Who knows? But if they continue this way chances are that they will. Nowadays if you go into an international bar, the probability of encountering an italian bartender is pretty high. It is like everywhere you go instead of a "Hello" you get a "Ciao" and insead of a "thank you" you get a "Grazie". Why is that? Why most of the great bar teams have italians and who are they?
For the first question we need to do a little digging into the pages of history and take a closer look at Italy. It is well known that It has a very rich background involving spirits and this is our first clue.
Italy is known for producing a lot amaros, bitters, vermouth, liquors and spirits.. The most famous brands that we are using today in our bars come from Italy. Furthermore, the italian group "Grupo Campari" is the 6th large player of the worldwide spirits industry. The birthplace of the european cocktail cultures stands there. Why? It is simple. They make the spirits and afterwards they drink it!
But before the drinking process, they have to prepare it. Here comes the magic. They developed some serious skills in the art of mixing drinks and the bartending level is so high that you can find an italian bartender almost in every great bar in the world.
It is said that a good bartender needs to have a ground base of knowledge before he chooses his path. Whether he or she wants to be a mixologist, a barista or a flair bartender, he must know also how to deal with the other departments.
If we take a closer look at the c
offee section in Italy, here is not so much to say. Italians invented espresso, this magnificent hot beverage who is making our daily life a little better. The first espresso machine was invented in Italy so I think this covers up pretty much this topic.
In terms of mixology, there is a lot of diversity and italian bartenders are really the ones who are taking care of their guests in the most iconic cockail places in the world:
Take "The American Bar" at Savoy for instance. There are a lot of good italian bartenders there that in my opinion I think it should rename it as "The Italian Bar". Bartenders like Luca Corradini, Michele Peter
Dorelli, the former head bartender is an italian bartender born in Italy who has been with the Savoy for 38 years (in which 24 with The American Bar).
Peter Dorelli has a long life friend in London, also italian. Name? Well I don't think that there is any profesional bartender who hasn't heard about Salvatore Calabrese, Born on the Amalfi coast, this guy is known for a lot of things in the bar world:
* he is the inventor of the Calabrese sink who is widely used in all the bars around the world
* he broke the Guiness record in 2012 for creating the most expensive cocktail (5500 pounds)
* he is known for perfecting some of the bar tools we are using today like the Salvatore Barspoon or Mixing Glass
* he has his own brand of Limoncello (famous italian digestif)
If we take a glance at another succesfull hotel bar in London, we have the Dorchester. Very high class venues that has been led by Giuliano Morandin, one nice italian who has been there for 30 years. Now he is retired but passed all his knowledge to Luca Cordiglieri, the actual head bartender who is changing peoples life on a daily basis in his bar. What nationality is Luca? Well I think you know the answer...
Furthermore into the hotel bars in London we have Agostino Perrone who is taking care of his guests at the Connaugh Bar and Simone Caporale & Rudi Carraro who are throwing a party everytime they are behind the stick at Artesian.
We are going to say goodbye to London now but not without saying at least a word about two great italian bartenders who are among the best in the world. Yes, I am talking about Luca Cinalli and Tony Conigliaro. Both have Italian origins and both share the same goal: making guest drinking experience unique every time. If you think i am blabbering now, just go and pay them a visit! I dare you!
Why am I talking about London;s bartending scene you say? Well mainly because the exact hour in bartending is given in London. (period) And some of the ones who are to blame for that are italians.
What I like about italian bartending is that there is a lot of diversity amoung the bartenders. When I say a lot I really mean a lot. You fancy Tiki drinks? No problem, just to go to "Nu Lounge" in Bologna and see Danielle Dalla Polla or you if you are more like a cultural type of guy, go to Rome. In the day walk amoung the roman ruins and in the night go to The Jerry Thomas Speakeasy Bar.
If you are more like a molecular guy, then you are in for a treat by going to "Notingham Forest" at Dario Comini in Milan. He is one of the best molecular bartenders in the world.
Not that a traveler? No problem. You can sit, relax and enjoy the cocktail creations from a lot of italian bartenders (and many other international ones) on facebook, It is that simple. Go and register yourself to "Cocktail Art" a group founded by Diego Ferrari who has witnessed over 6000 subscribers from all over the world. That is one big bartending community and a lot of cocktail pictures!
Italian bartenders are always pushing the envelope. They always want to go that extra mile just to make you happy. Take Dennis Zoppi for instance. He is always changing our perceptions of how we drink and now he travels around the globe to teach bartenders the fundamentals of flavours. He is also one of the top 6 finalists in Diageo World Class from 2012. Aaahh, the world class. This is a different cup of tea but somehow in every edition in the finals you see at least one italian. There were so far: Max la Rocca, Giuseppe Santamaria, Giacomo Giannoti (these 3 guys work in the same place, how crazy is this?) and Claudio Perinelli who came last year 2nd in-the-world! How awesome is this?
I love the fact that the italians, even though are one of the best in the world, they want to challenge themselves and they don't forget that afterall, we are all humans. One of these bartenders which I grew very fond of is Paolo de Venuto. He is travelling the world trying to get the best of bartending. He had worked in top bars from Bari, London, Barcelona and now he is in Tokio, working in HI5, and we all know what is happening in there...What I like the most at him is that he is very humble and tryes to help you in everyway that he can. Last year for instance, he agreed (for free) to come all the way from Barcelona to Brasov, Romania just to help the local barteding scene to raise money for the well known campaign "Wine to Water". We raised over 500 dollars and we had a lot of fun. Oh, the memories...
Another point of difference regarding italian bartenders is that they always (and i mean litteraly always) want to share their knowledge and pass away the information to other bartenders who are eager to learn. So because of guys like Leonardo Leuci (and his Jerry Thomas crew) and Matteo Zed (and his Sviluppo Horeca friends) the bar world is a little better. They are constant inviting to Rome world renowned personalities from the bar world like: Jamie Boudreau, Hidetsugu Ueno, Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown, Sean Muldoon & Jack McGarry, Jim Meehan, Gary Regan, Steve Schneider, etc.
What about cocktails? Well, a lot of the cocktails that we are drinking today in our bars come from Italy or are invented by italians. We have iconic cocktails like Negroni, Americano, Bellini, Sgroppino who delight our taste buds every day. God bless them for that. Could you imagine a world without these drinks? I can't. Not to mention the other thousands and thousands of variations of these cocktails.
In terms of flair bartending, Italy is doing very well. Every year in the world flair bartending competition final held at the Roadhouse, there are always at least 3 or 4 italians. That could only mean that the passion for this art is very big. Bartenders like Gianluigi Bosco, Bruno Vanzan, Dario Doimo are rocking the flair bartending scene every time giving away a great show.
To sum it up, italian bartenders are the perfect combo of hard work, creativity, passion and unconditional love. We have a lot to learn from them and next time when you see one, just go and talk to them. They will change your life....
Salute!
P.S: I am sorry for all the great bartenders that are not mentioned here but If i were to make a post about all of them, the space need for that was to be at least 10 times more.
At the end here are some bartenders that are worth to mention: Davide Colombo, Mario Farulla, Charles Flaminio, Max la Rossa, Fabo Bacchi, etc.
God bless you all!
