Italy’s most innovative cocktail bars
What makes Italy so enchanting is her preservation of tradition, culture, and ritual. The terracotta buildings with old shutters that line each cobblestone street, the alimentari and salumeria who know their customers order before they have a chance to speak it. The way love, hospitality, and community are intertwined throughout all aspects of life, designed to make you feel like you are coming home at any point of your day. And at the root of the Italian community is their shared sacred space: The Italian bar.
The following list of bars are not just symbolic of aesthetic changes and innovation, but rather, they are symbolic of hope. In an industry that has had to adapt to challenge over challenge throughout the course of two years, home has no other choice but to turn into hope.
The Italian bar still symbolizes our continual need for connection, the desire of excitement, pleasure, and intimacy. But it’s always been more than just the drinks. It’s the escape. It’s the possibilities. It’s the celebration. It’s the search for ourselves. Who are we when we are the most vulnerable? We allow ourselves to get swept away in the energy as the sun starts to set, and hold on to the idea of a new story that is awaiting to be told.
Drink Kong
PIAZZA DI S. MARTINO AI MONTI, 8, ROMA RM
To enter Drink Kong, you must allow yourself to fall into a world that is so completely different from the traditional one that exists outside of its doors. And this relates to our human ability of choice. At its core, Patrick Pistolesi’s New Humans menu is about the understanding of the human experience. Different moods like radiant and radical, starry and comforting, fall underneath the name of each drink, along with the name of the base alcohol only. It’s about forgetting what we’re accustomed to, and about leaning into the feeling of instinct. Your chosen cocktail is now suddenly an extension of who you are, and you leave Drink Kong feeling intoxicated off of this new world that has revealed a different layer of yourself.
The Court
VIA LABICANA, 125, ROME RM
Entering The Court is like entering an after-party during Awards season in New York City. There is an air of celebration, an air of la dolce vita that lingers throughout each table. Someone always seems to be celebrating and falling in love, or maybe they’re celebrating falling in love - which is what a sun kissed courtyard bar in the heart of Rome is made for. The drink menu is divided into sections that represent Roman cinematic classics, from Mario Monicelli’s I Soliti Ignoti, to, of course, Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. Yet, Matteo Zed has created an atmosphere that blends glitz with approachability and ease. The Court is a place that reminds us to honour ourselves, to celebrate life, and to not take any of it so seriously.
Locale
VIA DELLE SEGGIOLE, 12R, FIRENZE FL
The setting of Locale is what perfectly combines the contrast of both the old and new world. Set in a 1200’s palazzo, the Concini Palace was home to political discourse during the Medici rule. But it’s the symbolism of the cherub in the ceiling fresco, who is holding both an artichoke and cup of red wine that represents “in wine, hope”, which mesmerizes me the most. Complete faith is handed over by the patrons to the bartenders, with unnamed cocktails that focus on the flavors of each drink, and a menu that changes based on seasonal produce. To create a community in a place that was once a place of rule, symbolizes the change we all hope for.
Aspro
LOCALITÀ CALABRETTO, 89056 SANTA CRISTINA D'ASPROMONTE RC
Aspro is definitive in preserving the roots of where you came from, but also honoring the roots of innovation. Set in Santa Cristina d'Aspromonte, a mountainous Calabrian town with a population of just over 1,000 inhabitants, Michelin-star chef Nino Rossi’s Aspro is one of the first restaurant/bars of its kind to enter the rural town. He honors the Calabrian landscape with cocktails made from the earth - from homemade rose water, lemon essential oils, to bergamot and licorice. Perhaps, in this - a new bar ritual is born. How can we use the ingredients of our land and the stories of our past to teach us about the future?
Bar Cinquanta
VIA TRENTO, 44/46, PAGANI SA
“Is life itself a ritual?” is written at the top of Bar Cinquanta’s drink list. Alfonso Califano and Natalie Palameri created a place that plays homage to the 1950’s and 1960’s decor style in Italy, where the bar became the central meeting point for Italians throughout the entirety of their day. But, the use of storytelling through the names of their cocktails is what differentiates Bar Cinquanta from bars of the past. “Black Rock Coffee” is made with cold brew coffee, a ritual that has become increasingly popular in North America. Then, there’s “Cacio & Whiskey”, which mixes both Italian cheese and Irish whiskey. Their cocktails demonstrate how the power of different cultural traditions and rituals of the past can come together to form a new story.