In Milan, Giving Aperitivo a New Twist

To understand how central the aperitivo is to Milan culture, you need only stand in the middle of the Piazza del Duomo, the city’s pulsing center, and face the cathedral. To your right you’ll see a huge version of the Martini vermouth logo glowing atop a modest skyscraper in nearby Piazza Armando Diaz. At its top is the rooftop bar Terrazza Martini. There, Martini’s various vermouths are poured into everything from Americanos to Manhattans.

To the left, mere steps from the cathedral, you’ll see the three-story arched entrance to the century-old Camparino in Galleria. Camparino is the home bar for Campari, the bittersweet liqueur that is Milan’s pride and joy. And Campari and more Campari is what is served inside. A few feet away and one story up is the Terrazza Aperol (Aperol and Campari are owned by the same company), dedicated to the namesake liqueur, where the color scheme is orange, not red. There, instead of a French 75 or Bloody Mary, you can order an Aperol 75 or Aperol Mary.

The aperitivo hour — which lasts a few hours, really, from late afternoon to early evening — is as intrinsic to Milan life as fashion and “The Last Supper.” The centerpiece of this light, breezy repast is an appetite-stimulating libation, typically light in alcohol and usually vibrant in color. There are several options, though they all dwell in the same neighborhood. There’s the spritz (the bittersweet liqueur of your choice, wine and soda water), the Americano (Campari, sweet vermouth, soda water), the Milano Torinos (just Campari and sweet vermouth) and the Campari Shakerato (Campari, all shook up). But not every aperitivo-hour drink is a lightweight. The trendy Negroni, which is nothing but booze (gin, sweet vermouth, Campari), and the even-trendier Negroni Sbagliato (sweet vermouth, Campari and Prosecco), are widely popular.

The drinks are almost always accompanied by a few snacks such as olives, potato chips, charcuterie, nuts or crostini. The idea is that everything should be the work of a single bite. You sip, you nibble, you talk; repeat. This ritual is practiced thousands of times at hundreds of places in Milan every day.

“For Milanese people, and in general for Italian people, the aperitivo is a true ritual,” said Guglielmo Miriello, the director of the Mandarin Garden, the bar inside the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Milan. After a time when mojitos, Moscow mules, and gin and tonics dominated, “now, there is a return to the great classics,…