History

The aperitivo tradition was built in Milan around the Camparino bar (founded 1915 in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the city's marble shopping arcade), the original house bar of Campari, the bittersweet red aperitif invented in 1860 by Gaspare Campari in Novara. The bar-with-snacks model spread through the city in the postwar decades; by the 1980s it was the Milanese 6pm ritual. The modern aperitivo culture (a drink plus a tray of free small bites, around €10 to €15) is now an obligation rather than a luxury; the bars compete on the quality of the tray as much as the drink. Camparino remains the historical reference; modern bars like Ugo and Nottingham Forest run cocktail-driven takes.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 20 minTotal 25 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • For 4 Negroni Sbagliato cocktails: 120ml Campari, 120ml sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica Formula or Cinzano Rosso), 250ml chilled Prosecco, 4 large strips of orange peel, ice
  • For the bites tray:
  • 200g good-quality Castelvetrano green olives
  • 150g taralli pugliesi (small ring biscuits, available at Italian delis)
  • 150g potato chips (the Milanese aperitivo tray classic; use the best you can find)
  • 200g sliced Mortadella di Bologna
  • 200g sliced Bresaola della Valtellina
  • 200g focaccia Genovese, cut into squares
  • 100g grated grana padano, for the focaccia squares
  • 100g sun-dried tomatoes in oil
  • 100g pickled artichoke hearts in oil

Method

  1. Make the cocktails first: chill four old-fashioned glasses or rocks tumblers in the freezer for 10 minutes.
  2. Fill each chilled glass with one large ice cube or two cubes.
  3. Pour 30ml Campari and 30ml sweet vermouth over the ice in each glass; stir gently for 5 seconds.
  4. Top each glass with 60ml chilled Prosecco. Do not stir hard after the Prosecco goes in; you will kill the bubbles.
  5. Express an orange peel over each glass (twist the peel over the surface to release the oils), then drop the peel in.
  6. Arrange the bites tray: lay the Mortadella and Bresaola slices in folded ribbons on a large wooden board.
  7. Pile the green olives, potato chips, taralli, sun-dried tomatoes and pickled artichokes in separate small bowls or piles on the board.
  8. Sprinkle the focaccia squares with grated grana padano and arrange in a corner.
  9. Set everything on a low coffee table within reach of the cocktails.
  10. Serve at 18:00 sharp; the aperitivo is a 90-minute window before dinner, not an evening's drinking session.

Tip from the editors. One cocktail per person, up to two refills; the tray bridges to dinner, not replaces it. Bologna Mortadella and Valtellina Bresaola are the reference salumi.

Where to eat aperitivo milanese

Aperitivo Milanese in Milan

Camparino in Galleria ★ 4.2

Cocktail barHistoric aperitivo bar€€€centro-storicoTue-Sun 08:00-23:00, closed Mon

Camparino in Galleria at the Piazza Duomo corner of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is the bar where Davide Campari himself served the first Campari Seltz.

Signature drink: Campari Seltz: Campari with soda and orange peel

Food: Aperitivo snacks

Piazza Duomo 21, 20121 Milano

Ugo ★ 4.1

Cocktail barSpeakeasy cocktail bar€€€navigliMon-Sat 19:00-02:00, closed Sun

Ugo on Via Corsico in Navigli is a small speakeasy with faux taxidermy and antique decor, where the cocktails are built around unexpected flavour.

Signature drink: Trique: vodka, white vermouth, celery, green apple, lime

Food: None

Via Corsico 8, 20144 Milano

Nottingham Forest ★ 4.6

Cocktail barExperimental cocktail bar€€€porta-veneziaTue-Sat 18:30-02:00, Sun 18:00-01:00, closed Mon

Nottingham Forest on Viale Piave is the city's longest-running experimental cocktail bar, open since 1986 in the same room. Located in Porta Venezia.

Signature drink: Boscobel Ramos Fizz with nitrogen foam

Food: None

Viale Piave 1, 20129 Milano

Bar Gattullo ★ 4.3

Café€navigliMon-Sat 06:00-20:00, closed Sun

Bar Gattullo at Viale Porta Lodovica has served Milanese espresso and house-baked cornetti since 1962. Order the traditional milanese espresso and cornetto.

Signature drink: Traditional Milanese espresso and cornetto

Viale Porta Lodovica 2, 20136 Milano

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