-"Have you visited Camparino in Galleria?"
- "No".
- "So, go".
The tip comes from Oriol Castro, one of the three chefs at Mejorar, the second best restaurant in the world according to The World's 50 Best Restaurants. So, with the recommendation coming from a chef with such a sense of smell, we have no choice but to put on our jackets and run to the Milanese Piazza Duomo to discover Camparino in Galleria.
Located in one of the corners of the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II, surrounded by luxurious boutiques, as soon as we arrive we understand the reason for the recommendation: not everyone knows that this bar changed the history of the Italian aperitif. In fact, without it, drinks like the negroni or the spritz would never have existed, since in his basement Gaspare Campari invented a revolutionary liquid at the beginning of the 20th century: that blend of bitter herbs, aromatic plants, fruit in alcohol and water that today We know it as Campari, whose recipe remains secret.
Frequented by tourists (who probably have no idea what happened there) and Milanese in equal measure, when you arrive on the ground floor of Camparino in Galleria you have the feeling that time has stopped, since almost all the The interior design remains faithful to the essence of when it opened in 1915. The ebony bar that was installed 109 years ago is still intact, as well as the mosaics on the floor, the silver and steel details or those lamps that were hand-made by the same craftsman who created those of the Milan Duomo.
The upper floor (which is impossible to access if you do not reserve) has undergone a complete remodeling in recent years by the Lissoni Casal Ribeiro studio, which has tried to preserve the essence of the architecture of the time by combining it with contemporary and modern design elements. In the new Gaspare Campari Room, the basement where Campari was invented, now converted into a speakeasy, you will find locked away the books from the time in which the recipe for the original Campari is written. Will they let us take a look to see what's in it? Obviously not.
What they do let us try are some of the bottles that they also keep, as if they were a treasure, in Gaspare Campari's old laboratory: a surprisingly sweet Campari from the 70s, a Cinzano from the 60s and a very old bottle of Bombay gin that looks almost unrecognizable from the label.
"This has been the home of the Italian aperitif for more than 100 years," says Tommaso Cecca, bar manager of this cocktail bar that in 2021 managed to find its place in the ranking of the best bars in the world (this year, it is ranked 85). He was and still is. The figures prove it, since of the 1,300 people who pass through Camparino in Galleria daily, 80% are Italians, who have transmitted the tradition of continuing to go to this bar generation after generation.
The cocktail menu they offer is divided into three chapters: one with recipes from the past based on books such as The Savoy Cocktail Book, published in 1969 by bartender Joe Gilmore; another dedicated to the vision of Gaspare Campari, which offers drinks inspired by the recipes of the creator of Campari; and a final chapter that pays tribute to liquid history with exclusive cocktails made with vintage spirits.
Your star combo? The negroni, because the heart of this cocktail is evidently nourished by Campari and because thanks to this drink the Camparino established itself as a great reference for the Italian aperitif (born in Milan) worldwide.
It is also worth trying Campari Seltz, another of their most popular offerings. “This bar has seen two wars and various social and cultural revolutions happen and its essence remains intact,” explains Cecca, mentioning that when this latest cocktail was invented it was served with the same soda machine that is replicated today in the bar of the establishment.
