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Hope & Sesame

Guangzhou

Where Southern China meets modern cocktail culture

Tucked behind the façade of an unassuming Cantonese cha chaan teng in Guangzhou's historic Dongshankou district, Hope & Sesame has become an integral part of the city's evolving cocktail culture since opening its doors a decade ago in 2016. Founded by Bastien Ciocca and Andrew Ho, the bar emulates a distinctly local identity while looking firmly outward, bringing together the rhythms, flavours and visual language of Southern China with a modern approach to drinking.

Entry is deliberately discreet: a refrigerator door leads into a world that feels removed from the chaos of the streets outside. Inside, exposed brick, aged timber, low light and raw surfaces sit alongside elements of modern Chinese minimalism and vintage detailing. The result is intimate rather than theatrical – a space that appears to have built character over time rather than by design.

The drinks are where Hope & Sesame's spirit of curiosity comes alive. Local ingredients are treated with considerable technical precision and respect, with methods such as ultrasonic infusion and rotary distillation used to draw out unexpected dimensions of familiar flavours. The bar's menus evolve with the seasons, moving between regional ingredients, cultural references and fragments of nostalgia, often taking something recognisable and familiar, and placing it in an entirely different context. The result is a drinks programme that feels deeply connected to Guangzhou without being confined by tradition or falling into the trap of cultural cliches.

More than a hidden bar, Hope & Sesame has helped give southern China a distinctive voice within the wider cocktail conversation: one that is rooted in place, but never afraid to look beyond it.

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