Expect the Unexpected: The Thoughtful Direction of ARGO’s New “ARGO Forestry” Menu at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong Brings Ingredients to the Fore Like Never Before

Few bars in Asia Pacific have enjoyed such success since launching as ARGO at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Led by the dynamic trio of Four Seasons Beverage Manager Federico Balzarini, Assistant Director of Food and Beverage Summer Lo and Head Bartender Yvonne Chan, this multi-award-winning bar continues to break new ground with its inventive menus.

The latest iteration – based on the concept of agroforestry – is its most thoughtful to date, as Balzarini explains: “The best way to move forward is to look at the past. So after focusing on single ingredients and on culinary processing techniques, we’re now focusing our energy on the bigger picture and the concept of agroforestry.”

Agroforestry intentionally integrates certain plants into crop and animal farming systems to create environmental, economic, and social benefits. The ARGO Forestry menu translates into six key ingredients sourced from Hong Kong, some of which are highly unexpected in cocktails but fit perfectly with agroforestry as well as ARGO’s mantra to “Expect the Unexpected.”

All of the ingredients, says Balzarini, work with one another in a special symbiotic relationship. “We wanted to focus on ingredients and animals that sustain each other without the need of human culture. They grow and create the best environment for each other.”

Each of the six hero ingredients has two interpretations in two different cocktails. One cocktail is what you’d expect — the other is what you definitely wouldn’t. The pairs of cocktails are poised to wow drinkers in Hong Kong, not only for their remarkable flavour profiles but also because of their profoundly thoughtful and respectful take on sourcing.

Granite

Crushed granite is the most common rock formation in Hong Kong soil. Although largely used for construction, it can also be used in cooking, because its lava stone composition adds minerality to wines, oils, and more.

• Igneous Gibson: Featuring granite-infused Grey Goose, ARGO botanical spirit, and charred pickle vermouth. The vodka is infused in porous granite, and the other botanical spirit and a pickle are charred on top of a granite stone and turned into a pickle vermouth. Thirteen different botanicals are sourced, many of them locally.
• Pottinger Highball: Crafted with chestnut-infused Michter’s bourbon, Los Siete Misterios Doba-Yej mescal, which is made in a copper still, tahini, oloroso, and CO2.

Sweet Potato

Sweet potatoes grow best in highly mineral and rocky soils, including granite, making them the ideal root ingredient for the new cocktail menu. They’re also very versatile, both in food and in agriculture, since they release large amounts of potassium into the soil — a critical mineral for a healthy harvest.

• The Breaker: Patrón silver tequila, roasted sweet potato orgeat, curry leaf, beetroot, citrus.
• To the Valley Below: A Cognac-based cocktail, it is basically an Irish coffee for lactose-intolerant people. Rémy Martin VSOP, chen pi distillate (a common ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine), Mr Black, Honduras single origin coffee from Omotesando, purple potato cream.

Ginger Lily

According to the agronomy board of Hong Kong, the second-most-grown flower in Hong Kong soil is the ginger lily. A very useful plant in agroforestry, it attracts a variety of pollinators all year long, including bees but also birds. Famous for its intense perfume as well as its roots, it is also used for cosmetics and decorations and in kitchens. Ginger lily has a taste between galangal and ginger in a very subtle way.

• Buzz Club: Monkey 47 dry gin, the planet-positive spirit Avallen calvados, ginger lily, honey, citrus, Champagne.
• Nectar of God: A floral-style whisky sour with Glenlivet 12, ginger lily, amontillado, kabuso, chocolate bitters, and egg white.

Strawberry

Strawberries need no introduction as one of the world’s most loved fruits for both flavour and appearance. But the finest-quality strawberries grow in a well-drained soil, such as granite, and need a good pollination season, a warm environment, and exposure to sunlight.

• Perennial Treat: A dessert cocktail with Bacardi 8, strawberry jam, cocoa juice, absinthe, lemon gelato, and hojicha sparkling tea. Almost like a slushy cocktail, it’s a blended drink that plays around fermentation.
• Deathless Old Fashioned: A clarified cocktail with The Macallan 12, lacto strawberry, Bénédictine D.O.M, and bitters. The lacto-fermented strawberry is clarified by centrifuging it, so that the leftover in the bottom of the jar is almost like a jam. It’s a very comfortable drink, quite calorie-friendly, that is served in a custom-made ceramic cup.

Bamboo

Bamboo is a core strength of Hong Kong in so many aspects – infrastructure, food, farming, religion, and more. Bamboo farming is also a sustainable and environmentally friendly practice that can help to reduce deforestation, erosion, and climate change and to protect crops from extreme weather.

• Potash: No. 3 gin, bamboo shoot, smoked bamboo, Old Duff Genever, pear EDV, London Essence light tonic.
• Frame of Love: The Botanist Gin, garden vermouth, bamboo wine, Fernet Hunter Granit.

Goat

This is by far the most unexpected ingredient, but integrating goats into agroforestry systems has many benefits, including improved soil fertility, weed control, and increased biodiversity. Goat products, notably milk, can also be use in an incredible number of preparations for cocktails, such as fat washes, clarifications, and fermentation, when it’s known as kefir.

• Thief!: Havana Club 7 rum, melon, hazelnut, goat yogurt, Ratafia Rossi.
• Goat Evolution Flight: Not one but three special cocktails:

Kid: A solid twist on a classic cocktail, it includes Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie, Strega, Ratafia Rossi, absinthe, cherry.

Buck: Goat-butter-washed Michter’s rye, Campari, Barolo Chinato, salted Lapsang, Talisker 10.

Billy: Goat-butter-washed Michter’s rye, vegan goat extract, Cynar, fino sherry.

ARGO patrons who wish to discover seasonal creations and cocktail collaborations can also continue to request the bar’s daily Canvas special.

Delicious Bar Bites

Curated by Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong Executive Chef Maxime Luvara and Executive Pastry Chef Ringo Chan, ARGO’s Bar Bites menu aligns perfectly with the new ARGO Forestry cocktails.

Highlights include the ARGO Burger, made with sustainably sourced wagyu, and the luscious Hong Kong Egg Waffle, served with chocolate pear “belle hélène,” soy caramel, and moutai stracciatella gelato.  Savoury Beef Kofta features Indian spicy herbs, sour cream, lemon grass, and peanut.

About ARGO

Set in a newly reimagined space at the iconic Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, the neoclassically designed bar is poised to be a Hong Kong staple among spirit aficionados, breaking new ground with innovative programming, collaborations, and cocktails inspired by exciting new sources and spirits. ARGO is a modern cocktail bar inspired by the curiosity that drives us to the excitement of discovery, a vessel of exploration and innovation in the world of fine drinking.

The core inspiration of the bar’s beverage programme focuses on collaboration between producers, craftsmen, and thought leaders, blending together different fields and disciplines to create an experience that looks to the future yet is perfectly timely for today. Guests can expect to discover new territories of the drinking experience and forecasts of its evolution, bringing to life a collection of the world’s most innovative spirits.