A Negroni Week Globetrot

From September 16-22, bars and restaurants all around the world are celebrating the Negroni, serving up the classic and variations for a good cause: Slow Food. Here’s a taste of some of the participating venues’ creativity—head to negroniweek.com to find a participating bar or restaurant near you.

Hong Kong: The Aubrey

This award-winning hotel bar located on the 25th floor of the Mandarin Oriental has two sophisticated Negronis on offer. The Torii, a favorite off the menu, trades the gin for sweet potato shochu and adds Amontillado sherry, imbuing the aperitivo with a nutty aroma. But beverage manager Devender Sehgal created a new cocktail to celebrate the week: the Shiso and Shochu Negroni. When serving the drink at the bar, he uses the Mandarin Oriental’s limited-edition spirit, which was created for its 60th anniversary. Its spiced and citrus notes complement the Campari, while a few dashes of shiso liqueur add a subtle herbaceous finish.

Bar Leone

During Negroni Week, the No. 1 bar in Hong Kong and Asia is partnering with men’s fashion site Mr Porter. Bar owner Lorenzo Antinori created Negroni twists inspired by different fashion personalities to spotlight the classic’s versatility. His tequila take, called the Maverick, weaves together the flavors of cherry tomato, lemon, and coconut oil for a savory and earthy Negroni. For the Aesthete, a rum variation, sherry and chestnut enrich the cocktail bringing nutty flavors and rich aromas. Rounding out the riffs is the Dandy, a white Negroni with yuzu and passion fruit, and a coffee cocktail, the Sublime, with espresso, coffee vermouth, amaro, and elderflower.

Seoul: Bar Cham

Bar Cham, Asia’s No. 20 Best Bar, spotlights Korean spirits and ingredients in its cocktails. For Negroni Week, they are offering the Jeju Negroni. This special drink merges the Negroni with the Jeju cocktail, which features a Korean spirit infused with dried tangerine peel, complementing the citrus notes of Campari.

Flying Dutchmen Cocktails’ Bounty on the Count (left) and Catch Fraise | Photos by Alina Lucia

Amsterdam: Flying Dutchmen Cocktails

Flying Dutchmen‘s cocktail program tells a story of the evolution of classic cocktails. It categorizes its drinks by “Walk” (the original cocktail), “Run” (a riff), and “Fly” (an adventurous version). For Negroni Week, the bar is showcasing fun, delicious takes: a coconut and chocolate Negroni with coconut fat-washed Campari, called Bounty on the Count, and a strawberry variation, Catch Fraise, with Campari, sweet vermouth, a strawberry aperitif, and white wine.

Cuenca, Ecuador: Alma Casa de Bebidas

This bar celebrates Ecuador through its Negroni variations made with native ingredients. Its Quinoni is made with an Andean vermouth and quinoa bitters, while the Miski cocktail trades gin for miske, an Ecuadorean agave spirit, macerated with flowers.

Calgary: Proof Cocktail

Sip an award-winning Negroni at one of the best cocktail bars in Canada. The Bitter Bird by by bartender Amber MacMullin is a blend of Campari, pineapple rum, chile-infused vodka, and falernum. The bar will also serve An Italian Lost in Singapore: a light and fruity mashup of the Negroni and a Singapore Sling with gin, Campari, bianco vermouth, peach, and grenadine.

Cebu, Philippines: The Weekend

This upscale steakhouse located in Cebu City offers 80 gins and, for Negroni Week, an array of Negroni variations. Order the Fiji Fire, a spicy rum take with a spiced pineapple shrub and Scrappy’s Firewater bitters, as well as the Gustavo, a tequila and mezcal variation with a cherry blossom vermouth.

Edinburgh, Scotland: Panda & Sons

One of the best bars in the world is bringing back one of its best Negronis, the Seville Negroni, for the occasion. From its 2023 Transcend menu, this cocktail is made by freeze-drying Mandarin oranges to eliminate the water, which maximizes its flavor, and then rehydrating them with gin. Mixed into a Negroni, it maximizes those vibrant orange notes.

Stockholm, Sweden: Tjoget

A regular on the World’s Best Bars list, Tjoget is breaking out its Negroni fountain for the week as well as different Negroni-inspired cocktails. Its Piccadilly Circus cocktail mixes together vodka, Campari, Cocchi Rosa, Piccadilly tomato, roasted coconut, and honey. Or for a refreshing variation, there’s the Strawberry Negroni Shakerato with gin, Campari, sweet vermouth, strawberries, and lime.

United States

Baltimore: Dutch Courage

Every year for Negroni Week, the bar team members at gin-focused bar Dutch Courage each create their own Negroni variation. “It’s a fun time for people to enjoy our team’s creative Negroni riffs,” says bar owner Brendan Dorr. This year, one of the recipes is a shochu version called Koji-Nib Negroni with shochu, cacao nib-infused sherry, and Campari.

Charleston: Dalila’s

Midcentury-style cocktail bar Dalila’s signature Negroni, A Rose by Any Other Name, combines pink peppercorn-infused Campari, gin, and Italicus, making for a floral aperitivo. “It’s very floral and rose-forward because of the Italicus,” says manager Alexander Duff. “It’s leveled out with the spice of the infused Campari and a pinch of salt.” The other Negroni Week specials get playful with Campari, such as a Ferrari shot (Campari and Fernet).

Bar Kamon’s Hojicha Negron.i | Photo by Kimberly Motos

Los Angeles: Spago

Adam Fournier of Spago, Chef Wolfgang Puck’s flagship restaurant in Beverly Hills, created a special menu for Negroni Week with a Negroni Sour, a chestnut-and-cold brew mezcal Negroni, and one spirit-free NO-groni. Rounding out the selection is his Flightless Negroni, a blend of Aviation gin, coconut-washed Campari, house vermouth blend, kirsch, and sea salt. “My approach for these riffs is to create something recognizable as a Negroni, that is approachable to someone dipping their toes in but offers unique flavor fusions and techniques similar to our kitchen,” says Fournier.

San Diego: Kamon Craft Cocktail Bar

Look beyond the matcha croissants and melon pans at Japanese café and bakery Asa Bakery for the entrance to this elegant, 1920s Japanese-style speakeasy. Bar Kamon crafts cocktails made with Asian ingredients, such as its Hojicha Negroni with hojicha-infused gin, coffee liqueur, and chocolate bitters. The result is a rich aperitivo with earthy, roasted notes that are further enhanced by the chocolate garnish. Proceeds from this layered Negroni, as well as the Kyoto Negroni made with a cask-aged gin, will go toward Slow Food.

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