After bringing several unique bar concepts to Hong Kong, F&B visionary Sandeep Sekhri is now poised to export his Boutique Bars brand to Southeast Asia.
One of Hong Kong’s most original restaurateurs and bar owners, Sandeep Sekhri, whose partnership with design visionary Ashley Sutton includes magical space The Mixing Room (below) and cabaret and cocktail bar Maggie Choo’s, the industrial steampunk-esque The Iron Fairies and the Art Nouveau-inspired Dragonfly, has now set his sights set on Southeast Asia.
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Following protracted stays on the Indonesian island during the pandemic, Sekhri – whose businesses include Boutique Bars and S&S Hospitality – has his eye on the Island of the Gods. “Bali was my holiday home for 10 years and during Covid I stayed here for an extended period and realised this is where I want to spend more time,” says Sekhri
This summer he opened The Iron Fairies in Bali, and Italian restaurant Amici, helmed by Enrico Bartolini, whose restaurants have 12 Michelin stars between them. “In the last four, five years, the culinary standards in Bali have gone up, and I saw a gap in the market for the type of things I do,” says the entrepreneur. The Seminyak restaurant is just the start. The focus going forward however, will be more on bars than restaurants.
Tell us what’s going on with Boutique Bars right now.
We want to bring different nightlife concepts to Southeast Asia, and we think there are plenty of opportunities to do so in the region. We don’t want to do anything fashionable; we’re looking at long-term offerings, places that, even after five years, 10 years, you still feel like going back to. We want to give people an immersive experience and with our bars, each piece of glassware is carefully chosen and produced for us, and we really think about each drink… there’s a lot of effort that goes behind all of this.
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You’re quite the visionary on the Hong Kong dining scene. Tell us about your career so far
I’ve done 90-something bars and restaurants in Hong Kong over three decades. I moved to Hong Kong in 1992 to be a restaurant manager and became a partner in that business in 1994, then started [F&B group] Dining Concepts in 2002 and sold the company in 2018. However, after 30-odd years working in restaurants, I’m kinda done with them. Now, I want to focus on nightlife.
So, what nightlife concepts can we see from you next?
We’ve opened an Iron Fairies bar in Bali and will open another bar within the Nawa resort in Labuan Bajo in March. Then we’re thinking of Jakarta, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Manila… there’s a lot in the pipeline but nothing concrete right now. The idea is to do two bar concepts every year.
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You’ve just opened cabaret and cocktail bar Maggie Choo’s in Hong Kong amid much fanfare. Tell us how that came together.
Whenever I open something with Ashley, we don’t have a specific concept in mind. We just allow the design to be the focus, along with good drinks. I knew in Hong Kong there were no clubs for ‘adults’ – if you go to any nightclub in the city, it’s mostly young people. I wanted to do a club for adults, and I thought an early-hours jazz club would work really well. I’d rather not specify it as a proper club – it’s just a place where people walk in and say, ‘wow.” With that wow factor, you can then build out into service, uniforms, decor, and keep adapting. Within four to six months, we know what works and what doesn’t.
Is there anything else planned for Hong Kong, nightlife-wise?
I have a couple of concepts but have to find the right real estate. With Ophelia [another Sutton concept based on a bird shop complete with cages and copper-dipped steel bar] it didn’t work out because it was in a residential area in Wan Chai. But I’d like to do it again if I found the right location.
How would you characterise Hong Kong’s nightlife scene right now?
Hong Kong’s demographic has changed drastically post-Covid. We used to have 70-80 per cent expats; now it’s more 80 per cent locals and visitors from Mainland China. Thankfully, our concepts are never driven towards a certain demographic and have gone down really well in China.

Tell us about your relationship with Sutton
Ashley is an absolute creative genius. My design team executes his creative vision and turns it into reality. I first met Ash 10 years ago at the opening of Maggie Choo’s in Bangkok – he was wearing a white suit with white patent leather shoes. I introduced myself and said I’d like to work with him and he replied, “You wouldn’t be able to afford me.” But I was very persistent and keen to get to know him, even though he wouldn’t talk so much.
He knew that Hong Kong had short leases and warned me that his concepts would take around six to nine months, so I looked for real estate that would become available six to nine months ahead of schedule. That’s not normal for Hong Kong, as you usually have 60-90 days from leasing to come up with a concept.
Ashley also has his own factory in Thailand – he designs every piece himself – so there is no cut, copy and paste. Everything is designed in each location in that space. Many in our business take a short-term view and want to make a quick buck. But I’ve always believed life is a marathon, so our vision was quite similar.

Tell us your plans for Boutique Bars
I see a lot of demand, and I think we’ve found a niche in the market. There aren’t a lot of people doing what we do, and our bars are very Instagrammable. Long-term, I’m not sure, as my kids aren’t interested in what I do. But I hope to run this business for a while; after 35 years I’m still passionate about it.
I think across Southeast Asia, people are willing to spend more, and disposable incomes are growing. Spending HK$200 (US$25) on a cocktail was unheard of 10 years ago, but today people do that easily. They know it’s not just having a drink, it’s about the experience.
The original version of this story ran in JETSETTER Magazine
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