ARGO at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong Launches New Menu Celebrating Flavours and Stories of Hong Kong

Ranked #28 in World’s 50 Best Bars and #3 in Asia’s 50 Best Bars, ARGO at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong is ready to set sail for another chapter of innovation and exploration to bring guests a whole new cocktail experience. Following a successful opening in 2021 and its lauded debut cocktail menu, the award-winning bar is set to launch Volume 2 of its menu, titled “ARGO Cook Book,” which will be available from November 14, 2022.

The bar’s second menu “ARGO Cook Book” pays homage to Hong Kong’s epicurean traditions and wealth of gastronomic experiences. Its new collection of cocktails is a proud celebration of a Hong Kong kitchen, designed to surprise, delight and traverse nostalgia and newness.

“It’s our way of celebrating Hong Kong and its incredible culinary heritage,” says Lorenzo Antinori, Beverage Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong and Beverage Ambassador of Four Seasons Asia Pacific. “We are in a city where food plays such an important role in our lives; it tells a lot about the culture, the territory and the people, and with ‘ARGO Cook Book’ we want to tell those stories through flavours and different techniques.”

Six Ingredients, Twelve Cocktails

The new menu highlights six ingredients that will feel familiar to anyone lucky enough to call Hong Kong home: soybean, apricot kernel, XO sauce, vegan char siu, black vinegar, and aged tea. These flavours have held significance in the city’s rich culinary heritage, carrying stories of people, tradition, terroir and technique. Harnessing the uniqueness of these flavours and exploring ways of turning them into something new and exciting, the bar team has developed two cocktails from each of these iconic ingredients, with “ARGO Cook Book” featuring a total of 12 brand-new creations.

Velvety, nutty and spirit-forward, the Dynasty Old Fashioned is a concoction of Michter’s Bourbon, Ferrand Cognac and toasted soy grinds from ĀN Soy, Chef Founder Vicky Lau’s latest project and her tribute to soy. To create Hellfire Club, the bar team applies the technique used for grilling, roasting and glazing char siu to pineapple in this tart, smoky, rum and Ayuuk-based cocktail. Ever wondered how flavours transform in different stages of ageing? Black Dot Manhattan Flight features unaged, fortnight-aged and month-aged iterations of a Manhattan housed in clay pots that have stored both black and balsamic vinegars. Shining a spotlight on XO sauce, the aromatic and bittersweet XO Negroni showcases the deconstruction of ingredients and techniques involved in making this iconic Hong Kong condiment; the flavour profile is then recreated into a fortified wine – ARGO’s very own XO vermouth – made with dried fruits and spices, including local botanicals from Lantau.

Other Exciting Creations

Launching alongside the 12 new cocktails is Golden Orb, a saison created in collaboration with Carbon Brews. Joined by Wanda Huang, a well-known forager for some of the city’s best restaurants and hotels, the two teams foraged in the abandoned farms and remote trails around Tai O. Among their harvest, wild peppercorns, Chinese box orange leaves and calamondin were chosen as the stars of this farmhouse-style ale. The result is a refreshing sessionable beer with pronounced spiciness and floral characteristics, balanced perfectly with delightful fruity notes. Golden Orb is served at both ARGO and Carbon Brews’ taproom in Central.

Fans of the ARGO Martini can be assured that the bar’s signature cocktail – an unexpected concoction of the bespoke ARGO Gin and seasonally-rotating hydrosols – will remain on the menu. ARGO patrons who wish to discover seasonal creations and cocktail collaborations can also continue to request for the bar’s daily Canvas special.

“With ‘ARGO Cook Book’ we hope to trigger guests’ curiosity and a sense of familiarity when looking through the menu, but most importantly, to share our love for Hong Kong and its great culinary heritage,” says Antinori.