Montana Hong Kong Is Bringing Havana’s Golden Age to Hollywood Road

Lorenzo Antinori and Simone Caporale – the Italian duo behind Asia’s number one bar and the world’s best bar – are bringing 1970s Cuban-Florida vibes to Hollywood Road with Montana Hong Kong, a cocktail den that’s equal parts time machine and dive bar.

Picture it. London 2012. A year when the capital was drunk on possibility. Olympic fever was sweeping through the city. And Simone Caporale was arriving at Artesian Bar ahead of four consecutive years as The World’s Best Bar. While a 15-minute black cab ride away, Lorenzo Antinori was stepping into The American Bar at The Savoy – Britain’s oldest surviving cocktail bar since 1893, where legendary bartenders like Ada Coleman and Harry Craddock had shaped cocktail history.

(Re)Introducing Two Of The Most Influential Bartenders Of Their Generation

“Man, that must have been over ten years ago,” Simone frowns. “Oh, way more!” Lorenzo confirms. They’ve become two of the most influential bartenders of their generation – like the most coveted players for your Italian football sticker book: Simone the co-founder of Sips, Barcelona, the best bar in the world according to The World’s 50 Best Bars; Lorenzo co-founder of Bar Leone, the number one bar in Asia according to Asia’s 50 Best Bars.

They’re both modest, considering the accolades.

“Despite the titles, and despite the new adventures, personally I’m still very much a bartender at heart,” Lorenzo shrugs. “I try to still work behind the bar as much as possible even if the team usually relegates me to floor duty.”

“Me too,” Simone concurs. “I introduce myself simply as a bartender from Sips Barcelona… although my girlfriend sometimes blurts out that I’m co-founder of the best bar in the world to people, which can be quite embarrassing.”

“My mom only realized I work as a bartender a few years ago. When I first moved to London, I told her I was going to study law!” Lorenzo laughs. “These days, she loves that I work in the industry.”

Now, the dynamic duo – their height disparity makes them unmissable – have teamed up to open Montana in Hong Kong. Like Batman and Robin, or “Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in Twins!” Simone laughs. “I consider myself average height!” Lorenzo complains. “But Simone is really f*cking tall.”

The Success Of Sips Barcelona And Bar Leone Hong Kong

Behind the success of Sips and Bar Leone is an obsessive attention to detail and some old-school hospitality chops – the kind of approach that wouldn’t be out of place at the Club de Cantineros, the elite Cuban bartending society that reflected a golden age of bartending in Havana.

“They pioneered the idea of the bartender as the ultimate host – well-presented, well-groomed, multilingual, and able to connect to different types of guests,” Lorenzo nods approvingly. “It was all about professionalism working behind the bar. That’s still what makes the difference between a good bar and a great bar – the service, and the professionalism of the staff,” Simone agrees.

A Forgotten Classic In The Cocktail Manual Of Club De Cantineros

There’s plenty of that on display at Montana, a bar not, in fact, named after Tony Montana or the mountainous American state, but after the Montana Daiquiri – a forgotten classic from the cocktail manual of Club de Cantineros. Essentially, a classic Daiquiri elevated with a touch of maraschino liqueur and finished with a float of raspberry eau-de-vie on top for some aromatic complexity. “It’s delicious as hell,” Simone adds, approvingly.

“If Simone came in as a guest, I’d make him that drink – which is basically a twist on a classic cocktail called the Santa Marta – and I’d ensure there’s some energetic tunes on the playlist and strongly encourage him to dance,” Lorenzo smiles.

The music is part of Lorenzo and Simone’s deep dive into 1970s Florida, carefully avoiding pinning the concept to Miami, “because Miami has a lot of clichés which can turn very kitsch.”

The Rhythms Of Havana’s Golden Age At Montana Hong Kong 

It was an era when Cuban exiles were transforming the state’s cultural landscape. Post-revolution waves of immigration had brought not just people but their entire cultural heritage – the rhythms of Havana’s golden age pulsing through Florida’s cafés and clubs. “Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, or Johnny Pacheco – people literally making the entire US dance to Latino rhythms,” Simone says. “And maybe Donna Summer or Blondie, real pop culture icons of the period,” Lorenzo joins in.

It’s a bar intended to spark some sentimentality. Unapologetically lively, effortlessly cool just like your favorite dive bar – somewhere like Mac’s Club Deuce, a place that doesn’t take itself too seriously but understands the art of a great night.

It’s a time machine filled with ’70s memorabilia “to create lots of layers in the experience.” Oddly, if you squint hard enough, Hong Kong’s Hollywood Road has something of the state that was Montana’s inspiration about it with the heat and humidity and its swaying palm trees.

Montana Hong Kong Is Pure Escapism 

Which all adds up to escapism in its purest, most unadulterated form. “Montana celebrates every person who wants a drink and to literally disconnect from daily life,” Lorenzo adds. “We dedicate time together with quality things while having fun. And when I say fun, it doesn’t mean doing laybacks and dancing on tables. Fun can also be being in great company, with fantastic snacks, and music that carries you to some place else and suddenly you don’t realize three hours have passed since you came,” Simone nods. “Those are the effects of hospitality – real hospitality that you don’t realize is happening.”

It seems like Simone and Lorenzo are having fun too, so much fun, we suggest, it probably doesn’t feel like work. “Oh no, it’s definitely work,” Simone corrects us. “Let’s say we have a good time when we work.”

And just like that, the interview has flown by, carried away by Simone Caporale and Lorenzo Antinori’s infectious enthusiasm and stories of Cuban rhythms and forgotten cocktails. The conversation, like real hospitality, is the kind you don’t realize is happening until it’s over.