Negroni Week Celebrated The Classic Cocktail with New Drink Recipes, Food Pairings, and Charity, especially Campari Community Service. Cheers!

Celebrate the Negroni 

Turns out that the classic cocktail: the Negroni - an iconic blend of equal parts Campari, gin and sweet vermouth - not only mixes up a refreshing drink but also mixes business with pleasure. And food.

Negroni Week kicked off last Monday in a big way - lots of Negroni drink stations, pizza made with Campari, coffee brewed with Negroni, music, and more. But then, this is a big deal.

Negroni Week is a toast to a week-long global charity initiative with more than 3,000 bars, restaurants and retailers around the world who joined to celebrate the classic cocktail and to raise money and awareness for more than a few charitable causes. This insures that the venerable Negroni endures well past its celebratory week in the spotlight.

In fact, every week can be considered Negroni Week.

Campari®, Italy’s iconic red aperitivo, has joined forces with Imbibe Magazine for the sixth annual Negroni Week.

Every year since 2012, Campari and Imbibe Magazine, have ahem, “raised the bar” for this initiative.

Not only in terms of the caliber of the party events and the complexity and the coordination but also with regard to the items up for the bidding; creative and compelling, indeed. Take a look at the list of brands eager to “mix” with Campari and Imbibe to mark the Negroni fete.

Luxury Negroni Sbagliato from Fine & Rare
A luxury Negroni Sbagliato made with NOLET’S Reserve Gin ($700), Campari and Armand de Brignac Brut Rose, served over a gold flaked ice cube and topped with orange bitters and zest. Ooh, la, la! This over-the-top cocktail retailed for $1,250, with $1,000 of that being donated to Children of Restaurant Employees.

Luxury Negroni Sbagliato from Find & Rare: photo courtesy Campari 

Lavender Berry Negroni from Gelso & Grand
A sweet treat twist on the classic Negroni, the Lavender Berry Negroni is inspired by Gelso & Grand’s cannoli. The cocktail is made with Lavender and Berry infused rum, Campari and sweet vermouth, and topped with a slice of funfetti cake and a rock candy stirrer. How festive is this?! I think this is kind of the perfect treat to celebrate Negroni Week and Imbibe Magazine’s six-year anniversary -- because Candy is the traditional sixth anniversary gift.

Celebrate Six Year Anniversary with Candy! Lavender Berry Negroni, Gelso & Grand: photo courtesy of Campari 

Negroncini from Arancini Bros.
A riff on the classic Arancini, (my be-still-my-heart/hands-down most favorite arancini -- all so fresh, handmade and that gooey cheese...) the Negronicini is made with risotto infused with gin, vermouth and Campari, stuffed with Mortadella, pistachio & fontina

Italian Duo - Negroncini from Arancini Bros.: photo courtesy Campari

Negroni Mille Crepes Cake from Lady M
A delicious crepe cake infused with the bittersweet flavor of a classic Negroni.

Sweet Celebration of the Negroni with Negroni Mille Crepe Cake from Lady M: photo courtesy Campari

The Negroni Flight from The Flatiron Room

Negroni Flight from the Flat Iron Room: photo courtesy Campari 

A three-part Negroni flight ($75) that will gradually take you from least to most bitter, each perfectly paired with premium bites. The flight consists on (in order):

• Sparkling Negroni: Gin, Campari, Sweet Vermouth paired with cucumber and Ikura (Salmon Roe Caviar).
• Smoking Boulevardier paired with Turkey meatball marinated w/ bourbon BBQ sauce and topped with ricotta cheese
• CogneNegroni: Cognac, Campari, Lillet Blanc, Orange Juice paired with chocolate truffle covered with cocoa and green tea powder, topped with grated orange peel

With love for the classic cocktail growing every year, so has its namesake annual philanthropic movement – and Negroni Week 2018 had to have been biggest to date. Starting with just 100 participating bars in 2013, last year’s Negroni Week welcomed the involvement of 7,770 partners in 60 countries to raise a phenomenal $1.5 million for charitable causes since the initiative’s launch.

I’ll drink to that!

But first - a little history about our beloved Negroni. Every great cocktail has a tall tale behind it and the Negroni has more than its fair share. According to Campari, the story goes like this:

“It was around the year 1919 in Florence when Count Camillo Negroni contemplated ordering an Americano cocktail but decided it was time for a change. He requested it with a touch of gin instead of soda, inspired by his last trip to London and its prevalent gin scene. The bartender was pleased to honor Count Camillo Negroni’s request and added an orange garnish rather than the lemon wedge of the Americano to signify the new drink he had created. In Florence, the Count’s ‘usual’ became known as Count Negroni’s Americano, or the “Americano with a touch of gin,” but whatever it was referred to as back then, the Negroni was born. The Negroni is now one of the most famous contemporary classic cocktails. Anywhere you go in the world, you will find a mixologist who can make you the iconic Negroni. The original recipe, the perfectly balanced combination of equal parts of Campari, Red Vermouth and London Dry gin, is almost a century old and continues to be enjoyed today. The International Bartenders Association (IBA) lists Campari as an official ingredient of the Negroni, and thus, there is no Negroni without Campari!”


But as a cocktail aficionado, maybe you already knew this. Negronis are a classic cocktail yet are entirely contemporary, especially as the drink lends itself to being modified, updated, and customized. In fact, updated and customized is the Negroni’s iconic backstory.

On the other hand, maybe you didn’t know this- as I reported on Negroni Week in 2016 for my Examiner column:

“According to cocktail history, and Gary Regan, who authored The Negroni: Drinking to La Dolce Vita, with Recipes & Lore: the Negroni can trace its beginnings back to Florence in 1919 where the cocktail was born when an Italian bartender Lucca Picchi, head bartender at Caffe Rivoire, responded to a customer's demand for more spirited spirits in his Americano cocktail (which is a blend of Campari, sweet vermouth, and club soda). The guest patron, Count Camillo Negroni, who while working at a very unlike count job in the American West - as a rodeo clown - had acquired a taste for strong spirits. So the bartender added gin in place of the club soda water and dubbed the creation Negroni in honor of Count Negroni.

It’s no secret that Italians have long loved their Campari. This Examiner too - who loves it straight on the rocks with a twist especially as a cool, aperitif summer refresher.

But what most folks don’t know is that the Campari red initially got its color from beetles or crickets! Yes, indeed - the carmine red color came from the cochineal insect. (And you thought eating crickets was a new fangled creation.)

Campari was invented in 1868. Sadly, they stopped using the carmine insect dye in 2006. But the red color and the herb recipe including citrus and Cascarilla - a tincture from the croton plant (used as a stimulant and fever reducer), remains and is used in vermouths, too. So you see, the Negroni’s ingredients all are in the same taste cohort: Campari’s herbs and gin’s herb-packed ingredients, along with the complementary herb and bitters of vermouth - is keeping it in the family of flavors.”

Love the Campari story.

Some of the more divine Negroni shape-shifting/avatar-like creations I sampled at the Negroni Week kickoff event are noteworthy, as is the predominance of women mixologist artists. (yeah!):

Beyond Tiki - Paradise Negroni - created by Felicia Chin-Braxton, Nitecap

Beyond Tiki - Paradise Negroni by Felicia Chin-Braxton, Nitecap: photo Leeann Lavin 

And this is one beeuutiful drink, too. Who doesn’t love floating edible orchids?

Or how about this charmer, I Bleed Negroni - created by Anne-Louise Marquis?

Add caption

 

 With this drink’s love of raspberry, it was a pretty and delicious presentation. Try this at your next cocktail party.


 

The finishing touches garnish is a sexy tablescape accessory.

Tattoos add to the cocktail caper.






You can do your own version of a temporary tattoo for your next party. They are available from a variety of sources from Walmart to Oriental Trading. I have an Independence Day assortment for our big fireworks party to up the fun factor!

But this Negroni Week creation by Stacey Swenson, Dante NYC could be my go-to Hospitality Drink at our Independence Day party.



The reason is in large part, because of the inclusion of fresh herbs: basil and fennel -- and especially Stacey’s keen garden-to-glass mixology acumen and prowess to “spank” her basil finishing touches garnish; but also the Prosecco and watermelon ingredients are a refreshing companion to the Campari and Cinzano vermouth. This tasted like a refreshing, “more, please.”  Stacey is truly a "Campari Cutie!"




Clearly, the night belonged to that red, Campari perspective…



There were plenty of Negroni-inspired food creations too. What’s better than homemade pizza?

Umm, This!

A double down of favorites is the Umbria coffee for sale (I got my pound of Joe) inspired by Campari - and the Negroni-infused brew. Wow. That was very tasty - and the brewing contraption was so intriguing -- something out of Harry Potter or Arabian Nights.



Back to this year’s expansive charity initiatives that can only make you love Negroni even more. The partners and the support clearly deserve the shout-out and love…

Celebrate Negroni Week every week

Charity Outreach

To amplify the program’s charitable roots, Campari worked in partnership with the USBG National Charity Foundation (USBG Foundation) to host its first-ever Campari Community Service Day. On June 5 in over twenty cities across the U.S., bartenders and Campari employees in their respective cities gathered for activities such as volunteering at local animal shelters, organizing beach clean ups and preparing and delivering meals to local charities, community groups and firehouses, feeding the people who are making a positive impact in their local communities.

“Year after year our partner Imbibe helps us grow the incredible celebration that is Negroni Week in an effort to support some truly outstanding causes,” said Melanie Batchelor, VP Marketing for Campari America. “Its evolution is proof positive that the community’s collective heart has only grown larger. With the addition of our ‘Campari Community Service Day,’ we have opened up a tangible outlet for the bartending industry to actively channel its enthusiasm beyond what they’re serving behind the bar. Negroni Week’s popularity is accelerating at an amazing pace, and we encourage all bars, retailers and restaurants to get involved!”

“We are so excited to kick off the sixth year of Negroni Week with Campari,” says Karen Foley, publisher of Imbibe. “Every year we are humbled by the generosity of the thousands of people who participate in Negroni Week around the world in this collective effort to support so many incredible charitable causes—it’s truly amazing.”

Renowned industry icon Tony Abou-Ganim will once again lead Team Negroni bike rides. This year’s rides will take bartenders and cycling enthusiasts through twelve markets and counting including San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C., and Chicago during Negroni Week to benefit the Helen David Relief Fund, a program of the USBG Foundation that assists women in the bar industry who are fighting breast cancer. To sign up and for further details visit www.crowdrise.com/TeamNegroni2018.

Tip your hat to Campari (and tip your mixologist too!)

In its continued effort to lead the cause-related charge and truly go a sip beyond, Campari will contribute $75,000 to the participating Negroni Week charities and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, the largest wine and spirits distributor in North America, will contribute an additional $10,000 for a total of $85,000 going to Negroni Week causes. $10,000 will go toward matching the top contributing participant’s donation to its chosen charity, with the remaining funds being divided equally among all the other charities.

During Negroni Week, Imbibe will also donate a portion of subscription and merchandise sales to Mercy Corps and No Kid Hungry, as well as $5,000 to the Negroni Week charity chosen by one randomly selected participating venue.

The list of friends and partners who come together to support this event is clearly worth raising a glass to, including Altamarea Restaurant Group, Hilton Hotels, Freehand Hotels, Caffè Umbria, and Hedley & Bennett. All of Freehand’s hotel locations allowed guests to donate a portion of their room stay to Children of Restaurant Employees (and save 10%) during the month of June by using the code NEGRONIWEEK.

Caffè Umbria will be offering a special Negroni-inspired coffee that will be available at caffeumbria.com and at their cafes in Portland, Seattle, and Chicago, with $1 from the sale of each coffee bag benefiting No Kid Hungry. I purchased this coffee after tasting it at the NYC event held at Rag Trader -- it’s delicious. The coffee roaster noted the Negroni Week Blend “embodies the flavors of the classic Negroni cocktail -- bitter, sweet, herbaceous and citrusy.”

I also loved the Negroni-infused coffee! Now that’s a perky way to start the day. Just kidding…

Adding a touch of style to the Negroni Week offerings, Hedley & Bennett has created a limited-edition Negroni Week apron, also benefiting No Kid Hungry. The aprons are handmade with herringbone and feature an embroidered Negroni on the top pocket for those who wish to wear their love for the classic cocktail on their heart.

 

Campari and Imbibe celebrated the sixth year of Negroni Week with kickoff events in San Francisco and New York, all benefitting local charities. Campari also sponsored the eighth annual Negroni Social in Portland, Oregon, as well as a wrap event with Dante NYC on June 10 to close out another successful year of charitable giving.

Whew! Pick me up. I’ll have another Negroni, per favore. And grazie / prego for an exciting Negroni Week celebration.

Even my photo of “Go Beyond the Sip” mirror art was working double time -- I got a selfie too.

Negroni Paradise 

Friends, food, and Negronis = Bliss. Mix up a pitcher. Cheers!

Interior Designers: Julie Schuster & Toni Sabatino enjoying Negronis

"What's New, What's Next" Apex and Epilogue from NY Design Center's InHouse Finishing Touches Cocktail Party

We are Co-Presenters at What’s New, What’s Next! InHouse showroom at NY Design Center: Interior Designer Toni Sabatino (L) & me, Finishing Touches author, Leeann Lavin 

Thank you for attending this year’s ninth annual What’s New, What’s Next!

And for spending your cocktail time with me, Toni, the InHouse Kitchen, Bath, Home team: Dave Burcher, Mary Erker, and Leah Gold; and Wood-Mode’s Jim - and John.

Our InHouse Finishing Touches presentation celebrated the pre-release of my book which presents classic and new cocktails with heart-stopping garnishes, especially “garden-to-glass” and other creative finishing touches, including candy, jewelry, and fire -- along with the drinks’ delicious food pairings that complement the provenance and natural ingredients of the craft cocktails and the tablescape or cocktail composition presentations -- a kind of genius loci or "spirit of the place."
It’s all about honoring quality ingredients and the presentation to add that special, finishing touch.

While my Finishing Touches book (FT) is chock full of history - kneeling at the bar of classic drinks and their garnishes, it also presents a new lifestyle approach that aims to bring cocktails to the next level.  It was a perfect coupling -- that Dave has an eye for strategic and creative alliances.
The book's theme played footsie or “romanced” the InHouse and sponsor Wood-Mode’s brand attributes of quality ingredients, bespoke craftsmanship, and stunning, glamorous beauty.

Leading up to the WNWN event and the InHouse cocktail party the InHouse team along with Toni and me, highlighted those shared value attributes in the talking points and presentation.
And so too with the food pairings made with artisanal ingredients.

Our rehearsal on the Tuesday prior to Thursday’s WNWN event was missing Toni because she was detained with family in Florida by that wench, Irma. While we did a bit of Facetime, covering key points together with the help of Dave, Mary, and Leah, who was managing changes to our Powerpoint presentation, it was nevertheless a test of our resilience.

We triumphed!




I think our brief, animated Finishing Touches talk (here for full presentation) captured the essence of the tie in and crossover elements including the art of composition, handcrafted ingredients, and creating a display that evokes personality and elegance.

Here, me, Toni, and Dave are running through our paces one last time before our guests arrive and Dave kicked off the event with a finishing touch welcome and a timely joke…

With the help of Mary:

The images in my part of the talk highlighted how I created the cocktails and and came up with the food pairings and entertaining compositions to draw your eye - and your guests -- to a very happy hour!
I also included some tasty anecdotes and tall tales about classic garnishes and drinks.

To mark our Finishing Touches cocktail party, I chose two drinks from the book for their appropriateness to the event and to the season - and the ease of use to make.

Heart of Gold is a very glamorous cocktail with its gold-flaked, cinnamon-flavored liqueur (I was channelling autumn), artisanal ginger beer, cherry bitters


and a garnish of candied ginger affixed to the glass with a jewelry pin!






Sweater Weather is a Jessica Wohlers drink creation --- perfect for the season and so fitting for the sponsor and their cabinets! For the event, I created a custom garnish of knitting needles and colorful stitch holders!



The food pairings were plated on recyclable gold plates; cocktail napkins were monographed in gold lettering.

Food companions for Heart of Gold was inspired by my travels to Germany while attending school in Switzerland and informed by the cocktail’s Alpine liquor.

So pretzels and comfort-food Pigs-in-a-Blanket very much work. For the event, InHouse went top shelf, of course, and secured Martins Pretzels. These handmade pretzels fit perfectly into the quality ingredients we were showcasing at the Finishing Touches event. Plus the pretzels are my husband’s favorite for the same reasons…

The pigs in a blanket were Brooklyn’s Piggies --

artisanal pork or chicken ingredients wrapped in a flaky puff pastry!   Here, Jason is mixing up Heart of Gold for our guests.

The food pairing from the FT book for Sweater Weather is Figs garnished with goat cheese, walnuts, sea salt, basil, and balsamic vinegar, and honey.



All this attention to ingredients and details allowed Toni to expertly segue to Wood-Mode and Brookhaven:

“As you sip your Heart of Gold cocktail think of the kitchen as the heart of your home and illumination as the heart of your Wood-Mode cabinetry. Both the Wood-Mode and Brookhaven lines are now available with factory preparation for LED light strips in cabinet interiors. Think of the possibilities for lighting display cabinets, wardrobes and baths as well as your kitchen. We all want to create spaces with personality and the lighting options shown here are examples of how you can highlight some of those favored pieces, whether silver, china and glassware, art objects or cigars! Wood-Mode has also elevated under cabinet lighting to a new level with independent bottom panels to create a seamless look spanning multiple cabinets. This adjustable kelvin LED lighting option can create bright targeted illumination or simply give your cabinetry a golden glow. The option for factory lighting preparation adds a new layer of luxury to the wood mode line. As designers, we know that that the right lighting is everything! Even the pots, pans and coffee pods look fantastic with the right lighting.
Sweater Weather lent its charm to Wood-Mode and Toni’s talk this way:

“Sweater Weather” seems like a great time to talk about Wood-Mode's wardrobe cabinetry. As designers, we all that know that custom home design requires special attention to the closet. Deep drawers with full extension undermount slides can hold sweaters galore and custom jewelry compartments or tie racks are sure to keep all those accessories that make the outfit organized. Shown on this slide is Wood-Mode's new illuminated pole offering to illuminate those favorite sweaters. I invite you to look around the corner at In House’s custom closet display featuring side mounted LED light strips, some luscious fabrics and great organizational features sure to please in any weather. An inventory of your wardrobe and your personal garnishes, scarves, jewelry, accessories, along with a meeting with your InHouse design consultant is all you need to create that dream closet.
Finishing Touches celebrates the art of garnishing the cocktail and the art of hosting a cocktail party -- for one or 50 -- by seducing all the senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste… And as I reminded the guests -- nearly 200 of them -- “There’s no doggie-bag for a cocktail!” You have to be in the moment -- enjoying the look and ingredients -- and fun -- of the party!

Toni added:

Like the garnish makes the cocktail, Wood-Mode adds “Finishing Touches” to every main ingredient of their manufacturing recipe. Over 1000 touches, actually, from the hand selection of the boards to artisanal glazing to readying the product for delivery to your site. These hands on finishing touches happen in the factory in Kreamer, Pennsylvania, where folks like Mike and Roger handcraft each piece. Each dovetail is actually hand sanded! The rich layered glazes are also hand produced with limited variation to give you a “Finishing Touch” sure to please even the pickiest of clients. Hand buffed High Gloss is an exceptional look for those looking for the next generation of modern shapes and clean lines and then there is the rustic beauty of natural wood that works so well to create an elevated industrial look. Wood-Mode has a vast capability. Any paint color, custom finish, size or shape can be built for you, giving you the ability to be creative and the assurance of exceptional quality control.

I learned from the New York Design Center (NYDC) recent email that this year’s event was a “Record-breaking event -- with more than 7,500 guests who attended the best in design” celebration. The NYDC noted there “more than 52 designer celebrations, presentations, and panels - including ours -- 22 Meet and Greets, with the industry’s top names, editors, manufacturers (who) helped to make the 2017 WNWN the most exciting ever.”

Indeed, the day was truly exciting. And our event was a classy, swanky, fun, and delicious Finishing Touches cocktail party.

I was so happy my husband Bill was able to be there… And I was also overjoyed to see friends - some came all the way from the Garden State. Tom Sebazco - a contributing mixologist and artist took the time to attend - and walk all 15 flights up to the InHouse showroom because the elevators were all jam-packed!


Me and botanical artist, Jean Galle

 
                  Me and interior designer, Felicia Grant.

And new friends:

Briauna Gardner, Junior Designer at Lux Pad Interiors.

Thank you, Jason - extraordinary mixologist and photographer.

Then, there was the incomparable artist, Bek Millhouse - who creates graphic art -- she did the icons for the book in production now, Eat with Your Eyes First, Artful Entertaining with Verrine Recipes, (You can Like us on Faceback-  and help provide feedback, please).  Bek also paints - she does watercolors - (I own a Bek watercolor of an Ecuadorian scene ) -- she does pencil art - check out her pet portraits -  and she is a photographer - to name a few of her talents. Besides being so much fun to be with.

Bek took the photos of me and Toni at The New York Botanical Garden for the WNWN poster -- and came to the Finishing Touches cocktail party and took these wonderful photos. Enjoy the photo album she shared with us. Abrazos, Bek.



This could be my favorite photo - I love how Bek set up this shot in the InHouse kitchen with Finishing Touches and food pairings.



Bek photographing Toni the kitchen designer in her element. Me and my gal, Bek, the artist.

Me and Jennifer Calais Smith, one of the photographers from my first book, The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook. And I can see Bill and Toni in the InHouse kitchen beyond us!

Hello, Jennifer! (Plus I love my finishing touches hair piece from Avigail Adam )









Me and Jessica


Leah and me.


Jessica expertly working her Sweater Weather look - and cocktail!

 
                        Toni and me



Me and Toni       -- Love this woman and her talent!


We have so much fun working, designing, and traveling and eating and drinking together!


And some of my action shots taken at the post party. No one wanted to leave!
 
James Franco doppelganger, Lucas and girlfriend/fiance, Mary. What a dynamic couple! (I remarked that they are so perfect - they look like the couple images that come with a store-bought frame!)

 

Toni, Dave and guest








Thank you, InHouse and Wood-Mode. Cheers to more Finishing Touches!