Although he has always represented the “standard” of a busy bartender, Simone has had an even more challenging year than usual. Sips reached the third place in the ranking of 50 Best Barsbut… why rest right now?
It recently opened Glass by Sips in Madrid and, above all, reopened the legendary and almost centenary Boadas to Barcelona. And he continues to collaborate with brands from all over the world.
What was your first approach to Bartender.it? Do you remember your first event organized by us that you attended?
I remember it like it was yesterday! It was at a launch of “Bols foam”, a project of liqueur-based edible airs from the Dutch distillery Bols, organized at the Gancia terrace in Milan. Ago Perrone asked me to come and lend a hand in preparing/dividing some samples during his presentation: that was my first “job” away from home, since I already lived in London. They told me to prepare for 30 people, then at least 120 arrived. It was very nice, also because on that occasion I met Luca Pirola and Dom Costa and… the next day I missed my flight home. But I’ll tell you this in the next questions.
Since 2006, more or less the arrival of Facebook in Italy which coincided with the foundation year of Bartender.it what, what idea, concept – not people in particular – but trend, has changed the world of cocktail bars in Italy ?
It could be summed up like this: awareness of (and by) the rest of the world.
What memory do you have, if you have, of Dom Costa, the first Italian bartender to connect the world of Italian cocktails with the world of global mixing in the last 30 years?
I met Dom that day when (as I mentioned earlier) I was in Milan to help Ago. I immediately realized how much Dom was (“is”, because I don’t want to use the past tense) a very charismatic and cultured person. That evening, after work, we went to a restaurant in the Brera to eat risotto with ossobuco, then we moved to Cinc and Dom gave me what he called “baptism”. He brought me to my knees and opened a bottle of Herradura tequila. I asked him, please, to give me a little drink because the return flight would be early the next morning, and I didn’t want to miss it. Dom answered me like this: “You’ve already missed the flight” … and so it was. I missed the plane because I didn’t hear the alarm clock. Dom can read the future, or at least mine. And I will always carry this with me.
What would you change or design in the place where you work?
I would change the time when the flow of people arrives. Sips and Boadas are two small bars with a capacity of no more than 30 people. At certain times we have 30 people seated and another 70 outside in line waiting to get in. It would be nice to give everyone the opportunity to enter without having to wait, but I would never enlarge the bar: good wine comes out of the small barrel.
Would you like to have your own place, in which you “decide”, thinking about it, building it (… and putting the money into it) to do it all by yourself?
I actually have it, it’s called Sips. I put my savings and most of my ideas into it.
Do you like being in the dining room as well as behind the counter and why?
I love the hall very much: in 2 years I’ve worked in the station maybe 3 times. Moreover, Sips doesn’t have a counter, so… “you’re always in the room”.
Would you return (… or will you return!), sooner or later, to work in Italy? Why yes and why not?
You never know what the future holds… I should ask DOM!!
In which other city in the world (compared to the one you are in now) would you like to go to work full time?
I am so concentrated in Barcelona that the need to think of another city has not yet come to my mind. I have invested a significant capital in the city of Barcelona in the last 5 years, I want to stay here and take care of it…
How much more can your city grow in terms of mixing and – more generally – in terms of hospitality?
There is always room and need for growth. Then every 5 years there is a new generation of colleagues… and you always need to refresh your ideas.
Besides your own, do you have at least three favorite bars (excluding the ones in the Magnificent 7!)?
I don’t prefer mine, the thought would be too subjective. I recognize its diversity, strengths and weaknesses. However, I like them a lot: Cafe la Trova in Miami, Camparino in Milan, Connaught in London, Dante in New York… In short, a lifetime is not enough to experience all the beautiful bars.
Is there anything you wouldn’t do again? Something you regretted in your professional life, beyond that all experiences lead to where you are now
I have no regrets about things… I have always learned from my mistakes and above all from other people’s mistakes.
To overcome the stereotypes of Italian abroad (“pizza, pasta and mandolin” style), do you think it would be better to show how to make a perfect Negroni, or… change the cocktail?
To overcome stereotypes you have to show the world that you are a professional with a real, constant vision, without ever lowering the quality of the things you do. Only in this way do we understand that we are not a group of kids who go to get drunk during the guest bartenders. The risk would then be that of lowering our “value on the market” and this is not the case – above all considering that bartenders/colleagues in the sector are the least paid in the entire beverage chain. But what would happen without us?
In summary: we must value what we do, never work for free and never get on our knees.
A favorite dish to eat and one to cook at home
All. I like everything! I’m good at cooking, but now I live alone and I don’t like cooking only for myself.
In your spare time: mountain retreat? Bungalow by the sea or rustic in the countryside?
Amazon rainforest throughout life. However right now I have no free time, I will yes and no 1 day a month where I don’t travel or go to Sips or Boadas.
Are you an official brand ambassador?
Yes, of the brands I am part of financially: Canaima Gin, Amaro Santoni, Muyu Liquers
Is there anyone you consider your Master? And someone who considers you his?
My teachers are undoubtedly: Ago Perrone, Salvatore Calabrese, Alex Kratena, Ferran Adrià, Marc Alvarez. I have now and have had in the past the privilege of doing things with them.
Even you, as a child, will have asked the usual question “what do you want to be when you grow up”. What did you answer?
I wanted to be a firefighter, then a Formula One driver… and then I became a bartender, which is even cooler than any other job.
There is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence: in your job, what would you let a machine do and what would you never let it do?
I would have a machine wash the glasses and dry them and with a 3d printer I would facilitate the creation of new shapes for the bar. But the rest I think is better to come out of people’s hearts and minds… it always works, and over the years I’ve always had proof of it.
At your level, the world of bartending is aimed at a high target. Would you like to “open” your creations to those with less possibilities? And how would you do it? After all, if Bottura invented the Refectories…
In my opinion, bartending has no social class. A €5 cocktail can be just as sophisticated as a €30 cocktail. It is obvious that cocktails (or simply going to the bar for a coffee) are part of a privilege and are nothing essential. I would never make a “refectory of the ba”r, but I would do everything possible to provide drinking water to those who don’t have it in the world, that would be very nice to do. Then you go back to the bar, make a cocktail and get more people involved in doing the same thing. The bar is never an end in itself, it’s a place where other things have to happen.