If a national anthem were played at the announcement of this year’s winner of The World's 50 Best Bars, it would have been Italy’s Mameli’s anthem. Italy was there and it’s on top of the world. The true winner was the Connaught Bar, an elegant hotel bar in Mayfair, London where the whole team speaks Italian. Agostino Perrone, with Giorgio Bargiani and Maura Milia, has made a real Italian miracle, taking the Italian flag to the top of best-ranked bars in the world. Last but not the least, the Italian mixology bars have good reasons to celebrate because two Italian bars also raised their positions climbing the ranking by several positions.
The Connaught Bar team
Italians in the ranking
A huge success for Benjamin Cavagna’s secret Milanese bar, 1930, which moved up to position 25 from 44 in 2019. As the name suggests a speakeasy thirties style bar, but for the judges of the 50 Best Bars it could be rightly defined as a futuristic bar more than a retro bar: "In 1930 - it says in the description - you drink as if it were 2030".
On the other hand, Patrick Pistolesi and partners Roman Drink Kong bar has a Blade Runner atmosphere, which also saw an excellent result considering that it was a new entry last year in 82nd position and is now climbed into the first half of the Best Bar ranking with an excellent 45th place. Climbed almost forty positions thanks to the continuous evolution and research that Pistolesi and partners carry out in their laboratory, without however forgetting the roots and traditions of the place where they are located. "This convergence of science and tradition makes Drink Kong a special place on the Italian bar scene", says the Fifty Best.
New entries and great absentees
It’s also worth mentioning two Italian new entries in the second half of the ranking, from 51 to 100. Equal merit for Rome and Milan, with the Trastevere Freni e Frizioni at 87th place and the Officina Milano at 90th.
Regrettable for the unclassified great guys from the Roman The Jerry Thomas Project (50th in 2019) are absent, as well as the Baccano in Rome (70th in 2019), probably due to the departure of bar manager Mario Farulla who now works at the Chapter, which promises great things for next year. Also missing is Nottingham Forest in Milan which last year listed in 86th position.
Once again Italy
It needs to be said that the holder of the second place also speaks a little Italian. This New York’s bar, Dante, last year held first place and as the name suggests is also inspired by the welcoming Italian style. Several other Italian homegrown professionals who for one reason or another leave Italy, perhaps minds running away from Italy, or perhaps to gain recognition abroad for our characteristic hospitality. In 11th place we find Maybe Sammy from Sidney, Australia, led by Stefano Catino and Andrea Gualdi. At number 19 we have Giacomo Giannotti's Paradise in Barcelona, which has created an excellent mix of Italian hospitality and Spanish salsa.
Main picture: photo by The Connaught
