There’s a particular calm to Jonathan Gabbay when he talks about movement. Not the restless kind, but the deliberate sort — the kind that comes from having lived in multiple cities long enough to understand their tempo, then knowing when it’s time to change key.
After years in Miami’s sunlit intensity, Gabbay now finds himself in Hong Kong, a city that rarely slows down yet somehow makes space for precision. The relocation, he admits, hasn’t been simple. But it has been clarifying.
“Hong Kong pushes you to constantly evolve,” he says. “The pace is dynamic, the expectations are high, and the guests are genuinely curious.” What surprised him most wasn’t just the speed, but the balance — a city that embraces innovation without severing its ties to tradition. “That duality is fascinating. It keeps you sharp.”
Stepping Into ARGO
That tension between old and new feels fitting for ARGO, the bar Gabbay now stewards within the Four Seasons Hong Kong, where he has recently been appointed Beverage Manager. Already established as one of the region’s most globally recognised cocktail programs, ARGO doesn’t need reinvention. It needs continuity — and careful evolution. For Gabbay, stepping into the role isn’t about rewriting identity. It’s about listening first. “There’s a legacy here,” he says. “The question is how you honour it.”
ARGO’s upcoming menu, set to launch in March, reflects that mindset with quiet clarity. It resists the urge to declare itself all at once. Rather than a singular creative statement, it’s built as a shared document — shaped by the collective experiences of the team. Much of its inspiration comes from encounters with craft masters across Hong Kong, folded quietly into the drinks without being overtly announced. “It’s about what we’ve experienced together,” Gabbay explains. “Not revealing everything at once.”
Balance Over Bravado
At the centre of Gabbay’s approach is a philosophy he returns to often: balance. Respecting classic foundations while pushing boundaries through creativity and sustainability.
The classics matter — not as relics, but as anchors. They give structure to experimentation, allowing new ideas to feel considered rather than performative. Sustainability, too, is treated as practice rather than posture — embedded into sourcing decisions, waste reduction, and how the program is designed to last beyond a single menu cycle. “Creativity feels strongest when it’s grounded,” Gabban says.
The result is a menu designed to unfold gradually. Drinks that don’t announce themselves immediately, but reward attention — much like the city surrounding them.
Three Cities, Three Tempos
That sensitivity to rhythm is shaped by the cities Gabbay has moved through. Miami, he says, operates on exuberance. It’s party-driven, expressive, and unapologetically luxurious in its details. Drinks are bold, hospitality leans into spectacle, and fun is the point.
Hong Kong, by contrast, is polished and globally connected. Guests arrive informed, expectations calibrated. Innovation here isn’t novelty for novelty’s sake — it’s refinement, where restraint is often the hardest discipline.
Then there’s Jakarta. On a recent visit, Gabbay found himself struck not by polish, but by warmth. The city’s bars feel intimate, almost familial, with a strong sense of community behind the counter. “There’s a rawness to the creativity,” he says. “It feels genuine.” Local flavours are explored with confidence — not as talking points, but as lived culture. “Jakarta doesn’t feel like it’s trying to prove anything.”
It’s a drinks scene, he notes, that’s clearly on the rise — confident, self-assured, and doing so on its own terms.
Asia, Speaking in Its Own Voice
These contrasts shape how Gabbay views the region as a whole. In his eyes, Asia is no longer responding to global cocktail trends — it’s actively shaping them.
Hong Kong brings cosmopolitan sophistication. Jakarta offers fresh perspectives rooted deeply in local culture. Across the region, bars are redefining what “global” means. “We’re not just participating anymore — we’re leading,” he says.
What excites Gabbay most isn’t just ARGO’s next chapter, but being part of a broader momentum: a generation of bars confident enough to speak in their own voices, without filtering themselves through Europe or the U.S.
A Quiet Kind of Confidence
Back at ARGO, that confidence expresses itself quietly — not as understatement, but as control. In drinks that prioritise clarity before complexity. In a program that understands its place in the global conversation without needing to announce it.
For Gabbay, the throughline has become increasingly clear: learn the rhythm of a place, listen to the people who shape it, then respond with intention. Not every city asks for the same energy. Not every bar needs to speak at the same volume.
Measured, deliberate, and quietly certain, his approach mirrors Hong Kong itself — a city where tradition and innovation coexist in constant motion, neither cancelling the other out. In that environment, restraint isn’t a limitation. It’s a choice.
And perhaps, in a city like Hong Kong — where tradition and innovation coexist in constant motion — that kind of restraint may be the most progressive move of all.
ARGO
Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
8 Finance St, Central, Hong Kong
