For one night, Milan’s Isola neighborhood is looking well beyond the city limits. On October 6, from 7 to 11 p.m., Via Pietro Borsieri becomes the meeting point for four bar stories stretching from Kyoto and Kuala Lumpur to Lima, all converging within a few steps of one another. On one side is Bob; on the other, Bob The Other Side: two bars born from the same vision, that of the Chinese Box group founded by brothers Luca and Michele Hu, now splitting duties to tell the stories of two continents at once. The names say it all: The Asian Takeover and The Latam Takeover.
Bob Looks East, With Kyoto and Kuala Lumpur Behind the Bar
At No. 30, where whisky and Chinese cooking have long shared the stage under bar manager Cesar Araujo, Bob hands over its counter for the night to two beverage managers arriving from very different corners of Asia’s luxury hospitality scene.
Mario la Pietra comes from Yoi, the bar and restaurant at Capella Kyoto, which opened in March 2026 and quickly became one of Japan’s most talked-about new hotel arrivals. Yoi occupies part of a former school transformed by architect Kengo Kuma, a space of dark woods, subdued lighting and a kappō-inspired atmosphere. la Pietra, whose career has taken him from London to Asia, builds cocktails around the places he has traveled, steering clear of the familiar tropes of international luxury hotels.
Joining him is Corsican-born Alexandre Philippe Renoue, now beverage manager of Bar Trigona at the Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur. His career has taken him through Dubai, Colombo, Manila, Mumbai and Nashville before he decided, finally, to put down roots in Malaysia. On October 6, that journey leads him to Bob for a night ahead of The 50 Bars.
Presented in partnership with Brugal, Noam and Presobene Gin, the takeover will feature a special drinks list moving between Kyoto and Kuala Lumpur, bringing new flavors to a neighborhood already well acquainted with Bob’s passion for whisky and placing it in direct conversation with Asia’s contemporary cocktail scene.
Bob The Other Side Heads to Lima With Diego Macedo’s Speakeasy
A few doors down, at No. 32, Isola has its own secret room. Bob The Other Side, the intimate bar that opened in September 2025 around a hexagonal counter designed by Studio SGSM, welcomes Diego Macedo, partner and bar manager of Sastrería Martínez, one of South America’s most sought-after cocktail bars.
At 7 p.m., as Yoi and Bar Trigona get to work next door, Sastrería Martínez begins shaking drinks at Bob The Other Side. The Lima speakeasy opened in Miraflores in 2022, concealed behind the facade of a functioning tailor shop. Macedo, drawing on two decades spent working around the world, created a bar that went on to reach No. 33 in The 50 Bars ranking. For one night, that slice of Lima lands in Isola, bringing with it pisco, Andean agave and the sartorial sensibility that has defined Sastrería Martínez from the start.
One Night, Two Continents
Both takeovers are walk-in. The October 6 event is presented by Coqtail – for fine drinkers with partners Brugal, Noam and Presobene London Dry Gin, bringing together Sastrería Martínez, Bar Trigona, Bob and Bob The Other Side for a night that stretches from Asia to Latin America. And for anyone looking to travel between the two, there is no flight required. On October 6, all it takes is crossing Via Borsieri.
Immagini courtesy of Bar Trigona, Yoi – Capella Kyoto, Sastrería Martinez
