chef and whose seasoned expertise further elevates the dining experience at The Bay. Collaborating on everything from ingredient selection to final presentation, the two chefs share a commitment to both authenticity and craftsmanship.
Soups are the soul of Cantonese cuisine, and, according to Chef Fei, “In Chaoshan, we say, ‘A meal is not complete without it.’ When it comes to our soups, Chef Water is the master.” The Bay’s renowned soups are slow-cooked for six hours using mountain spring water, mature hens, ham, and pork bones. The result is a broth that captures the true natural flavors of the ingredients. “The essence of soup isn’t complexity but rather purity. When you drink a bowl of it, you taste the truth of the ingredients and the sincerity of the chef.”
up-to-date is a constant challenge. “Preserve the old without being rigid,” says Chef Fei. “And innovate without losing the roots. It isn’t about copying the past but about transforming the classics for today. And innovation isn’t rebellion but rather the telling of old stories in new ways.”
A case in point is Wok-Fried Australian Lobster with Basil and Soybean Sauce, a dish that appeals to contemporary diners with its modern, sophisticated plating but also speaks of its Chaoshan origins. The lobster, simmered in chicken broth to enhance its natural sweetness, is complemented by a harmony of basil, Puning
辉师傅的烹饪哲学并不止步于餐厅内。「美食 是文化交流的桥梁。」他回忆起曾在雅加达和曼谷开 设粤菜餐厅的经历，当地人对粤菜的接受程度让他 倍感惊喜。「他们对炖汤和烧鹅特别感兴趣，因为 这些菜品不仅美味，还代表了一种健康的生活方式。」 为了满足不同市场的需求，辉师傅会根据当地的饮 Tea is an essential part of Cantonese dining. 茶是粤菜中不可或缺的一部分。
Chinese Executive Chef Water and Chef Fei 中餐行政总厨水师傅及辉师傅
soybean sauce, and aromatic satay sauce. “The soul of this dish is Chaoshan,” says Chef Fei, “but its appearance belongs to the world.”
The Bay’s nine private dining rooms, named after mountains and rivers from the ancient Chinese text Classic of Mountains and Seas, reflect Cantonese cuisine’s philosophy of “sourcing from the mountains and the sea.” Every detail, from the calligraphy to the decor, honors the rich heritage of the Cantonese way of life.
“A restaurant should offer more than just food,” says Chef Fei. “It should be a platform for cultural exchange. We want diners
“Our mission is to craft one lovely ‘postcard’ after another for Cantonese cuisine and send them out to the world.
我们的使命，是为粤菜 书写一张又一张的明信 片，寄到全世界。”
Chef Fei 辉师傅
to understand the roots of Cantonese cuisine while experiencing its modern evolution.”
Tea, an essential part of Cantonese dining, further enhances the cultural experience. “The relationship between Cantonese food and tea is like that between a movie and its musical score –they’re inseparable,” Chef Fei says. Seasonal teas, like cold-brewed Dragon Well, are carefully paired with dishes to create a fully immersive dining journey.
Chef Fei’s vision extends beyond the walls of the restaurant. “Food can be a bridge for cultural exchange,” he says, reflecting on his experiences opening restaurants in Jakarta and Bangkok and recalling the locals’ enthusiasm for such classics as Cantonese soups and roasted goose. “These dishes aren’t just delicious – they also represent a healthy lifestyle.” Chef Fei has learned how to cater to diverse audiences and adapt his dishes to local palates. He has helped to make Cantonese cuisine a part of global dining culture while at the same time preserving its essence.
“Recognition is important,” he says, “but what matters most is the satisfaction of our diners.” The watchword he shares with his team reflects his dedication: “Our mission is to craft one lovely ‘postcard’ after another for Cantonese cuisine and send them out to the world.
“The kitchen is a workplace, but it’s also my stage. Every day, I perform here, composing new culinary poems.” His passion for preserving and evolving a storied cuisine ensures that The Bay will continue setting new benchmarks for Cantonese dining.
Poached Threadfin with Pickles and Plum Sauce
MODERN MIX
At Singapore’s Peach Blossoms, Chef Edward Chong brings his fresh perspective to an evolving cuisine infused with a captivating blend of Southeast Asian flavors.
SINGAPOREAN CHINESE CUISINE is in the midst of an exciting evolution – refreshing change that celebrates tradition while boldly embracing modernity. At the forefront of this movement is Executive Chinese Chef Edward Chong of Peach Blossoms at Singapore’s PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay. His progressive, deeply personal cooking philosophy is one that is unafraid of innovation yet grounded in discipline and purpose.
BY JOYCE KWOK
• PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID
Chong is no stranger to hard work or setbacks. Rather than following welltrodden paths, he has chosen to question, reflect, and push boundaries. From early on, he recognized that Singaporean Chinese cuisine needed to move beyond banquet-style norms. He introduced ideas like individual portions, artful presentations, and an integration of such Southeast Asian elements as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and Assam paste into the Chinese culinary framework.
HARTUNG
Exploring new ground was never easy, and each step forward demanded resilience, painstaking self-improvement, and countless hours in the kitchen. Whenever questions arose about such things as knife technique, ingredient sourcing, or temperature control, he always sought answers himself before turning to others. Over time, his habit of constant awareness and analysis shaped quiet, confident mastery.
For Chong, storytelling and innovation go hand in hand. And at the heart of every creation lies a cardinal principle: ingredients define the dish. “We’ve entered an era,” he says, “when ingredients determine success or failure.” As a result, he is always seeking the best, sourcing premium produce from around the world to expand the limits of Chinese cuisine. He also encourages his young team to adopt the same mindset: “Be bold with your ideas but meticulous in your execution.”
Double Boiled Hydrangea Coral Trout with Chinese Yellow Wine, Fish Maw and Cabbage Roll
“Be
bold with your ideas but meticulous in your execution. 创意可以大胆， 但执行必须精准。”
Chef Edward Chong
Such clarity of vision and dedication to craft has transformed Peach Blossoms over the past eight years. In 2025, the restaurant earned a coveted onediamond rating from the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide, and Chong’s Crispy Scales Fillet of Marble Goby in Spicy Pineapple Sauce also clinched the guide’s Dish of the Year award. Reflecting his signature style, it offers sweet, salty, spicy, and sour flavors layered in harmony and brought to life through the uncommon technique of retaining the fish scales and crisping them through repeated ladling of hot oil, ensuring that the flesh stays succulent.
Chong’s bold-yet-refined approach runs through many of the chef’s standout dishes. His Char-Grilled Sous Vide Lobster with Assam Sauce is slow-cooked for juiciness, grilled over binchotan charcoal, and served with a tangy, spicy Southeast Asian sauce. Another highlight, Double-Boiled Hydrangea Coral Trout with Chinese Yellow Wine, Fish Maw and Cabbage Roll, showcases both technical skill and
complexity of flavor with its blend of coral trout and Spanish mackerel expertly sliced to maintain tenderness.
Perhaps the most iconic of his creations is Forbidden Roll, a dramatic, playful dish served in a “book,” its first page slightly burned to reveal savory rolls wrapped in feuille de brick and filled with foie gras, prawn mousse, snow crab, and black truffle. The rolls are served with a luxurious sauce, reminiscent of Peking Duck, that is crafted from Japanese sesame paste and seafood sauce. It’s a dish that provokes curiosity, captures attention, and satisfies completely.
Beyond accolades and technique, Chong is deeply invested in the future of the cuisine he champions. He believes that Chinese cuisine should do more than taste good – it must evoke emotion, honor diversity, and stay fresh in the minds of diners.
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Char-Grilled Sous Vide Lobster with Assam Sauce 低温慢煮阿叁龙虾
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Braised Mung Bean Noodles in Crab Roe Collagen, served with Crab Claw stuffed with Prawn Mousse
Applying that same level of attention to his regular guests, he often reviews his call history to recall what they ordered previously and then crafts new surprises for their next visit. His commitment extends to mentoring his team with encouragement to travel, stay curious, and think beyond borders.
Chong’s story, rather than one of overnight success, is about perseverance, creative courage, and unwavering standards of excellence. In a constantly shifting industry, he remains steadfast in the belief that Chinese cuisine is not only to be preserved but to be celebrated and shared with the world. Through imaginative flavors, technical finesse, and intensely personal storytelling, he continues to advance a vision of Singaporean Chinese cuisine that is distinctly modern, deeply rooted, and ready for the global spotlight.
Leading chefs, sommeliers, restaurateurs, and journalists from across the globe recently gathered in Turin, Italy, for the twenty-third edition of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.
THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED annual revelation of the most prestigious restaurant rankings on earth, an event that garners unparalleled international recognition, both reflects and helps to shape global gastronomy. This year, during the excitement leading up to awards night on June 19, visitors gathered in Turin’s beloved traditional piolas, elegant villas, and art nouveau cafés to soak up la bella vita while sampling regional specialties like agnolotti del plin, a stuffed pasta, and vitello tonnato, a Piedmont classic. For dessert, it might be gianduiotti, Turin’s beloved hazelnut-infused chocolates, and to drink, a glass of sumptuous Barolo or Barbaresco or a perfectly chilled Negroni.
As host city, Turin, famed among chefs and diners for its Piedmont black truffles, brought the awards to Italy for the first time. Along with a grand welcome dinner at the baroque palace of La Venaria Reale, the city hosted a range of events, including visits to a traditional vermouth bar and to the region’s paddies where rice for risotto is grown, as well as oncein-a-lifetime collaboration dinners with celebrated international and Italian chefs.
On awards night, invitees followed the 50 Best purple carpet into Lingotto Fiere Torino to celebrate this year’s results. Taking home the title of The World’s Best Restaurant 2025 was Maido, in Lima, Peru, Chef Mitsuharu “Micha” Tsumura’s groundbreaking restaurant that specializes in Nikkei cuisine, a blend of Japanese and Peruvian influences.
A total of fourteen restaurants in Asia were among the top fifty. Gaggan in Bangkok, at No. 6, was named The Best Restaurant in Asia 2025. One other Asia entry made the top ten, Sezanne in Tokyo at No. 7. Potong in Bangkok won the Highest New Entry Award, debuting at an impressive No. 13. Chef Pichaya “Pam” Soontornyanakij won the title of The World’s Best Female Chef, and Hong Kong’s Wing, at No. 11, took home the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award.
CHEF MITSUHARU “MICHA” Tsumura’s Nikkei hotspot in the Miraflores neighborhood of Lima has featured on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list since 2015, ranking No. 5 in 2024. Also named Latin America’s Best Restaurant four times, the restaurant reinterprets centuries-old Japanese-Peruvian culinary traditions through a modern fine-dining lens.
On winning the top spot, Tsumura remarked, “I think the most beautiful act of love is to cook for somebody. It’s the most beautiful thing that has happened in my life. It’s a dream come true.” The chef also used the podium to offer a message of peace and togetherness: “We talk a lot about sustainability of the environment, but we rarely talk about human sustainability. I think this industry can be an example of how we can bring people together with the power of food.”
Maido takes over the crown from Spain’s modernist mecca, Disfrutar, which enters The Best of the Best list of all top winners over the history of the rankings, including Lima’s Central, Copenhagen’s Geranium, and France’s Mirazur.
NAMED THE BEST RESTAURANT in Europe 2025, Asador Etxebarri is set in the idyllic village of Atxondo in the mountains of Basque country. Over the last three decades, visiting the restaurant has become somewhat of a pilgrimage for food lovers across the globe. Here, selftaught chef Bittor Arguinzoniz gives everything – even ice cream – a kiss of smoke from the grills, or asadores, he designed himself with pulleys that manage their height above the flames to precisely control cooking.
“In my opinion, almost anything can be cooked over fire with more or less success,” he says. “It’s often a matter of time and perseverance to find the perfect cooking point for each food.” Each day, he prepares coals from different woods for different ingredients: holm oak for fish, for example, and vine trunks for meat. His dedication and attention to detail allows him to draw out sublime flavors from seemingly simple, always local, ingredients.
“For me,” says Arguinzoniz, “cooking with fire means being in touch with my origins. It connects me directly with my childhood, with my mother’s and grandmother’s cooking in the farmhouse. People are looking for traditional flavors again, and cooking over fire is an ancestral way of cooking.”
NAMED AFTER A HERB native to Oaxaca, Quintonil has, for more than a decade, pushed the boundaries of Mexican cuisine. Here, Chef Jorge Vallejo focuses on fresh, local ingredients and gives traditional Mexican flavors and techniques a modern interpretation, while his wife, Alejandra Flores, brings warmth and detailed attention to the service.
“Developing a personal approach to something as vast, complex, and historical as Mexican cuisine takes time, patience, and a great deal of work,” says Vallejo. “After thirteen years, we can say that Quintonil doesn’t just serve contemporary Mexican cuisine – we’ve also built meaningful culinary experiences around it. We aspire not only to delight but to transform and leave a lasting impression on those who visit us.”
Vallejo is on a mission to show the world that Mexican cuisine is far more than tacos. He sees Quintonil as a vehicle to showcase Mexico’s culinary richness: “We don’t just offer a new perspective on it – we also aim to contribute to the national recipe book. How many foreign visitors arrive somewhat hesitant about escamoles [edible ant larvae and pupae] and leave with a memorable experience? Most of them!”
TWO DECADES AGO, Chef Dabiz Muñoz fell in love with Hong Kong’s famous XO sauce and East Asian food in general. In 2007, he opened DiverXO, named for the condiment and the Spanish word diverso, meaning “diverse.” There he served boundary-breaking dishes that took inspiration from anywhere and everything. In 2013, DiverXO earned its third Michelin star, making Muñoz the second-youngest chef ever to win the accolade.
Over the years, the supremely creative Madrid restaurant has continued to serve the unexpected. “That sensation of being in front of something new is my favorite feeling in life,” says Muñoz. “That’s what I want people to feel every time they come to my restaurant, that feeling of ‘wow,’ like when you’re at a museum or the theater and you see something new and you get butterflies in your stomach.”
While much of Muñoz’s inspiration previously came from Asian cuisines, today he shows a growing appreciation for the ingredients and culinary traditions on his doorstep. “Right now we want to ensure uniqueness along every step, from producer to plate,” he says. “Spain is so rich in ingredients, so we’re finding unique products from small producers and presenting them from a different point of view.”
HOUSED IN THE VAST PREMISES of the former set-building workshop of the Royal Danish Theatre, Alchemist has a towering, dark lounge that looks like something from a sci-fi film, a planetarium-styled dome that screens graphics over the main dining room, and spaces for interactive theatrical experiences with musicians, dancers, and mime artists.
And then there’s the food: forty or so “impressions” that include solid cocktails, cryogenically frozen butterflies, flattened chicken heads, and Space Bread, a bite-size airy creation made from two drops of ten-year-old soy sauce expanded in a hyper-aeration chamber to 10,000 percent by volume and topped with Royal Belgian Osetra Caviar.
“Provocation has a deep impact on people,” says Chef Rasmus Munk. “Our guests sometimes say they remember a dish of ours five years later. It’s also a good way to talk about difficult subjects.”
But Alchemist is about far more than talk. In May, Munk launched a network at Spora, his lab to research and develop novel foodstuffs, that connects three hundred scientists, academics, journalists, and innovators to accelerate development of delicious, sustainable, scalable, and accessible foods for the future. “If you don’t have the ambition to change the world, you’ll never do it,” says Munk.
FROM THE BRIGHT MURAL of parrots flying through the jungle on the wall to the native ingredients on the plate, it’s immediately clear that Celele celebrates the bounty of its location: the Colombian Caribbean.
Celele, a new entry on the list this year at No. 48, is the result of the Caribe Lab Project, which chef-owner Jaime Rodríguez founded to research Colombia’s food heritage, indigenous ingredients, and verdant biodiversity. “We’re surrounded by countless wild foods that we don’t value,” he says. “At Celele, we aimed to take advantage of this biodiversity in a responsible way. We made many eat Caribbean flowers and put them in fashion at more restaurants. We made many start talking about the varieties of beans, yams, mangoes, and seeds of this endless pantry that, year after year, has given us more surprises.”
Celele’s commitment to celebrating native ingredients, its long-term partnerships with farmers and fishers working in environmentally friendly ways, and its community-driven initiatives all work to make it a leading light in global sustainability.
CHEF, AUTHOR, CAMPAIGNER , and educator Mindy Woods took home to Australia the annual award that honors unsung heroes of the hospitality sector who are driving positive action in their communities. Woods was recognized for her efforts in preserving and sharing Indigenous Australian food culture, particularly that of Bundjalung Country, a vast region spanning New South Wales and Queensland.
“Most people don’t even realize how many native foods we have,” says Woods. “We’ve got sixty-five hundred ingredients that are unique to this beautiful place we call Australia.”
Woods runs Karkalla on Country, a rural restaurant near Byron Bay where guests kick off their shoes to connect with the land, experience a traditional smoking ceremony with Aboriginal elders, and enjoy a meal using traditional ingredients like native rock oysters, kangaroo, and a pantry of medicinal herbs. “I believe food is a powerful way to connect people to culture, land, and history,” says Woods.
Mindy 在拜伦湾附近的乡村经营着 Karkalla on Country，客人们可以脱掉鞋子，与这片土地亲密接 触，与原住民长老一起体验传统的熏烤仪式，并享 用以当地岩蚝、袋鼠和各种药草等传统食材烹制的 佳肴。Mindy 说：「我相信食物是将人们与文化、土 地和历史联系起来的强大方式。」
WOODFORD RESERVE ICON AWARD
Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore
THIS YEAR’S WOODFORD RESERVE ICON AWARD went to two giants of global gastronomy, Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore, the powerhouse duo behind restaurants around the world, as well as the Casa Maria Luigia guesthouse and the nonprofit Food for Soul.
“Icons don’t stand alone,” says Bottura. “They stand on layers of stories, people, and time.” He describes three-Michelin-starred Osteria Francescana thirty years ago as “just a small restaurant in a quiet street in Modena with big dreams and big doubts.”
The award, he says, is “about a team that has become a family. In thirty years, I’ve learned that the most powerful ingredient is not on a plate – it’s culture. Culture is what transforms ingredients into ideas, mistakes into masterpieces, and meals into memories. So thank you for seeing not just a restaurant but a movement of people who believe that beauty can really change the world and that a plate of pasta, if cooked with love, can be revolutionary.”
今年的「Woodford Reserve 标志人物奖」颁给了 两位全球美食界的巨头：Massimo Bottura 和 Lara Gilmore，这对实力雄厚的二人组打造了多家餐厅，还 有 Casa Maria Luigia 旅馆和非营利组织 Food for Soul。 Massimo 说：「标志性人物并非孤军奋战。他们 屹立于故事、人物和时间的长河之上。」他形容拥有 三颗米其林星的 Osteria Francescana 在三十年前只是 「摩德纳一条安静街道上的小餐厅，并怀揣着远大的 梦想和巨大的疑虑。」
THE WORLD’S BEST FEMALE CHEF Pichaya ‘Pam’ Soontornyanakij
CHEF PAM of Bangkok’s trendsetting modern Chinese-Thai restaurant Potong received rapturous applause when she took to the stage – it was the first time since the award was launched in 2011 that the title of The World’s Best Female Chef has been awarded to an Asian.
In a video screened at the ceremony, Chef Pam read out a letter she’d written as if to herself as a young chef, looking back on her own journey and offering advice.
“Dear young Pam,” she wrote, “you may not see it now but this journey, this passion you’re about to chase – it’s not just for today, it’s for a thousand years.”
Besides being an inspiration in the kitchen, Chef Pam has also founded the Women-forWomen program to support budding chefs in rural Thailand in developing a culinary career in Bangkok. The program raises funds for a hospitality-college scholarship and a fully sponsored, salaried internship at Potong.
EARNING THE ESTRELLA DAMM Chefs’ Choice Award, voted on by one’s peers, is a particular honor. This year’s winner, Chef Albert Adrià, along with his brother Ferran, did nothing less than change the course of global gastronomy at El Bulli in Roses, Spain. Known for its techno-emotional, molecular-gastronomy approach, El Bulli closed in 2011 after being named The World’s Best Restaurant five times.
Adrià now helms Enigma in Barcelona, No. 34 on this year’s list. He continues to explore the possibilities of cutting-edge cooking through innovative techniques and creative approaches and works to shape the future of cuisine from his laboratory and through ongoing research and development projects.
“A heartfelt ‘thank you’ for all your trust and the support of so many professionals,” said Adrià on receiving the award. “It truly encourages us to keep pushing forward, seeking new paths of expression in this everenzymatic landscape. And remember, as Picasso once said, ‘Art is not decoration, it’s an act of war.’”
荣获由业内同行投票选出的「Estrella Damm 厨师之选奖」，无疑是一项殊荣。今年的获奖 者是 Albert Adrià，他与兄弟 Ferran 在西班牙 罗塞斯的 El Bulli，共同改写了全球美食的发展 进程。El Bulli 凭借其独树一帜的技术情感理念 与分子美食技法而声名大噪，在五度荣膺「世 界最佳餐厅」的桂冠后，于 2011 年光荣谢幕。
Albert 在领奖时说：「衷心感谢你们的信 任和众多专业人士的支持。这鼓励我们继续前 进，在这不断发酵的领域中寻找新的路径。请 记住，正如毕加索所说：『艺术不是装饰，而 是战争。』」
THE WORLD’S BEST PASTRY CHEF
Maxime Frédéric
AS PÂTISSIER AT REVERED CHEVAL BLANC in Paris and through his neighborhood bakery Pleincoeur and his work for Louis Vuitton and other illustrious brands, Maxime Frédéric is known for refining the classics of French patisserie. It took him more than two years, for example, to perfect his signature millefeuille, with its improved puff pastry texture and cream flavored with three kinds of vanilla replacing the traditional fondant.
“I’ve always given my best,” he says, “and it was through hard work that I was able to achieve my dream of becoming the chef of a palace. Don’t just dream, live your dreams.”
Inspiring culinary excellence across continents, Frédéric is committed to supporting his teams in Paris and at Louis Vuitton cafés in New York and beyond.
“Transmission is a fundamental value to me,” he says. “Every day, I like to share what I’ve learned over the years to enable all my bakers and chocolatiers to be better tomorrow.”
Maxime Frédéric 曾是巴黎备受推崇的 Cheval Blanc 的甜点师，借其社区烘焙坊 Pleincoeur， 以及为路易威登等知名品牌创作的精湛作品而 知名。Maxime 以精益求精的法式技艺而声名
Kita means “us,” and for six days in Singapore, that word came alive in dinners, dialogues, and provocations about flavor, responsibility, and the future of food.
BY MARK HAMMONS
a table, set in motion
IN MARCH, SINGAPORE HEATS UP EARLY. The air thickens with the scent of frangipani, diesel, and garlic hitting oil. In 2025, something else was in the air: not a performance, but questions.
This was the Kita Food Festival.
For six days, more than fifty chefs, producers, scientists, and writers moved through a citywide sequence of collaborative dinners, panel talks, and working conversations. There was no central stage, no single theme. What emerged instead was a shared inquiry:
What are we cooking toward? Who gets to define Southeast Asian cuisine? And what happens when a region tells its story not through spectacle but through the food itself?
The answers weren’t declared. They were plated, tasted, considered – and left to settle like the memory of a good meal.
三月，新加坡早早迎来了炎热。空气中弥漫着依兰 花的芬芳、柴油的气味，以及爆香蒜头的烟火气。 在 2025 年的三月，空气中还有另一种气息：不是 表演，而是一个问题。这就是 Kita 美食节。
At Po at The Warehouse Hotel, Keiko Kuwakino, executive chef of Satoyama Jujo in Niigata, Japan, presented a dinner shaped by eleven years of daily walks through the forested mountains of her home, where the scent of cedar and the sound of snowmelt mark the seasons.
“I saw the full cycle of a plant – sprout, leaf, flower, root, decay,” she said. “That rhythm changed how I cook.”
Her cuisine – plant-forward, precise, built around fermented elements – is less about plating than perspective.
“Fermentation is how one season carries into the next,” she explained. “It’s a bridge, not a technique.”
She often speaks of tanmi, a Japanese concept she defines as restrained but deeply felt flavor. Her menu – clear daikon broth, wild vegetables wrapped in fermented cherry leaves, shaved mountain
Dalia Adler
Syrco Bakker
在 Warehouse Hotel 酒店内的 Po 餐厅，来自 日本新潟县 Satoyama Jujo 的餐厅主厨 Keiko Kuwakino 呈现了一顿由十一年山野漫步塑造的 晚餐。她在家乡的森林山径中进行日常漫步，雪 松的芬芳与雪融的声纹，共同记录着四季轮回。 她说：「我看到了植物的完整生命周期 发芽、展叶、开花、结果、凋零。这种韵律改变 了我的烹饪方式。」
她的料理以植物为主，精确，并围绕发酵 元素构建 并非摆盘艺术，而是视角。
她表示：「发酵是延续季节的方式。它是一 座桥梁，而非技巧。」
她经常提及「淡味」（tanmi）这个日式理念，
mushrooms – was less a performance than a reading of the landscape.
“I believe every dish carries a kind of resonance,” she said. “A layering of the maker’s intent, the ingredient’s story, and the vitality of the land itself.”
That idea – memory as method – also guided Brian Cole, who served a six-course West African tasting menu at Tamba. Born in Sierra Leone, raised across Guinea and Ghana, and now based in Australia, Cole cooks with a directness that is both precise and emotional.
“My goal is to elevate West African cuisine to stand alongside other great culinary traditions,” he said. “To do that, I return to the stories I grew up with – the smells, the fire, the way ingredients speak when they’re cooked slowly, with care.”
His gron soup, made with scallops and firecharred cucumbers, is based on a dish his mother helped him document.
“That char enhances the sweetness,” he explained. “It speaks to the way we cooked over embers.”
His jollof rice used heirloom tomatoes; his oleleh was structured with restraint but stayed rooted in home.
“People are open to these dishes,” he said. “They just need to be cooked with integrity.”
What surprised him most wasn’t the reception but how long it took him to bring these flavors into his professional repertoire.
“The surprising part,” he admitted, “is why I haven’t done it sooner.”
At 1880 Singapore, Syrco Bakker cooked from another kind of return. Born in the Netherlands to Indonesian grandparents, he trained in Europe for more than a decade before opening Syrco BASÈ in Bali. His homecoming was more than professional – it was personal.
“Even though I grew up in the Netherlands, I’ve always felt a connection to this part of the world,” he said. “Opening the restaurant in Bali felt like coming full circle.”
Bakker’s cooking rests on three principles: traceability, transparency, and nature.
“It started with a simple question,” he explained. “‘Where does this ingredient come from?’ Once you ask that, you can’t unsee it. We work directly with foragers, fishers, farmers. We know their names, their faces. That changes everything.”
“I saw the full cycle of a plant –sprout, leaf, flower, root, decay. That rhythm changed how I cook. 我看到了植物的完整生命周 期——发芽、展叶、开花、 结果、凋零。这种韵律改变 了我的烹饪方式。 。 ”
这种「以记忆为食谱」的理念也塑造了 Tamba 餐厅主厨 Brian Cole 提供的六道菜西非品尝菜单。Brian 出生于塞拉利昂，在几 内亚和加纳长大，现居澳洲，将技法与情感注入每一道料理。
他说：「我的目标是提升西非美食的地位，使其与其他美食
His reimagined bebek betutu kept the foundational elements – herbs, smoke, intensity – but refined the structure.
“The essence is still there,” he said. “But we reworked the balance and presentation. It surprises international guests but still feels familiar to locals. That’s what I want.”
Bakker isn’t chasing authenticity as a fixed point.
“To me, it means sincerity, not replication,” he said. “We’re not copying the past. We’re cooking with what’s in front of us. With honesty.”
On Sunday night, the festival’s final dinner unfolded at East47 at Conrad Singapore. Darren Teoh, Kita’s cofounder and chef-patron of Dewakan in Kuala Lumpur, collaborated with Manhattan bar on a menu built around Malaysian ingredients and his belief in using them without hierarchy.
“There are no ‘humble’ Malaysian ingredients,” Teoh said. “What makes something humble? Every ingredient has value, shaped by resilience and time. Plants and animals don’t just happen – they’re the result of perfect conditions aligning. So why is one considered more valuable than another?”
“My goal is to elevate West African cuisine to stand alongside other great culinary traditions.
我的目标是提升西非美食的 地位，使其与其他美 食传统比肩。”
Brian Cole
Brian Cole
Teoh’s approach resists nostalgia for its own sake.
“Cooking is never static,” he said. “Every dish evolves. What we serve is shaped by what we learn.”
Across the week, a pattern emerged –not of uniformity, but of shared intent. These chefs weren’t enacting regionality or pushing innovation for its own sake. They were working from place – whether Niigata, Freetown, Bali, or Kuala Lumpur – with fluency, confidence, and without apology.
Each menu was a position, each dish a conversation between past and present, technique and instinct, constraint and creativity.
Rather than asking, “What will impress?” they asked, “What matters here?” and “Who are we – when we say it together?”
In that way, the festival’s name –Kita, the inclusive “us” – wasn’t branding. It was structure, practice, a reminder that food at its best isn’t a story you perform. It’s one you share.
IF THE DINNERS ASKED QUESTIONS through flavor, the Future of Food Symposium asked them more directly. Held at New Bahru on the final day of the festival, the event was co-sponsored by Kita and Synthesis, a global creative data consultancy headquartered in Singapore.
The hall was bright with daylight as guests settled in with notebooks and coffee. Chefs sat alongside educators, researchers, and policy thinkers.
The questions at stake were broader, harder:
What does a sustainable food future look like? What systems will get us there – and who decides?
One of the afternoon session’s most charged exchanges came in a panel titled “Meat the Perfect Future: Cell-Cultured vs. Grass-Fed?” featuring Matthew Evans, Australian farmer and writer, and Dalia Adler, head of marketing at food-tech company Vow.
Evans, best known for his TV series The Gourmet Farmer, made the case for soil – and for humility.
“Humans are designed to be around healthy soil,” he said. “It inoculates our gut microbiomes. It improves mental health. And food grown in it – meat raised on it – tastes better. That’s not nostalgia. That’s biology.”
He warned against overconfidence in technology:
“Lab-grown meat might look efficient, but we don’t yet understand the full environmental cost – steel, energy, scale. Sometimes the most radical act is to cook a carrot or a good piece of grass-fed meat, with care.”
Adler positioned cultivated meat as one of many tools rather than a wholesale replacement.
“It’s not about replacing meat,” she said. “It’s about giving people
如果说之前的晚宴通过风味提出诘问，「未 来食物研讨会」则更直接地提出了这些问题。 研讨会在美食节最后一天于 New Bahru 举 行，由 Kita 和总部位于新加坡的创意数据咨 询公司 Synthesis 共同赞助。
“Humans are designed to be around healthy soil. It inoculates our gut microbiomes. It improves mental health.
人类本应与健康的土壤共生， 土壤能增强我们的肠道微生 物群，改善心理健康。 ”
Matthew Evans
choices that match their values. We want people to choose it because it tastes good – not out of guilt.”
She recalled her first taste of cultivated quail:
“It didn’t feel synthetic. It felt like a new way of eating something I already knew.”
Adler noted that Vow now operates the world’s largest foodgrade bioreactor – twenty thousand liters – with plans to scale to ten thousand tonnes of production per month.
“It’s not theoretical,” she said. “It’s happening.”
Evans agreed there was room for multiple approaches, but offered a reminder:
“There’s room for both, but don’t underestimate what the soil already knows.”
Environmental concerns were also paramount for Guillemette Forato of BlueYou, who focused on ocean-based food systems and the Selva Shrimp regenerative aquaculture model in Indonesia.
“This is conservation through cultivation,” she said. “The ecosystem heals, the yield improves, and the community benefits.”
She also championed low-trophic species such as seaweed and mussels:
“They require no feed, they clean the water, and they use no land. We’ve overlooked them for too long. Feeding the world is possible, but only if we do it with the ocean, not against it.”
A similar systems-based approach shaped the next talk by Eelke Plasmeijer, cofounder of Locavore NXT in Bali. His restaurant fuses farm, lab, distillery, and dining space into a single integrated operation.
“Our perfect restaurant has no separation,” he said. “No backstage. Just one living, evolving space.”
Locavore NXT ’s menu is intentionally constrained to Indonesian ingredients – no wheat, no dairy, minimal animal protein.
“We want the food to reflect where we are,” Plasmeijer explained. “That means adjusting to what’s growing, planning with our garden team, and being flexible. It’s not easy, but it’s honest.”
He makes sure diners know what to expect:
“We communicate everything before guests arrive –what they’ll eat, what they won’t. That way there are no surprises, just curiosity. And if our cooks bring what they learn back to their families or future kitchens, that’s success.”
The evening session’s opening speaker was Joxe Mari Aizega, director general of the Basque Culinary Center, a pioneering institution in Spain that treats gastronomy as a discipline connecting craft, culture, and responsibility.
“An educational institution must remain deeply connected to the challenges and opportunities of the future,” Aizega said. “Only by doing so can we shape professionals who are prepared to lead and redefine gastronomy.”
At the Basque Culinary Center, students train across business, science, history, and technique.
“Innovation doesn’t mean discarding the past – it means reimagining it without losing its soul,” he continued. “We want chefs who understand the full ecosystem.”
Skill alone, he added, is not enough:
“Excellence alone isn’t enough. Chefs must also understand their responsibility to the land, to the kitchen brigade, to the supply chain, and to the people they serve.”
Helianti Hilman, founder of JAVARA, brought the discussion back to origin. Her work connects smallholder farmers in Indonesia with urban markets, reviving what she calls the “flavors of the forgotten.”
“These foods aren’t obsolete,” she said. “They’ve just been excluded from the narrative.”
She called for more than storytelling:
“We don’t need charity. We need partnership. These producers are experts. They just need access.”
For Hilman, diversity is the heart of resilience:
“Diversity – in crops, in culture, in cuisine – is what makes food systems resilient.”
Professor William Chen, director of the Food Science and Technology Programme at Nanyang Technological University, offered a pragmatic, urban-facing solution: converting food waste into nutritional supplements through fermentation and microalgae.
“It’s not about replacing everything,” he said. “It’s about
“Diversity – in crops, in culture, in cuisine – is what makes food systems resilient.
南洋理工大学食品科学与技术项目总监 William Chen 教授提出了一 个务实、面向城市的解决方案：通过发酵和微藻将厨余转化为营养 补充剂。
building local, circular systems that reduce reliance on long supply chains. Innovation doesn’t mean rejecting tradition. It means adapting it to what we need now.”
The symposium’s concluding speaker approached the same topic from another perspective.
Benjamin Lephilibert, founder of LightBlue Environmental Consulting, described his work helping hospitality businesses measure and reduce food waste.
“The chef was stunned,” he said, recalling a Bangkok hotel unknowingly discarding more than a kilo of food waste per guest per day. “But the data doesn’t lie.”
LightBlue’s model – now used by 150 hotels in 30 countries – is simple: measure everything, create ownership, change behavior.
“Technology is the easy part,” Lephilibert said. “The shift happens when cooks see the numbers and decide to do better. That’s when it sticks. And when a line cook takes this mindset home and teaches it to their kids – that’s real change.”
The symposium didn’t end with consensus, but that was never the goal. Each speaker reframed the question of what food is – not as a fixed idea, but as a series of choices. And once it is seen that way, the possibilities multiply: from what we plant and how we cook, to who we feed, and who we listen to.
AFTER THE DINNERS and discussions, what remained wasn’t a headline or a theme but a set of open questions:
How do we cook in a way that respects what we’ve inherited, without becoming stuck in it?
How do we create systems that feed not just diners, but farmers, foragers, and ideas?
How do we build a future that feels like us?
For Leisa Tyler, cofounder of Kita, the answers begin not with events but with infrastructure.
“We never set out to create a festival for spectacle,” she says. “We wanted to connect the dots across Southeast Asia, to tell the stories that aren’t often told, and to support chefs and producers who are thinking critically, not just following trends.”
It’s a clear mission, but not an easy one to explain.
“The Southeast Asian culinary narrative often seems fragmented,” she continues. “We’re trying to show how interconnected it actually is, but that doesn’t always translate into ticket sales. We’re still fighting the idea that if someone isn’t famous, their ideas don’t matter.”
She’s realistic about the challenge of shifting audience habits.
“We’ve had dinners that didn’t sell out, even though they were extraordinary. Part of our work is convincing people to choose something unfamiliar – to come for ideas, not just names.”
Still, she is planning ahead. Tyler hopes to expand Kita into cities like Phuket, Chiang Mai, Penang, and Kota Kinabalu – each version shaped by local ingredients and ideas, each giving chefs room to explore.
“Our job is to create the conditions for good work to happen,” she says. “Not to control the outcome, but to make space.”
One of the clearest expressions of that ethos is Horizons, Kita’s mentorship program for young chefs.
“It’s not a PR platform,” she says. “It’s designed to change how chefs think.”
“We wanted to connect the dots across Southeast Asia – to tell the stories that aren’t often told.
我们希望将东南亚各个地方连接起 来，讲述那些不常被讲述的故事 。 ” Leisa Tyler
晚餐和讨论结束后，留下的不是头条新闻或主题，而是 一系列开放命题。
我们如何以尊重传统的方式烹饪，同时又不被其束 缚？
我们如何建立系统，滋养食客、农民、采集者和思 想？
我们如何构建一个真正属于我们的未来？ 对于 Kita 联合创始人 Leisa Tyler 来说，答案不在于 美食节本身，而是始于基础设施。
这并未阻碍她提前规划。Leisa 希望将 Kita 扩展至 普吉岛、清迈、槟城和哥打基纳巴卢等城市。每个城市 都以其本地食材和理念为特色，为厨师提供探索的空间。
Each year, Horizons selects – anonymously and by merit – a dozen chefs under thirty and takes them across Malaysia. They visit farms, study sustainable kitchen design, examine food waste, and meet producers doing the work on the ground.
At the end of the program, they face a final challenge: create a menu using only grade-two vegetables, excess produce, and secondary cuts. No Wagyu, no foie gras – just skill, resourcefulness, and care.
“These are chefs used to premium ingredients,” Tyler explains, “and we ask, can you make something great with what’s often left behind? Can you nourish without luxury?”
The exercise often shifts their perspective.
“They leave with a different sense of what their role is – not just to impress guests but to think about the whole chain behind a dish. It’s not romantic. It’s practical.”
For Darren Teoh, Kita’s other cofounder, the goal has always been coherence.
“I’m not interested in how the world sees us. I care how we see ourselves.”
His view is shaped by his own background.
“Many people grow up in monocultures. I didn’t. I’m Chinese-IndianMalaysian. What’s ‘traditional’ for me is already mixed, so I’ve never thought of culture as fixed. It shifts. It adapts.”
That philosophy runs through his cooking at Dewakan, where many ingredients – wild herbs, fermented flowers, native leaves – are unfamiliar even to local diners.
“We don’t cook to tradition or to culture,” he says. “We cook to context. We ask, what makes sense now? What belongs here?”
There’s no scripted storytelling in the dining room. Instead, guests
“I’ve never thought of culture as fixed. It shifts. It adapts.
are shown raw ingredients before the meal; the rest is up to them.
“We do the work,” Teoh says. “We make it taste good –that’s the story.”
What he wants for Kita isn’t a legacy carved in stone, but something living.
“I want it to evolve. If someone takes this idea ten years from now, forgets where it came from, and turns it into something new – that’s a good thing.”
Kita has no manifesto, no fixed identity. What binds it is a shared decision to slow down, look closely, and ask better questions. Rather than defining a region, the chefs and thinkers who gathered in Singapore were trying to understand it.
As the final panel ended and the crowd filtered into the early evening, there was no closing speech, no Champagne toast – only a quiet sense that the work would continue, and the lingering question:
How do we carry this forward?
Maybe the answer lies in what Keiko Kuwakino calls resonance – the feeling a dish leaves behind: a memory, a signal, a moment that remains.
Or maybe it’s in the word itself: kita – us.
A table we keep setting.
A pronoun we keep filling with meaning.
Not a brand, not a festival, not even a story.
Just the beginning of one.
Darren 说：「我们不是为了传统或文化而烹饪，我们 为了当下而烹饪。我们问：现在什么有意义？这里什么合 适？」
餐厅不会介绍菜式。相反，客人在用餐前会看到原始 食材，其余的就靠他们自己体会。
他表示：「我们专注烹饪，确保味道好。那就是故事。」
他希望 Kita 留下的不是遗产，而是生生不息的脉动。 他坦言：「我希望它能不断发展。如果有人十年后接 受这个想法，忘记了它来自哪里，并将其变成新的东西 也是一件好事。」
Kita 没有宣言，亦没有固定标签。将一切凝聚的，是一个 共同的决定：放慢脚步，仔细观察，并提出更好的问题。 聚集在新加坡的厨师和思想家们并不是试图定义一个地 区，而是理解它的本质。
At Cadence by Dan Bark in Bangkok, every detail – from pacing to plating – speaks in harmony.
STEP OFF A QUIET Bangkok lane and into a dimly lit, mirror-lined antechamber where ambient music hums at the edge of awareness. This is Cadence’s “Decompression Room,” a moment of stillness before the symphony begins. Moments later, you’re seated in an elegant salon of curved cream banquettes, face-to-face with a serene open kitchen. The air is fragrant with warm brioche and wood-fired stock. Nothing feels rushed. Every element moves with rhythm, flow, and balance –the principles that guide Chef Dan Bark’s culinary world.
Dan Bark came to Bangkok by way of Chicago’s Michelinstarred kitchens – Avenues, then Grace. In 2014, he and his partner Fay Tragoolvongse left the US to open their own place, Upstairs at Mikkeller, a tasting-menu counter above a craft beer bar. What began as an experiment in “progressive American” cuisine soon caught the attention of Michelin, which awarded Upstairs a star in its inaugural Bangkok guide. Bark, with his Korean heritage and classical French training, didn’t cook to fit a genre. He cooked to tell stories – stories built on balance. Cadence, which opened in 2020, is the natural evolution. The name itself suggests motion: not a single note, but a sequence. Bark doesn’t serve twelve dishes – he conducts them. “We don’t see it as separate plates,” he says. “We see it as one experience.” That philosophy begins with pace. The first few bites arrive quickly, catching diners mid-hunger. Then the tempo slows.
Courses play with temperature, texture, and restraint. A recent menu opened with a XO -scallop-filled doughnut paired with clam cheddar and black garlic: hot, plush, and umami-rich. A few movements later, Alaskan king crab gazpacho with tomato and kombu custard shimmered cool and clear. Then came the crescendo: A4 Kagoshima Wagyu with Thai red curry, coconut, and pineapple – a deeply personal dish inspired by Bark’s childhood barbecue memories and his adopted home. “The pineapple connects them,” he explains. It’s memory, made edible.
The flavors are global, but the palate is his own. Each dish is tuned to hit a balance of acid, fat, salt, sweetness, and surprise. The same can be said of the room. Designed by Paradigm Shift, Cadence
菜式在温度、口感与克制之间巧妙变换。最 近的菜单以 XO 酱扇贝甜甜圈搭配蛤蜊切达奶酪和 黑蒜开场：热辣、松软且鲜味十足。间奏是阿拉 斯加帝王蟹冷汤配番茄与昆布蛋奶冻，清凉爽口， 晶莹剔透。高潮落在 A4 鹿儿岛和牛搭配泰式红 咖喱、椰子和菠萝。这道菜的灵感源于 Dan 童年 的烧烤记忆和他的第二故乡。他解释：「菠萝将它 们连接在一起。这是可食用的记忆。」
Dan Bark
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
Every element moves with rhythm, flow, and balance—the principles that guide Chef Dan Bark’s culinary world.
如果一个人没有吃好饭，就无法好 好思考、好好爱、好好睡觉。”
每个元素都随着节奏、韵律与平衡而动—— 这正是主厨Dan Bark烹饪世界的指引原则。
Red Shrimp in “Reimagined Som Tam”
Together, they dreamed up a place where every gesture could carry meaning.
他们共同梦想构建一个地方， 在那里，每一个动作都能承载意义。
is acoustically soft and visually calm. The lighting is golden, the service choreography almost silent. Even the music – customcomposed – evolves throughout the meal to guide the diner’s mood.
Bark and Tragoolvongse haven’t just built a restaurant; they’ve created a layered hospitality experience. Across from Cadence is Caper, a bistro with Prohibition-era flair and à la carte dishes. Upstairs is, quite literally, Upstairs – a private chef’s table where Bark serves customized menus in an intimate, salon-like setting.
Caper provides a counterpoint to Cadence’s precision. Here, Bark explores comfort food with refinement: jalapeño-cheddar biscuits, Angus ribeye with kimchi jus, banana bread with bacon ice cream. The bar pours “baby martinis” named after world cities. It’s not a warm-up or an after-party – it’s part of the same songbook.
Upstairs, by contrast, is quiet and narrative-driven. With seating for just a dozen, it invites guests into Bark’s inner circle. Diners might watch him plate a dish inspired by his mother’s marinades or sip a rare whisky poured by Fay herself. The mood is relaxed but elevated.
If Dan is Cadence’s composer, Fay is its conductor. With a background in luxury hospitality – the Peninsula, Mandarin Oriental, Conrad, Chiva-Som – she ensures service moves with the same grace as the cuisine. The two met at Avenues in Chicago. She was on the floor; he was on the line. Together, they dreamed up a place where every gesture could carry meaning.
That spirit lives in the mantra they instill in their team: “Move with love, focus, and care.” In the kitchen, that means brushing gelatin-rich sauce from the sides of a reduction pot back into the mix – every drop counts. On the floor, it means noticing, not waiting. Hospitality, for them, is presence, not performance. They launched Cadence during a pandemic. Delays, lockdowns, and financial risks shadowed the early days. But they persisted – and within six months, Cadence earned a Michelin star. The recognition was a milestone, but it was never the goal. What mattered more was creating a restaurant where precision met emotion, and every detail told its own story.
Twelve plates, one voice – and nothing left but crumbs.
Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, Switzerland’s unparalleled leisure destination, offers ancient healing waters and world-class dining for the ultimate luxury escape.
DEEP WITHIN the dramatically scenic Swiss canton of Graubünden, a sumptuous retreat known as Grand Resort Bad Ragaz harmoniously blends ancient healing traditions with modern indulgence. For centuries, travelers have been drawn to this alpine sanctuary by the warmth of both its rejuvenating thermal springs and its Swiss hospitality.
The journey culminates in an architectural masterwork of clean lines and soaring white columns, the Tamina Therme, where the legendary liquid, classified as chloride-hydrogen carbonate-sulfate thermal water with low mineral content, is naturally heated to a constant 36.5°C. Its power lies in its unique composition and restorative embrace, prized for its ability to soothe tired muscles and joints.
Tamina Therme unfolds as a vast aquatic landscape with a series of indoor and outdoor pools that offer a dialogue of contrasting thermal baths. A particularly thoughtful feature is the submerged passageway connecting an indoor pool with the outdoor one, allowing guests to glide into the crisp air without ever leaving the water’s encompassing
Cresting the alpine peaks, the morning sun illuminates the immaculate greens of the resort’s two golf courses.
当晨光漫过阿尔卑斯群峰，度 假村两个专属高尔夫球场的 葱郁绿茵显得更纯净无瑕。
warmth. Artfully designed, the seamless transition avoids the shock of winter’s chill as delicate wisps of steam rise against a breathtaking alpine backdrop.
The resort’s philosophy of vitality flows from the therme to the table. An impressive collection of restaurants holds a total of six Michelin stars as well as a Michelin Green Star. Verve by Sven offers vibrant, health-conscious cuisine in a harmonious ambience. The resort’s gastronomic apex, MEMORIES, with three Michelin stars and a Michelin Green Star, is the sanctum of Chef Sven Wassmer. “My creations bridge tradition and innovation,” he says. “We celebrate the terroir’s authentic flavors using progressive techniques that amplify nutrition while delighting the senses.”
As day ends, as the sun begins to cast long shadows and then dips below the surrounding peaks, a guest might step onto a private balcony and watch the last light fade, enveloped by the timeless grandeur of the Alps. A feeling of complete restoration settles in at this rare refuge where body, mind, and spirit find equilibrium.
由 Sven Wassmer 主理的 Verve by Sven 在和谐 的氛围中提供充满活力、注重健康的佳肴。度假 酒店的美食巅峰 MEMORIES（拥有三颗米其 林星和一颗米其林绿星）是 Sven 的圣殿。他说： 「我的创作融合了传统与创新。我们采用先进技 术，突出本土纯正风味，在满足味蕾的同时，提 升营养价值。」
At 7132 hotels in Vals, Switzerland, an upward journey leads to a deep connection with extraordinary design, elemental forces, and a more enlightened sense of self.
THE ROAD TO VALS coils deep into the Grisons Alps, a journey that peels away the layers of the modern world with every turn. For a select few, the ascent is a breathtaking flight aboard the house helicopter, soaring over alpine peaks directly to a secluded valley. Here is a hamlet with a serene sanctuary so entwined with its landscape that takes its name from the local postcode: 7132.
This is a place built on a conversation between nature and design, a dialogue that begins at 7132 Hotel 5s, a discrete spa escape with suites offering unobstructed views of alpine wonders. The adjacent House of Architects presents a gallery of aesthetic philosophies where one chooses not a room category but a design.
One might retreat into a room by celebrated architect Peter Zumthor and be surrounded by the cool touch of polished walls and curtains of hand-painted silk. Or perhaps find refuge in the warm, interlocking oakwood cocoons crafted by Kengo Kuma. Then there is the meditative calm captured by Tadao Ando or the dramatic interplay of raw wood and polished black stone conceived by Thom Mayne. Each space is an intimate reflection on texture, light, and form.
But the true pilgrimage leads to the 7132 Therme, designed by Pritzker Prize laureate Peter Zumthor. Crafted from sixty thousand slabs of local Valser quartzite, it seems a monolith carved from the mountain itself, a cavern dedicated to the elemental power of water and stone.
Inside, there is a purposeful absence of distraction, with no phones or cameras permitted and minimal signage. Guests navigate by sensation alone on a journey of personal discovery that might lead from the crystalline embrace of the 14°C Ice Pool to the enveloping warmth of the 42°C Fire Pool. Explorers in a temple of water, guests may seek out the Blossom Pool or venture into the frigid air, where the Outdoor Pool, its waters a comforting 30° to 36°C, breathes vapor toward the sky. The only sounds are the lap of water against stone and the rhythm of one’s breathing.
The hotel holds its most mystical rite for the night, a few select evenings from eleven to one, when the baths open for a final ethereal communion. Submerged in the mineral-rich darkness, guests watch endless ribbons of steam rise to meet the cold air. The velvet black of the sky above unfolds its celestial theater in a moment of impossible beauty.
In the breathless quiet, one understands that the indulgent experience Zumthor intended was not an escape from the world but a return to it, renewed, restored, and profoundly still.
但真正的朝圣之旅是由普利兹克奖得主 Peter 设计的 7132 温泉。它由六万块当地瓦尔斯 石英岩精心打造而成，宛如一座山体凿刻的巨石， 是一个致力于展现水与石的原始力量的洞穴。
