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Andrew Sun

Popular Italian trattoria Ask For Alonzo is set to be the latest Hong Kong restaurant brand to expand overseas. But it might be a surprise to learn where it is opening next year.
Unlike other Hong Kong brands that have struck out globally, it’s not in Southeast Asia, North America or even the United Kingdom.
Here’s a clue: the owner of Deadly Rabbits Concepts, which operates the restaurant, is Bart Szyniec, a native of Poland.
Yes, next spring Ask For Alonzo will launch in downtown Warsaw, the Polish capital.

“It will be on the ground floor of the Varso Tower, the tallest building in the European Union,” Szyniec says. “The space is 187 square metres (2,000 sq ft). We can do 60 seats, [it’s] in an office building with a big hotel, and it’s built in an all-new district.”
The restaurateur believes that his home country stands out as a new European market, even comparing its growth to China.
“Originally, the economy was not very strong, but it didn’t have the ballast of other industries, so it could go right away into new technologies,” he says.
“It has received a lot of support from the EU and they’ve built much new infrastructure. Now, it is an engine of growth and there’s a property boom.”
The global expansion is as much a sentimental homecoming as it is business for Szyniec.

After studying hospitality at the Dublin Institute of Technology – now called Technological University Dublin – and working in Ireland, he came to Hong Kong in 2012 for a holiday and decided to look for work.
“I remember I was on a hike and the Aqua Group called me. I didn’t have a suit. I was staying in Chungking Mansions,” Szyniec says. He received the offer to manage the group’s flagship restaurant, Aqua, then atop One Peking Road in Tsim Sha Tsui.
“I said yes without even knowing my pay package. I was actually ready to manage some small SoHo restaurant, and here I was given the best start I could imagine.”
He says the 5½ years he spent with the Aqua Group were all good, and the biggest lesson he learned was to stick with what works.
“The other big lesson is to know your numbers,” he says. “One dollar here and one dollar there, it ends up a lot over a year.”

In 2019, Szyniec branched out and launched Ask For Alonzo as a cosy 14-seater in Quarry Bay on Hong Kong Island.
Since then, the appealing Italian concept has grown to five outlets across Hong Kong Island over the past five years.
In addition to a penchant for quirky names – his group Deadly Rabbits Concepts is inspired by a Monty Python sketch – Szyniec has taken a slightly different path to most Western restaurateurs, focusing on moderate pricing and locations outside Central and Wan Chai.

He does have one outlet in SoHo, but his two latest openings, Spanish tapas bar Que Pasa and French bistro À Poêle, are in Tai Hang and Quarry Bay, respectively.
“I’m not building concepts just for expats. I want us to be the Maxim’s of Western eateries,” Szyniec says. “It is not my plan to go to Central and compete with everybody else trying to do the same kind of thing.”
The country has changed drastically. When I was born, it was one of the poorest countries in Europe – very dangerous, corrupt, messy
Bart Szyniec, owner of Deadly Rabbits Concepts, on his native Poland
“The market in Central is very difficult. The spending per head is now lower, but the rents remain high. I don’t want to play that game.
“I see more outflow of company offices to Quarry Bay, Kwun Tong and further. I want to be rooted in these communities. The best location for me is an office and residential mix, which I can find in Quarry Bay, for example. I think the natural thing for us is to expand to Kowloon next year.”
There have been some changes in his group. Co-founder and culinary director Giuliano Dacasto left in May following the closure of the group’s Porkcentric concept, which opened in Tai Hang in 2022, and Szyniec wasted no time remaking the space into the casual tapas wine bar Que Pasa.
“Being a Tai Hang guy, I always wanted this space,” he says. “[Porkcentric] was a big lesson, from the name to the concept. I think we missed the market. Also, the timing was wrong.
“Que Pasa focuses on a younger clientele, twenty-something, Instagram-driven, with plating filled with colour, and smaller sharing portions.”

Growing up in post-Soviet Eastern Europe before moving to the West (and then the East) has shaped Szyniec’s perspective. In fact, it is his Hong Kong experience that allows him to see the potential in his homeland. Now he prides himself on being a bridge between the cultures.
“The country has changed drastically,” he says. “When I was born, it was one of the poorest countries in Europe – very dangerous, corrupt, messy. When I finished high school, the unemployment rate was 26 per cent.
“When I went back last year, I was positively shocked. Warsaw has redefined itself, becoming this metropolis. When I walk around I do think, ‘Oh, they can do this and that and all kinds of things that’s done here’. That’s why I strongly feel that I will remain in Hong Kong.”
He also has another concept for Warsaw in the works, which he is calling Slavic Social. “It’s going to be modern Polish cuisine with some Asian influences. But I want to position both this and Ask For Alonzo as Hong Kong brands,” he says.
“I think it will be a very interesting story for Warsaw. How the hell does a Polish guy come back to Poland with an Italian concept from Hong Kong?”


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Food and Drinks

Why Hong Kong restaurant Ask For Alonzo is opening a branch in Warsaw, Poland

Ask For Alonzo in Tai Hang. The Hong Kong restaurant chain is expanding to Warsaw, Poland. Photo: Instagram/@askforalonzo

Bart Szyniec, co-founder of Hong Kong-based hospitality company Deadly Rabbits Group, is opening a restaurant in his native Poland. Photo: Deadly Rabbits Group

The tapas selection at Que Pasa, in Tai Hang, Hong Kong. Photo: Que Pasa

Newly arrived in Hong Kong, Bart Szyniec was offered the job of managing Aqua (above), in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Aqua

The interior of À Poêle, in Quarry Bay, takes inspiration from Parisian bistros. Photo: À Poêle French Bistro

Qué Pasa, a tapas bar and restaurant operated by Deadly Rabbits Group in the space in Tai Hang that formerly housed Porkcentric. Photo: Deadly Rabbits Group

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Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Ask For Alonzo owner Bart Szyniec talks about opening a restaurant in his native Poland and aspiring to be ‘the Maxim’s of Western eateries’


Ask For Alonzo owner Bart Szyniec talks about opening a restaurant in his native Poland and aspiring to be ‘the Maxim’s of Western eateries’.


Hong Kong

Poland