Campari, Italy’s iconic red aperitivo, and some of New Zealand’s leading bartenders have come together to celebrate 10 years of raising funds for a better world through Negroni Week from September 13-18.
Over the past decade, this global charity initiative has raised millions of dollars for charitable causes.
In its 10th year, the initiative has welcomed a new partner – Slow Food.
Negroni Week also honours bartenders as the masters of creativity and artistry, and this year will celebrate the ‘Bartender’s Handshake’, a longstanding ritual that symbolises the very essence of hospitality.
To celebrate Negroni Week, five of New Zealand’s best bartenders sat down to talk cocktails and causes and answer the question: “Name someone you would want to share a Negroni with?”
PJ Renaud of Parasol and Swing had his sister as number one “because she thinks Campari is a Negroni, so I need to set the record straight and teach her how the Negroni comes together”.
Owner of Teresa cocktail bar in the Hawke’s Bay, Andrea Marseglia, would make a Negroni for Davide Campari, the man himself.
“The one who made this amazing Campari juice,” he says.
Dewi Barbieri from Amano in Auckland City would make one for his grandfather – a spirit drinker and old school Italian who had never tasted one.
“I would like to know what he thinks of it,” says Dewi.
Next on the list is Rosie’s King Sang Leung who would make and share a Negroni with his mum, who he has only seen once in 12 years while he has been chasing his bartending dreams in New Zealand.
“I have so many stories I want to tell her, and I couldn’t do this without a great Negroni in hand.”
And finally, Tara Priestley of Christchurch’s Last Word would make one for actor Stanley Tucci.
“I know he knows how to make a Negroni, but I would love to just have a chat with him while I made my own version to share with him,” she says.
Craig Martin, Senior Brand Manager for Campari New Zealand, says it has been a real treat to catch-up with some of New Zealand’s most creative bartenders to celebrate Negroni Week.
“Not only did we talk all things cocktails, but we also discussed the slow food movement, which is being celebrated and supported by Negroni and Campari this year,” he says.
Slow Food is a global movement, across more than 160 countries. The movement’s mission is a world where everyone can enjoy food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it, and good for the planet.
Just like the Negroni and Campari, Slow Food has Italian roots, creating the perfect pairing.
The Slow Food Negroni Week Fund will directly support Slow Food’s international projects, while also supporting the hospitality community, the preservation of cultural and biological diversity and the promotion of food and beverage education and knowledge exchange.
With the increasing challenges facing the hospitality and food and beverage worlds, their work will be more important than ever.
Negroni Week runs from September 13-18 and is being celebrated around the country at bars and restaurants.
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