Meet the bartenders participating at the TOHK Bar Awards 2018

Executive mixologist, Room 309, Quinary, Origin and The Envoy, co-owner VEA Restaurant & Lounge.

Hong Kong’s master mixologist, Antonio Lai has been shaking things up for more than 20 years. He quit school at 16 and straightaway entered the hospitality industry. Having worked all over the world – Lai’s training took him to Malaysia, Singapore, mainland China, Japan, Germany, France and the UK – Lai finally got the opportunity to put his acquired knowledge of ‘multisensory mixology’ to the test and opened Quinary, on Hollywood Road, in 2012. An immediate success, Quinary revolutionised the local bar scene and has become a fixture on the World’s Best Bars list. Origin, The Envoy and the bar component of Michelin-starred restaurant VEA Restaurant and Lounge followed in subsequent years, each earning their own share of accolades. Here in 2018, Lai recently opened Room 309, a near flawless experience demonstrating that Lai remains at the forefront of his profession.

Co-founder and co-owner, The Old Man.

Originally from Jakarta, Agung Prabowo is, like Antonio Lai, another lifelong mixologist. At age 18 he got started in the drinks industry, and moved to Hong Kong in 2006 in order to take his career to the next level. Thanks to his considerable talent, Prabowo has worked in a number of Hong Kong’s most prestigious bars including the Island Shangri-La’s Lobster Bar (considered the best bar in Hong Kong for a period), MO Bar, Lily & Bloom and W Hong Kong. Yet Prabowo’s greatest achievement is his most recent – The Old Man. Founded alongside James Tamang and Roman Ghale (other veterans of the city’s luxury hotel hospitality scene), the Hemingway-themed joint landed in the top 10 of this year’s World’s Best Bars list. Currently at the height of his powers, you won’t want to miss what Prabowo concocts especially for our Bar Awards.

Bar manager, John Anthony

The time is now for Amir Javaid. Formerly bar manager at VEA Restaurant and Lounge, the young Mancunian has just taken the reigns at the bar at John Anthony. JA’s huge collection of some 400 gins should be put to good use by this man, who’s worked with award-winning gin brands like Martin Miller’s and Three Rivers. Above all, it’s an exciting move since it allows Javaid the chance to emerge from the shadow of Antonio Lai, the man behind the A in VEA. A consistently inventive bartender and this year’s La Maison Cointreau champion, we can’t wait to see what he has planned for his new digs in Lee Gardens, where he'll be working closely with assistant bar manager Marcus Chan. See for yourself what he’s all about at our Bar Awards.