The waiter, with the immaculate white jacket and the tray in his left hand, zigzags, avoiding a few customers, stops and asks in Italian: “Who is the Garibaldi for?” One person raises his hand and receives the long Glass topped off with a wedge of grapefruit and the salmon-colored liquid, whose ingredients are halfway between the intensity of Campari red and orange juice. We are in Camparino, a cathedral of good drinking founded in 1915, from which you can see Milan Cathedral, which is just 200 meters away. “There are months when we serve around 5,000 drinks here,” says the boy who launched the cocktail. The three floors of this building are full of futuristic decoration. Artist Fortunato Depero worked with the brand back in the 1920s, even designing a signature triangular bottle for one of the concoctions they invented, Campari Soda. It is still sold, with many billboards around the city advertising it.
Another symbol of Milan is the popular spritz, a drink created in Venice but which the Milanese have made their own. With an orange hue, composed of Prosecco wine and some bitter substances, mostly Aperol, Campari or, when we’re feeling fine, Fusetti, it’s a refreshing and very successful combination. On both sides of the Navigli, the canals where Milanese enjoy an aperitif at six in the evening, there is everything in this tonality, in wine glasses filled with ice and accompanied by tapas. “We prepare the spritz in our own way. It’s a version we made with Selvatiq bitters that we already offer canned. “It’s more Mediterranean and flavorful than the original,” replies Niccolò Mazzucchelli, the alma mater of Gramm, a small area cocktail bar that signs signature and craft drinks with a smile.
Bar of Caffè Torino, a bar opened in Turin in 1907. Anna Huix
The Milano-Torino or Mi-To, made with Turin vermouth and Milan bitter, is one of the signature proposals of Caffè Torino.Anna Huix
A few meters away is Mag, a bar whose menu is drawn like in a comic book and who chooses their drinks correctly. Next door is Backdoor 43, which bills itself as the smallest bar in the world. To access the latter, you must first make a reservation. In addition to the bartender, no more than four people are allowed in at a time. The high-ceilinged interior is filled with whiskey bottles and there is a small window through which you can order drinks from outside and enjoy the canals. “We specialize in whiskey but we can make any drink you desire. It’s an experience that we want to make as personal as possible,” says Jacopo Sussi, the person behind the counter on the day we visit. For the occasion, he prepares a boulevardier, a cocktail of three equal parts bourbon, fusetti, and Mancino vermouth.
Exterior view of the Gucci bar in Florence. Anna Huix
Mandarin and grape molasses version of Tommy’s Margarita, at the Gramm Bar in Milan. Anna Huix
“Milan is the capital of Italian cocktails,” says Giovanni Angelucci, travel journalist and regular contributor to media such as Gambero Rosso and La Stampa, who defines himself as Gaudent, someone who knows how to enjoy life’s pleasures. “There is economic power so that new projects can arise; There are obviously skilled bartenders and the interest of the people who live here is enormous.” The economic capital of northern Italy is one of those privileged destinations where you can enjoy the world of cocktails anytime and anywhere. “One of my favorite spots is Bella Milano at Porta Romana, a neighborhood that is experiencing a renaissance. “It’s a small and cozy bar,” adds Angelucci.
The evening begins at Ceresio 7, a penthouse with pool, cocktail bar and a DJ playing Italian disco. The building also houses the offices of Dsquared2; Designers Dean and Dan Caten are partners in the bar. Moroccan Abi el Attaoui is the main bartender, offering fancy drinks to the most important personalities in the fashion world for 10 years without ever losing sight of the focus on a good drink. Its bottle rack features authentic gems, from aged Ardbeg whiskeys to 60+ degree farm rums. Also sherries from Lustau and González-Byass. To welcome the crowd, he offers to taste an umi-tini, his version of the dry martini, more mineral and savory, which uses the enriched nettle leaf.
“This area is called Monumentale, it’s an area for rich and fashionable people. “Here is Bulk, a cocktail bar and restaurant owned by chef Giancarlo Morelli,” says the cicerone of our cocktail route, Giampiero Francesca, responsible for Blue Blazer, an online guide to more than 300 Italian bars. Among the most active neighborhoods, Moscova stands out: “The most famous cocktail bars in the area are called Chinese Box and Agua Sancta, everything is full of art galleries and terraces.”
Counter at Bar 1930, in Milan. Anna Huix
The cocktail Lady Malvina, a version of the Negroni with roasted cherries prepared at Bar Moebius, opened in Milan in 2019. Anna Huix
The carefully designed spaces are a reminder that the city hosts its own design week each year. House of Ronin, for example, is a four-story building dedicated to the Asian-inspired cocktail; There’s karaoke, a sushi restaurant, and several bars with drinks bearing names like Niigata (gin, awamori, shochu, pineapple, and soda), Kumamoto (whisky, Fuji apple, and sisho bitters), or Jinzu (whisky, Okinawan lemon, and kumquat). ) carry. Strategically located in Chinatown, the project was made possible thanks to design studio SC+. Porta-Venezia, another of Milan’s most popular neighborhoods, is home to Moebius, which opened in 2019 and is a spectacular restaurant with a plant floating in the air. Drinks and signature cocktails are also provided here. “Our pesto martini was made in Miami. I’m from Genoa and I thought it might be a nice tribute to my city and the United States. With the fat content of the oil, we soften it using the fat washing technique,” says Giovanni Alario, the manager formerly of the award-winning Le Syndicat in Paris.
Paola Mencarelli, Director of Cocktail Weeks in Florence, Tuscany and Venice, in one of the rooms of the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence. Anna Huix
Dry Milano combines pizzas and cocktails, with Lorenzo Sirabella, who won the title of Best Pizzaiolo last year, and Idris al Malat in charge of the cocktails. There was also a guest cocktail bar, Depero, on the evening of our visit. The crowded place is divided into an entrance with high tables and a 24-hour bar, as well as several rooms in the back. There will be more than 300 people. On the wall are five of his classic cocktails: French 75, Sazerac, Hanky Panky, Corpse Reviver 2 and Martinez. But if they’ve become known for anything, it’s for their commitment to sustainability. “To prepare the cocktails, we use all the waste from the restaurant. We produce various liqueurs, liqueurs and infusions. “For our Mozzarella Sour, for example, we use the water left over from the cheese and make a syrup out of it,” Al Malat reveals about a variant of the Whiskey Sour.
One of the most media-savvy faces of the Italian Liquid universe is Benjamin Cavagna. It is the face of Speakeasy 1930 and is ranked 35th on the list of the 50 best bars in the world. After traveling to Africa and South America, this time his letter is inspired by Europe. “I studied philosophy and I realize that it is always necessary to have a concept. “You can make very good cocktails, but if you don’t have an idea behind it that makes sense, it’s worthless,” he admits, sitting in the wing chair. His looks, with a very long beard and a plain vest, don’t go out of place in the place, which is designed to resemble an old room with its wallpaper and photos on the walls.
Inside Gramm, the signature cocktail bar that creates artisanal drinks along the canals of Milan. Anna Huix
Smoke and flares are sometimes part of the cocktail making process at the Nu Lounge in Bologna.Anna Huix
If Milan is the capital of bitters, Turin is that of vermouth. Only 200 kilometers away, the two cities face each other and compete for the use of these drinks. “There are still people asking about the Milano-Torino (also abbreviated as Mi-To). It’s a cocktail that we prepare with Punt E Mes, a Turinese vermouth, and Campari bitters, a typical Milanese drink.” Highlights Federico Ali, who has been drinking at Caffè Torino for 30 years, opened in 1903 when time stands still seems to have stayed. Turin breathes a different atmosphere from Milan, its straight, grid-like streets and monumental buildings inviting for a more relaxed drinking experience. Places like Caffè Mulassano from 1907; The 1858 Caffè Baratti or the 1757 Bar Cavour (albeit with some modernized rooms and an impressive bar cabinet) put things at a different pace.
Simone Nervo and Vanessa Vialardi come from Turin, are young and enterprising. The two are responsible for the dynamic menu at D.One, a cocktail bar that turns old drinks into contemporary drinks. This is how you understand its characteristic combinations, as well as a menu entirely dedicated to Americano, the drink that gave Mi-To wings with the addition of lemonade and its refreshment. They offer eight combinations with a variety of ideas ranging from chestnut honey to unfamiliar shades of yellow. “Our drinks are made for customers and not for bartenders as is customary in the industry. “We think the Americano will be the next spritz,” commented Nervo and Vialardi, surrounded by vintage martini bottles, the collectible class.
Benjamin Cavagna has been running 1930 Cocktail Bar, a Milanese eatery ranked 35th on the list of the 50 best bars in the world, for a decade. Anna Huix
The Terroni cocktail at Bella Milano, a bar in Milan’s Porta Romana district.Anna Huix
It is said that the Negroni originated as a variation of the Mi-To. It was just adding equal parts gin to this mix. The legend wanted to place the story in Florence, with a nobleman in the center, Count Negroni, and an old café, Casoni, later renamed Giacosa. This summer, this space reopened, the birthplace of the Negroni and now owned by the Valenza family. Also behind historic bars like Caffè Gilli and Paszkowski. “It is a very big responsibility to manage these places where the history of Florence is still tangible. However, we do not lose sight of the present,” explains Marco Valenza on the day of Giacosa’s lecture.
Aperitif hour, in the middle of the afternoon, at the Ceresio 7 penthouse bar in Milan.Anna Huix
Seven years ago, Florence gained strength and started shaking again. “In 2016 we organized our first cocktail week. I had a very clear vision. I knew our story was very powerful, so we tried. In the beginning we started with 13 cocktail bars and now we have 46”, reveals Paola Mencarelli, the director of the Florentine Cocktail Bars Week, to which she later added Tuscany and more recently Venice, which celebrates its third edition at the end of September. Mencarelli managed to popularize places like Locale, Atrium, Rasputin or Gucci Giardino 25, which had great success with critics and the public.
“Bologna is slowly entering the cocktail routes. Remember what Florence looked like five years ago,” says the Blue Blazer founder. Bars like Flor, Velluto or Nu Lounge, a pioneer of tiki cocktails in Italy and founded in 2000 by Daniele Dalla Pola, support it. “In Italy it is very easy for any city to have its own cocktail bar or place to enjoy an aperitif. This is our story,” concludes Nicolo Ribuffo, heir to Nu Lounge’s Polynesian heritage with his mother, Elena Esposito. The aperitif as living space.
A woman enjoys a spritz at Navigli in Milan. Anna Huix
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