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At the end of the meals and after the dessert (and not with it), Italians drink coffee, either a caffè espresso (or simply caffè), or a caffè corretto, which is an espresso with a shot of liquor. Italians don’t use half and half in their coffee. Some Italians take the digestivo (digestive liquor) or amaro to help their stomach deal with such a larg...

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If you’ve been to an upscale cocktail bar at some point in the last three years, then there is at least a 75% chance that you’ve listened to one or more lectures on the sensory pleasures of amaro from an overzealous alcohol evangelist. This class of Italian liqueurs has invaded the U.S. mixology scene and become seemingly every bartender’s favorite...

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The folks behind Sprezzatura, the Italian pop-up concept launched last January, have some new treats in store thanks to a year-long residency at the Phoenix Cocktail Club, 785 N. Jefferson St. Beginning on Monday, Feb. 5, Sprezzatura will debut a special menu of modern Italian happy hour fare every Monday evening from 2 to 6 p.m. throughout 2018. T...

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With Italian pop music blaring through the speakers, Francesco Amodeo cuts his way through more than 300,000 walnuts over the course of two days. As the president and master distiller at Washington, D.C.’s Don Ciccio & Figil, Amodeo hand-cuts each of the California green walnuts for the nocino. The two days of hand-cutting is intensive, and the ent...

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Italians like to linger at the table, both during and after a meal. Dessert is leisurely and often served in three parts. First the sweet itself, which is accompanied by a dessert wine or liqueur, then espresso or coffee, and finally a digestivo, like grappa or amaro. Dessert wines and little sweet nibbles are brought out as a way to keep guests at...

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On November 9, Disaronno, the world’s favorite Italian liqueur, celebrated the West Coast launch of its "Disaronno Wears Missoni" bottle at the exclusive Mansion at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Fans in attendance were treated to custom Disaronno cocktails, such as the new Special Angela 20, which was created to toast the collaboration and Angela Misso...

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When you write a book devoted to the subject of amaro, it should come as no surprise that the question you’re asked most by readers, bartenders, friends and strangers alike is, What is your favorite amaro? It’s nearly impossible for me to answer. Like Rob Gordon, the obsessive record shop owner played by John Cusack in the film adaptation of Nick H...

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You’ve probably seen amari, from big brands like Campari and Averna to artisanal bottles made in Brooklyn, prettily lining the back bar at your favorite Italian restaurant or assertively flavoring drinks on high-end cocktail menus. It seems like every bartender and lifestyle magazine, is obsessed with blending the bitter, sweet and herbal flavors t...

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When I lived in Rome six years ago, I grew to love the bittersweet flavor of an Aperol Spritz. The light, fizzy mouthfeel, the neon hue, the orange slice garnishing the rim of the glass . . . It’s been my go-to aperitivo ever since. So when a variety of publications (including this one) declared summer 2017 the “summer of the spritz,” I was taken a...

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When Italians first began coming to this country in numbers, back in the 1880s and 1890s, many of them did what Irish and German and other immigrants did before them and went into business serving the food and drink of the old country to their fellow immigrants. Italian food and drinkways, being rather more alien to the prevailing American standard...

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