End of September, I had a really weird trip to Milan. My wife had a conference and I tagged along as I was in Italy anyway, and I’d never visited the place before. Why not, eh?
It was all a bit crazy as we’d arrived slap bang in the middle of Milan Fashion Week and our hotel was in fashion central. As much as sharing a hotel with a load of models sounds like fun, wandering round in joggers and t-shirt being ignored by the beautiful people had me scrambling for the bar.
Luckily, Marco from Martini had introduced me to a Milanese favourite. A Negroni Sbagliato, and trust me people, you need to get stuck into these!
WHAT’S A NEGRONI SBAGLIATO WHEN IT’S AT HOME?
So the story I got told was back in the 1950s a Milanese bartender messed up a customer’s Negroni. He got the Vermouth and Campari bit, no problem. But then forgot the gin bit and decided to make it up as he went along. So he popped in a measure of Prosecco.
The customer was initially a bit annoyed, but turned out to be a bit of a masterstroke. It’s like a “session” Negroni for anytime in the afternoon. Genius, eh? Sbagliato is the Italian word for “mistaken”. So there you go, a mistaken Negroni.
WHERE TO GET STUCK IN
Now, there are some top places in Milan if you want cocktails. Marco’s recommendation was Bar Basso, but sorry dude, I was over the otherside of the city, so balls to that.
I found an absolute pearler of a bar called Morna down the road from the hotel. Great atmosphere, top bartenders, and a pretty damn fine effort at a cheese and ham toastie half way through. Can’t moan, right?
Now I know there are Negroni lovers out there that think this sounds like sacrilege. I don’t care boys and girls. Try one and then come back to me with the red stained Campari grin across your face 😉
Cheers
