Negroni
(makes 1 drink)
2 oz Gin
2 oz Campari
2 oz Sweet Vermouth
Splash of Ramazzotti (Medium-Style Amaro)
Splash of Cynar (Artichoke based liqueur)
Orange peel
Pour all ingredients into a lowball glass and stir.
I like them at room temperature, but if you prefer a colder version, simply pour the ingredients into a shaker and strain into your glass.
My friends Paul & Michelle Franzia are seriously on the short list of my most favorite people to hang out with. They possess that beautifully rare combination of cultured, worldly and smart with healthy doses of humility and grace. But they maintain a few key ingredients that move them beyond the liking designation into the category of loving them. They are real, there is no pretense, and they are often wonderfully, inappropriately edgy, especially Paul! When sitting and talking with them, I am never bored--and never censored.
A few months ago when I conducted a blind Champagne tasting at a dinner party to start off the evening, Paul pulled me aside and tentatively asked if he could have a Negroni instead. I lead him to my freezer where I have a shelf all for gin and vodka, then to my bar with the other goodies. He hugged me in a way that said: "thank you for understanding." It was really funny. So when I photographed their family a few weeks ago, Michelle had made an amazing meal and they asked if I wanted a drink. Naturally I asked for a Negroni. The way Paul makes them does not lack ceremony, but his production comes not out of pomp, but out of love. And so here is to Paul & Michelle, who are in Milan celebrating their 20-year Anniversary, I say to them "Cheers."
Paul enjoying his Negroni
I also photographed Paul's brother's Family a couple of weeks ago, and I shot this of Brian's Negroni he brought on the shoot into the orchard. I love this! After the shoot with Jenn & Brian, Brian too made me a Negroni. I love my job.
I personally discovered the Negroni in 2003, while on a work trip to Italy. We were at our hotel bar and let's just say, after a few Negronis in, there was some overly-spirited dancing. Don't let the herbaceous goodness fool you, this is a one drink deal.
The History:
While the drink's origins are unknown, the most widely reported account is that it was invented in Florence, Italy in 1919, at Caffè Casoni, ex Caffè Giacosa, now called Caffè Cavalli. Count Camillo Negroni invented it by asking the bartender, Fosco Scarselli, to strengthen his favorite cocktail, the Americano, by adding gin rather than the normal soda water. The bartender also added an orange garnish rather than the typical lemon garnish of the Americano to signify that it was a different drink. After the success of the cocktail, the Negroni Family founded Negroni Distillerie in Treviso, Italy, and produced a ready-made version of the drink, sold as Antico Negroni 1919. One of the earliest reports of the drink came from Orson Welles in correspondence with the Coshocton Tribune while working in Rome on Cagliostro in 1947, where he described a new drink called the Negroni, "The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other." According to the Corsican newspaper Nice Matin Corse of 1980, Pascal Olivier Count de Negroni is among those who it is believed invented the drink.
Orange peel
Pour all ingredients into a lowball glass and stir.
I like them at room temperature, but if you prefer a colder version, simply pour the ingredients into a shaker and strain into your glass.
My friends Paul & Michelle Franzia are seriously on the short list of my most favorite people to hang out with. They possess that beautifully rare combination of cultured, worldly and smart with healthy doses of humility and grace. But they maintain a few key ingredients that move them beyond the liking designation into the category of loving them. They are real, there is no pretense, and they are often wonderfully, inappropriately edgy, especially Paul! When sitting and talking with them, I am never bored--and never censored.
A few months ago when I conducted a blind Champagne tasting at a dinner party to start off the evening, Paul pulled me aside and tentatively asked if he could have a Negroni instead. I lead him to my freezer where I have a shelf all for gin and vodka, then to my bar with the other goodies. He hugged me in a way that said: "thank you for understanding." It was really funny. So when I photographed their family a few weeks ago, Michelle had made an amazing meal and they asked if I wanted a drink. Naturally I asked for a Negroni. The way Paul makes them does not lack ceremony, but his production comes not out of pomp, but out of love. And so here is to Paul & Michelle, who are in Milan celebrating their 20-year Anniversary, I say to them "Cheers."
I also photographed Paul's brother's Family a couple of weeks ago, and I shot this of Brian's Negroni he brought on the shoot into the orchard. I love this! After the shoot with Jenn & Brian, Brian too made me a Negroni. I love my job.
I personally discovered the Negroni in 2003, while on a work trip to Italy. We were at our hotel bar and let's just say, after a few Negronis in, there was some overly-spirited dancing. Don't let the herbaceous goodness fool you, this is a one drink deal.
The History:
While the drink's origins are unknown, the most widely reported account is that it was invented in Florence, Italy in 1919, at Caffè Casoni, ex Caffè Giacosa, now called Caffè Cavalli. Count Camillo Negroni invented it by asking the bartender, Fosco Scarselli, to strengthen his favorite cocktail, the Americano, by adding gin rather than the normal soda water. The bartender also added an orange garnish rather than the typical lemon garnish of the Americano to signify that it was a different drink. After the success of the cocktail, the Negroni Family founded Negroni Distillerie in Treviso, Italy, and produced a ready-made version of the drink, sold as Antico Negroni 1919. One of the earliest reports of the drink came from Orson Welles in correspondence with the Coshocton Tribune while working in Rome on Cagliostro in 1947, where he described a new drink called the Negroni, "The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other." According to the Corsican newspaper Nice Matin Corse of 1980, Pascal Olivier Count de Negroni is among those who it is believed invented the drink.
