Good morning to all readers,my family has been in the mixology business for 3 generations,so I was practically born in a bar,my job to live up to the international recognition that many newspapers have given to the Nottingham Forest does not differ much from what I have always adopted,dedicating myself to my "work" has always been a priority for me,as I do not consider it a "job" but a "mission",all my private life choices are conditioned by my this,my vacations,my free time,my hobbies,interact with my profession it was precisely during a trip to New York a few years ago,that I (fortunately and unexpectedly) found the plank that lines the counter of the Nottingham,I was on my way to a finder on Broadway,to pick up an autograph of Houdini that I had ordered from him some time before, when I noticed this massive and very ruined plank in a corner,I asked about it and was told its history,it belonged to the Knickerbocker Hotel, the famous hotel where one of the legends related to martini cocktails has the "Martini" barman from Arma di Taggia adding an olive to the gin cocktail.
At the turn of the century the owners of the Hotel had disappeared in the wreck of the Titanic ,and the grandson inheriting everything,decided to dismantle the old location in Times square,to move the hotel to the Madison,the building was completely emptied to make room for the "New York Times" from which the square was named. For a great many years(a bit like what happened here at home with the furnishings of the Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci liners) the Manhattan markets resold the furnishings and the plank was one of them,it belonged to one of the 7 bars the hotel had,and I bought it immediately in anticipation of the renovations I would have to do. It was originally much thicker and wider but time had left its marks and my carpenter had to reduce it by almost 50 percent in order to use it,keeping only the core of it. The whole counter was designed with this plank in mind,which has become a kind of fetish for the martinians.
During my career I have received many trophies and awards,AIBES competitions(I have been a member for 32 years),international,regional,national competitions,production competitions,refresher courses,awards from the city of Milan,from FIPE,from the State,from Italian and foreign newspapers,many of these competitions and awards do not even exist anymore,and the trophies yellow and oxidize on the shelf,as a reminder of how everything is fleeting and that only what is in front of us with new challenges and new targets to reach counts,only one trophy from a few years ago is particularly dear to me,it is dedicated to a friend who passed away and to whom I was very close "the Franco Zingales award" dedicated to the uncle of all Italian bartenders.
My working day is very intense,I personally take care of the shopping,many products are not found in large retailers and to look for them I have to visit many small ethnic stores around Milan,even the day off is often dedicated to shopping,the work at Nottingham has a very high rotation and I also have to supply the bar in Parma which is run by my wife Francesca.We have a menu with many references and keeping it continuously updated is our prerogative,every season we add 3 new drinks that have been tested by the staff for at least one season,this means that before putting a new drink on the menu between its design,testing and realization at least a year passes,in this period the drink has been assimilated and prepared hundreds of times by all the staff so that it enters definitively in our "modus operandi".
My collaborators I don't call them as such,but a real "team" with a capital S,many have been with me for decades,and all together we are the "NOTTINGHAM FOREST "I don't presume to be the brains of the place,every drink is coined after "brainstorming" with the whole team: Edy,Teo,Luca,Hiran and finally me,some of them are very young and often they are a stimulus for my research,everyone brings to the group their own experiences ,in this way traveling and snooping around the world the group is enriched with knowledge elevating the research engine to the fifth power. For example now our researches are directed towards Organic mixology:it is new current born to respond to the emerging "organic" demand,it uses sprouts and herbs from organic cultivation,with surprising taste effects and reactions,such as fishy tasting leaves and sparkling sprouts like seltzer,natural anesthetics in buds and leaves that change taste perception,it requires knowledge from the raw material to the molecular level.
Having said that keep in mind that I am in charge of writing mixology books such as "Barchef "and Mix & Drink" which recently came out on the market,the English translation of "Barchef" by Simon Difford editor of Class,a new photo book for Mondadori and the molecular course on DVD,I also have a WEBZINE on the internet with my partners:Luca Pirola, Dom Costa. Ago Perrone: www.bartender.it, in which for free we expose monthly the latest trends in mixology in the world making use of a lot of collaborators,some hours I also dedicate to sleep (due to force majeure) but there is one thing I relax and like to do in my spare time:visit Giorgio Negri's show room,I am sure that if in the world there is some novelty it is there that I will find it
Thanks to all for your attention(and patience)
DarioComini mixologist in Milan
For more information:
www.nottingham-forest.com
Interview by Monica Palla
