Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance. A story so powerful, so all-encompassing, that even drinks can celebrate it.
It's what happens since Atrium, beautiful and elegant luxurious cocktail bar Four Seasons Hotel, home – as well as an original space mixology in a context of other times – of one Michelin star restaurant The Palace of the Pool Tree bar, with a poolside terrace sheltered in the shade of the trees, which will open in these weeks for a cocktail or for a lunch or light dinner in the Al Fresco Trattoria.
The season is inaugurated with several new features: in the meantime there is a change behind the counter, where Karem Pasqualetti, arriving from Four Season Milan, replaces Simone Corsini. And then there is precisely that new drink list, “The Comedy Cocktail”, which pays homage to the illustrious people who have animated the Palazzo della Gherardesca, home of the Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, over the centuries, with their favorite (or presumed to be so) blends.
The story of Edoardo Sandri
“The Cocktail Comedy is the result of the last year of technical research by the entire Atrium Bar team: we had fun imagining what these places might have been like in past centuries, and what tastes the people who lived in the Palace had. We wanted to think of them as not too far from ours, lovers of contrasts even if well balanced,” he comments Edoardo Sandri, Head Bartender of Atrium Bar.
There is next to him Thomas Ondeggia, Bar Manager of the Four Seasons Hotel Florence, who we asked to tell us about the new season of mixology of one of the most exclusive cocktail bars in the city.
How does the summer season of the Atrium Bar open?
“Very good. We have many new features: among the most recent, there is the inclusion among the ten finalists nominated as Best International Hotel Bar in Europe according to Tales of the Cocktail, which fills us with pride".
What is the general inspiration of the new drink list?
“The team of our bartenders, led by Edoardo Maria Sandri, has implemented contemporary mixing with fermentations and micro distillation. The taste of the drinks is very balanced and is designed to satisfy every need: the customer will find drinks with low, medium and high alcohol content, without forgetting the non-alcoholic ones".
Can you give us some examples?
“Among the low-alcohol cocktails there is for example “The Self-Made Man“, dedicated to Bartolomeo Scala: he was simply the son of a miller before becoming Chancellery of the Florentine Republic for Lorenzo the Magnificent. His rise led him to want to choose a suitable home for his family: this is how the Palace was built which today is Four Seasons Hotel Firenze“.
Let's move on to the average alcohol content: an example?
“There is a drink dedicated to the Pope, given that this palace also passed through the hands of Alessandro de' Medici, later Pope Leo XI. Alessandro had the opportunity to experience these walls very little, but he still ordered the best painters of the time to embellish the common areas with joyful cherubs and grotesques that still color the Lobby today“.
And what do we find in the high alcohol content?
“For example there is the “The Merry Widow“, dedicated to Costanza, who was actually a Medici, and it is thanks to her that the Gherardesca family was able to settle in this Palace, living there for over three hundred years. Although her husband Ugolino was unable to keep her company for long, her life was extremely busy, divided between two of the most powerful families in Florence".
Finally, let's talk about soft drinks…
“We have the “The Black Cat“, dedicated to Poppy, a black, sophisticated and elegant cat whose owners no one knows, but who has been seen several times walking in the Gherardesca Garden undisturbed since 2022. Some even say they have seen her sneaking between the tables of Atrium Bar…“.
What is the objective of this new cocktail proposal?
“Like every year, the launch of the cocktail list represents a new beginning for us: we are curious how local and international customers will welcome this selection, which we will always combine with the signature must have, the Vintage Negroni. Our goal is to share a highly creative proposal that can tell something about us. This is how this compendium of Palazzo stories was born, yet another Florentine comedy."
Tommaso: what is your all-time favorite drink?
“I stick to a great classic: I'm a Negroni lover”
And what about spirits?
“I'm intrigued by American whiskey right now, but I like to explore different things”
