An itinerary to discover Venice through Venice Cocktail Week, from December 13 to 19, 2021, in Venice
An experience in the art of Mixology in Venice’s most beautiful venues: Venice Cocktail Week arrives in the lagoon. Paola Mencarelli, founder of Florence Cocktail Week—a successful format born from London inspiration—brings a week of meetings and sharing about the world of cocktails to Venice from December 13 to 19, 2021, with the support of Aman Venice.
Masterclasses, themed evenings with international guests, and cultural initiatives to taste new drinks created for the event, discover Venice’s cocktail bars, historic venues, and new design spots, meet the bartenders and learn about their passion, and bring the general public closer to the art of cocktail preparation.
Four #VCW21 Signature Cocktails
Four types were chosen for the preparation of the Venetian Cocktail List: the Signature Cocktail, a freely created drink representative of the event; the Winter Cocktail to warm up from the cold temperatures; the Twist on Spritz, a reinterpretation of the traditional Venetian Spritz; and the RiEsco a Bere Italiano Cocktail, dedicated to Made in Italy and crafted with Italian products from companies participating in RiEsco a Bere Italiano.
26 Cocktail Bars and historic Cafés have been selected for the event. Let’s discover them in a journey through the sestieri of Venice.
Castello
In the Castello district, a new entry in the Venetian aperitivo scene is participating: Alchemia Bar, located in the 5-star hotel Ca’ di Dio designed by Patricia Urquiola. Bartender Diego Filipponi, who trained and became known to Venetians at Caffè Lavena in Piazza San Marco, presents his signature cocktail named SA’LEGRONI together with Marco Vecchiato.
On Riva degli Schiavoni, the Londrabar at the Hotel Londra Palace features bartenders Marino Lucchetti and Ivan Murtas, who propose LBW: a drink composed of Rabitt Bitter—a liqueur made from the radicchio plant with extremely bitter aromas and flavors—and Gin dei Sospiri, the first Gin of Venice made with plants from Sant’Erasmo and the lagoon, such as samphire.
Nearby is Terrazza Danieli – Bar Dandolo at the Hotel Danieli, characterized by marble columns, gold floral decorations, and antique rugs. For Venice Cocktail Week, Roberto Naccari proposes LEON DANDOLO. Furthermore, if you wish to deepen the Danieli experience, Gambero Rosso suggests tasting the Espresso Danieli with coffee Tequila, espresso, and liquid cream, or the Gondola, a drink with vodka, grapefruit, Aperol, and prosecco.
Piazza San Marco
Piazza San Marco hosts three of Venice’s most important and historic venues. Caffé Florian celebrated 300 years of business last year. For Venice Cocktail Week, bartender Mauro Varagnolo presents the BACIO VENEZIANO.
At Caffè Lavena, the cocktail L’OMBRA DEL DOGE is made with three main ingredients: Select, Cynar, and Intrigo Vermouth, just as there are three bartenders and creators: Massimo Milanese, Michael Costantini and Ivan Favaretto.
The Grancaffé Quadri is also the only restaurant in the Square; the Quadri is a three-Michelin-star restaurant by brothers Massimiliano and Raffaele Alajmo, restored and recreated by French designer Philippe Starck .
Its “A PAT ON THE BACK” MARTINI is signed by Lorenzo Rossetti.
Marciana Area
Near Piazza San Marco and overlooking the Grand Canal, the Caffè Baglioni at the Baglioni Hotel Luna is part of the event. This 5-star luxury hotel was restored by the Spagnulo & Partners studio, which redesigned the common areas with a contemporary touch. Bartenders Lello Tedesco and Thomas Sarmede propose LEALI 2018, a drink featuring the key Venetian ingredient, Select.
The Arts Bar at the hotel The St. Regis Venice proposes the SANTA MARIA BLOODY MARY. The name itself reveals the inspiration for this cocktail created by Facundo Gallegos and Ludwig Negri.
Another splendid palace on the Grand Canal, opposite the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, is the Hotel The Gritti Palace, which, with its Bar Longhi led by Cristiano Luciani, presents BASIL-ICA, a tribute to the symbolic and distinctive building of the Serenissima, St. Mark’s Basilica.
In Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, we find Tarnowska’s American Bar: a hotel and cocktail bar with a fascinating and intriguing history. Records from 1907 testify that a crime of passion took place inside Palazzo Maurogonato, now the Hotel Ala: Count Kamarovsky was shot and killed by Naumov, who was hired by the Russian Countess Maria Tarnowska — a story that somewhat recalls Ridley Scott’s film House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, released in Italian cinemas on December 16. The stories of sexual sadism and drugs surrounding the case gave the event strong resonance throughout Europe.
An architectural detail is the external wooden facade, which was the set for the La Fenice Theater in the early 1900s. In the bar, take note when you go to the counter to taste IL NEGRONI DI MARIA created by bartender Rey Soriano: the portrait of the Countess is a stylistic reminder of Klimt’s Judith.
Very dear to Venetians and among the most appreciated cocktail bars is the ChicBar of the Taverna La Fenice, which boasts the city’s most famous barman: Gennaro Florio. Together with Giordano di Prata, Brando Rosada and Ricardo Matos Dos Santos, they pay tribute to the (in-person) reopening of the season at the Teatro La Fenice with a drink named FIDELIO, after the opera by Ludwig van Beethoven, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung, which opened the opera season.
San Giorgio Island
Separated from the island of Giudecca by the small Grazia canal and washed by the St. Mark’s Basin, the island of San Giorgio faces Piazza San Marco. It is home to the Compagnia della Vela, Le Stanze del Vetro, and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. The dockside for sailing boats hosts the San Giorgio Cafè: a small and elegant venue, also a restaurant, where Alessandro Cara and Luca Stocchi present SWEET DREAMS for Venice Cocktail Week.
Santo Stefano
In Campo Santo Stefano, with many outdoor tables, Terrazza Aperol is the new reference point for the quintessential Venetian aperitivo, the Spritz. For Venice Cocktail Week, the orange drink is transformed into SANT’ERASMO, the signature cocktail by Tea Alberizzi, Samuela Gastaldi and Vittorio La Mantia.
Near Palazzo Grassi, overlooking the Grand Canal opposite Ca’ Rezzonico (the Museum of 18th-century Venice), is Palazzina Grassi, a 5-star luxury boutique hotel with interiors entirely designed by Philippe Starck. For the event, Palazzina The Bar presents ART OF SHARING by Marco Cattapan.
On the Grand Canal near the Rialto Bridge, Amo is the realm of Lucas Kelm, bar manager of the Alajmo Group for T Fondaco dei Tedeschi, who presents MEDITERRANEAN SOUL.
Cannaregio
In the Cannaregio district, near Cinema Italia and the Jewish Ghetto, is the delightful Time Social Bar: a small and comfortable venue with a warm and bold style. The predominant furnishing materials are wood and brass, recalling the atmosphere of an old workshop where a craftsman worked behind the counter. Today, Alessandro Beggio and Salvatore Valerioti are there, having created the SMOKY BOULEVARDIER.
San Polo
A magnificent 7-star resort, Aman Venice is one of the most significant locations in Venice’s hospitality scene, chosen by stars and important figures. It is perfect for regal celebrations, such as the recent wedding of the daughter of Princess Bianca di Savoia Aosta and Count Giberto Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga to her longtime partner Briano Martinoni Caleppio, the 29-year-old son of Bernard, owner of the LVMH group, and Géraldine Guyot.
The Bar at Aman dedicates its signature cocktail to the 1600 years of Venice with a drink named 1600 by Antonio Ferrara and Amila Kulasekera. In addition to a very design-oriented aesthetic presentation, it features an international fusion of Select, Talisker Storm whisky, and Michter’s bourbon.
Il Mercante in Campo dei Frari is among the bars in Venice most frequented by locals, artists, and university students from all over the world. A venue born in 1870 as a meeting place for the Carbonari: this is evidenced by the eye, a hole in the ceiling that allowed the Austrians to better monitor both floors in case of dangerous conspiracies—an architectural detail also found at Caffè Lavena in Piazza San Marco.
For Venice Cocktail Week, bartenders Alessandro Zampieri, Anna Garuti, Dario Massagnani and Marco Favaretto have created L’ORTO DI VENEZIA, featuring the scents and flavors of lagoon fruits and plants.
Near Campo San Polo, there is also Lunardelli Venezia, where a special event will take place featuring the creation of a design cocktail (see below).
Dorsoduro
In the center of the city’s nightlife, Chet Bar in Campo Santa Margherita is a venue with a lighthearted style where you can chat while enjoying well-made drinks served in record time. Its signature cocktail is called UN APE IN CHIANTI by Mattia Beninati and Riccardo Miotto.
Excess Venice is a boutique hotel with a garden and private spa. For the Venice Cocktail Week experience, it presents RED CARPET NEGRONI and its creator Amadu Bah, a bartender from the Mandarin Bar at the Mandarin Oriental in Milan and from Nonsolococktails—a consultancy and training company in the beverage sector—by Mattia Pastori.
The Experimental Cocktail Club at the hotel Il Palazzo Experimental is a meeting between 15th-century Venetian Gothic and postmodern design, complex tastes, and clean lines, following the young and meticulous touch of French designer Dorothée Meilichzon, winner of Designer of the Year at Maison & Objet (2015): a MELTING POT—the name chosen for the signature cocktail—by Lorenzo Di Cola and Guillaume Pinaut.
Giudecca
On the Giudecca Canal, next to the ancient Fortuny factory, stands the large complex of the Hilton Molino Stucky Venice Hotel. On its top floor is the Skyline Rooftop Bar, offering a stunning view of the city. For Venice Cocktail Week, it will be pleasantly accompanied by VENATO, the signature cocktail by Gabriele Cusimano and Sebastiano Scarpa.
Another wonderful jewel of hospitality in Venice on the island of Giudecca is the Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel. A cult hotel loved by stars with a panoramic view of St. Mark’s Basin, a garden, a swimming pool, and a private pier, its Bar Gabbiano—where the Bellini is still served according to the original recipe and where bar manager Walter Bolzonella is at home—presents the signature cocktail TOCCO VENEZIANO.
Lido di Venezia
Let’s take the vaporetto and go for a walk by the sea at the Lido di Venice. Splendid in summer, the Venetian beach is unusual and romantic, just like the sea in winter.
Two locations were chosen by Venice Cocktail Week. The first is on the main avenue leading from the Santa Maria Elisabetta pier to the beaches: Blue Drop Venice, a design bar that, with Oleg Dobereanschi and Jonathan Bortoletti, presents ABOUT SUN (SET).
In early September, the Lido seafront becomes glamorous: journalists, Hollywood stars, and the cinema jet set move here to participate in the Venice International Film Festival, one of the most important Film Festivals in the world. It is at the Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort where all this began, and it could not be missing from the Venetian Mixology Experience.
The Blue Bar is the pearl of the Hotel Excelsior, with bar manager Lino Marchese. His “twists on classics” are alchemical experiments on the most famous international drinks, and as he says: “The cocktail is the art of meetings and inspirations.” For Venice Cocktail Week, Lino chooses to involve all the senses with his EXCELSIOR RUBY.
VCW21 Projects
Shoshin Art Club
Valentino Longo—head bartender at the Four Seasons at The Surf Club (Florida)—has given under-25 bartenders at Venice Cocktail Week the opportunity to access his Shoshin Art Club platform for free. This virtual hub offers information, teachings from the biggest names in the international mixology world, multimedia classes, and news.
The person to win access to the platform is Jonathan Bartoletti from Blue Drop.
Creative Thinking with Ilaria Legato
In February 2022, brand and food designer Ilaria Legato—co-author with Nicoletta Polliotto of the book “Creative Restaurant Branding” published by Hoepli—will offer Venice Cocktail Week venues a creative thinking workshop to find the extraordinary identity of their cocktail or venue.
Logo
The Venice Cocktail Week logo is signed by Piero Lissoni of Lissoni&Partners with Marino Lucchetti, Bar Manager of the Hotel Londra Palace.
And finally, a special event: Cocktails, Design, and Craftsmanship
Tuesday, December 14 at 6 PM, an event organized by Veneziadavivere combines mixology with design and high craftsmanship at Lunardelli Venezia, a creative space that tells the story of Venice’s 1600 years through craftsmanship, design, and glass.
Lunardelli and Veneziadavivere asked Lino Marchese, bar manager of the Blue Bar at the Hotel Excelsior, to create a cocktail dedicated to Io e Te, a set of glasses from the Nason Moretti glassworks contained in a small wooden tray reminiscent of Venetian piers, designed by Marco Zito for Lunardelli as a tribute to the landscapes of the Venice Lagoon.
Lino’s creation, made with Campari and the Venetian Select and Gin dei Sospiri, is a cocktail and a way to talk—also through mixology—about Venice, life in the lagoon, the tradition of craftsmanship, and the innovation of design.
The event is private, and it will be possible to follow it live on Veneziadavivere’s Instagram account.
Venice, from December 13 to 19, 2021
Read the e-Book of the event calendar in PDF.
The article is by Lucia Pecoraro and the photo of Lino Marchese is by Marta Formentello for Venezia da Vivere.
All photos are by Michele Tamasco, Martino Dini, and Andrea Di Lorenzo for Venice Cocktail Week.
