It can be hard to stand out in Hong Kong’s crowded after hours space. So what if you’re opening another high-end sushi restaurant, and what’s the big deal about yet another cocktail bar with a rotovap machine? This can lead F&B groups down some ridiculously niche alleyways – think Cabin Crew Coffee and its lame attempt to appeal to Hongkongers starved of the opportunity to cram into economy class seats and enjoy substandard food.

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Enter Bianco & Rosso, with its claim (Pirata might want a word) to be “the first house of vermouth in Hong Kong”.

The decor is bright and engaging, with a gleaming tiled floor and bar seats the colour of a fine sweet vermouth. We start with something light from the highballs section of the menu. The Bicicletta (HK$95) is a classic, a mix of Campari, white wine, soda and grapefruit. Not dissimilar to the more famous Aperol spritz, this thirst quencher is just as refreshing but with a tad more bitterness thanks to the bitter liqueur.

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Speaking of spritzes, Bianco & Rosso has a whole section of the menu for them. The tomato spritz with “tomato water and shrub” catches our eye, but we play it safe with the Pimm My Ride (HK$120), which mixes Pimm’s No. 3 with orange pekoe tea and Curacao-honeyed citrus oils. It’s an intriguing mix of disparate flavours – part spicy, bitter and sweet – but rather than clashing violently, they get along like a model United Nations.