"I must help place Brazil on the world's cocktail industry map", says Brazilian bartender, Neli Pereira, whose mission is to preserve her home country's native ingredients and put them in the spotlight. Actually, this isn't a motivation we manage to see that often in Brazil, which is why Neli can be considered one of the few who is still enduring this challenging path.
"Nordestinos are all the same: they come to São Paulo, picturing a better life in this huge capital city, but they are always yearning to go back", said Walter Bolinha, as he referred to his fellows’ northeastern citizens known in Brazil as "nordestinos". He is the driving force for more than 20 years at Baretto - the fancy bar of the international acclaimed Hotel Fasano.
Long before any of us could ever have imagined living under such socially restricted conditions, I've had the idea to ask some dear bartenders that I admire the most: what would the Last Drink of your life be? Coincidentally or not, Covid-19 made its unpleasant appearance right after my first inquiries and the subject of this interview has made more sense than ever.
Cattedrale di Palermo: I could be content by just observing its façade. It has a rich architecture with different shapes and techniques that represents all the cultural diversity that Palermo is made of: Roman, Norman, Greek, Arabic, and even a touch of Sicilian Baroque. A great mix that could not have been more successful.
When we are not looking for a particular spot and unpretentiously go to places when we are traveling, perhaps the most incredible and unusual venues appear out of nowhere. That's how I met Botanical Affairs, that surpassed any expectation of a drink bar that I could ever visit.
In any space dedicated to gastronomy in the city of Würzburg, two things are taken very seriously: ambiance and drink. Any self-respecting bar or restaurant takes very seriously the space in which it is inserted along with its decor, as well as its drinks menu, dedicated to the Franconian region.
For those who, like me, intensely enjoy the gastronomic and ethylic experiences that a city reserves, I start with the fact that the city of Würzburg, located in the Franconia region, has the largest concentration of vineyards within the city limits in all of Europe.
Any city that is clearly growing has new restaurants opening one after the other. But what makes a restaurant cool can’t be just its food. It is the ambience, the service, the way the staff make their customers feel good, the décor. Here is my list of favorite restaurants, some are new, others, not so much.
The Dutch pragmatism is something easily associated with creativity, I believe, in most of the times. Their culture preserves simple habits that always find ways to achieve a low-key lifestyle, full of joy and social/work opportunities. I carefully selected three places that follow this philosophy and present themselves much more than a restaurant-bar.