Experienced hospitality professional, Tommaso Cecca has been the face of for 7 years Camparino. In the early years in Milan, in the iconic venue located in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and, for a year now, at an international level, with the role of Global Head of Camparino Licensing and Mixology.
What does it mean to represent such an important brand? What career path has brought him so high? Here is our interview.
In 2023, you became Global Head of Camparino Licensing and Mixology. What was a qualitative leap in your career?
I was Store Manager & Head Bartender of Camparino in Galleria in Milan for years. In addition to taking care of the mix and its style and coordinating the entire structure, I also took care of the relaunch of what Camparino is, a real brand. The change of role was a natural evolution of a twenty-year professional path. Now, I deal with promote the Camparino brand in Galleria all over the world with the aim of landing in the focus markets of the next few years, such as Asia and the United Kingdom. Ours is a successful Italian concept. In these months we are developing a concept with a Milanese flavour, therefore as faithful as possible to the Camparino in Galleria, but also capable of adapting to the foreign market. Once we are confident, we can focus on new openings.
The goal is not to become a chain, but to continue producing high quality hospitality with our iconic Passo Bar and the Spiritello Room, telling this Milanese story to the whole world. That of drinking well, responsibly and of the aperitif ritual. As Global Head of Camparino Licensing and Mixology, I am often involved in supervising the mixology of Camparino in Galleria and the Campari brand on extremely experiential activities.
The association with cinema is now well-established and sees us engaged in the most important international events such as the Cannes Film Festival, Venice or the SAG award in Los Angeles. Exploring new territories bordering on contemporary art, see Art Basel, where this year we presented with Galleria Campari an exhibition dedicated to iconic bar shots from which new cocktails have taken inspiration. Finally, on-trade establishments with a very exclusive profile such as in these weeks in Monte-Carlo, where it is possible to taste our cocktails in the pop-up of the Hôtel Hermitage in the heart of the French Riviera until September 15th.
What is the balance of this year?
The first six months were very beautiful and challenging, because I found myself reinterpreting an Italian concept that must be readable abroad, first to partners and then to the public. I also realized that describing all these years of project on the point of sale was a huge job.
In Milan, however, my management role was acquired by Stephen Gioffredi as store manager, while all the creativity part remains in charge of the team of bartenders, including Stephen Augustine And Joseph Capuano, with which we presented the latest menu. The theme is in continuity with the previous menus: we decided, once again, to focus on flavors and taste. We chose some very aromatic ingredients, such as tonka bean, tomato, coffee and citrus fruits, and on these we built recipes that were decisive from a taste point of view.
The three Camparino In Galleria outlets also follow the same style as always: The Passo Bar is the place for aperitifsor strictly served standing, in the Sala Spiritello we serve a seasonal menu with an iconic and extremely personalized selection, where our bestsellers of the last 4 years are not missing, while in the Gaspare Room we have created a menu dedicated to three major chapters, respectively to the founder and great alchemist Gaspare Campari and his creativity, to his studio with the historic library of over 7000 recipes dating from the mid 19th to the mid 20th century, and to the vintage cocktails aged in three 250 L barriques. The first is prepared with vermouth and aged Campari, the second is a Boulevardier aged in ex-cognac barrels and the third is a Brooklin cocktail aged in Campari barrels. All in Piazza del Duomo.
Let’s take a step back. Where did you start and what path did you take to get to where you are today?
I started very young, I wanted to be a journalist and I studied for this but the misfortune of having a family friend with a bar down the street did not help the initial dream. At first it seemed like an after-school hobby, then the passion exploded. Later, I went to London for a short period to learn the language and there I had the opportunity to work in the Japanese restaurant Zuma, where I discovered a great space in our sector closely related to society, and its habits and customs. At the age of 23 I returned to Italy for the opening of Just Cavalli in Milan, at the time an absolute excellence, while a few years later another experience at Trussardi alla Scala followed. I spent a significant part of my life here, 11 years, during which I grew a lot as a manager and I can say that my real professional affirmation began. After that, the first collaborations with Campari date back to 2009 where with Dario Cuccurullo And Paola Baravalle we christened the birth of Campari Academy and the first timid brand activations of the bartending era we know today.
Seven years ago Camparino arrived, I believe a natural consequence of a path made of quality, trust, respect and loyalty. This ongoing mission tells a fragment of Made in Italy under the Campari brand, a bit like the tile of the iconic mosaic by Angiolo D'Andrea. In short, this is the marathon that I feel like promoting with the new generations who often live in the dream of achieving immediate goals, a voracious consumption, of little taste, often not very responsible.
What are the corporate values that won you over to Campari?
Creativity, pragmatism, seriousness, foresight, respect and unity are some of the values. In today's world, everything is fragmented, nothing coexists for too long. Here, however, the opposite happens, because there is a great atmosphere and people have the opportunity to continually grow thanks to training, experience and a culture of error. With us, you can try and you can make mistakes. This is fundamental, often there is no need for anyone to give me new stimuli because the challenges feed on themselves. This is a bit of a part of my character and marries the Camparista culture. You have to set yourself important ambitions, especially when you play extremely active roles and do everything possible to achieve them, as we are doing. Diversity and extreme attention to the individual are not a given in such large, complex and global structures.
In 2022, Camparino In Galleria was a new entry in The World's 50 Best Bars with the 27th place. Was this a result you expected? Did you work for this? If so, how?
For us it was a great achievement in a very complex pandemic moment. More than 27th place itself in the year, it was a great satisfaction to be recognized for three years among the 100 best bars in the world with many other Italian colleagues. Nonetheless, our approach to customers has not changed and we will continue to work to be recognized. And this is demonstrated by the 300,000 customers, constantly increasing every year, who, once they have crossed the exit of the bar, tell their experience. Regardless of whether they have consumed a Campari seltzer at the counter or a 3-hour experiential session in the Gaspare room.
The approach to hospitality and contemporary business have totally changed today. Our authentic flagship must interact with diversified business dynamics, such as merchandising, as in the case of our line of bottled cocktails. Of course, there will be a lack of context at home, but we are sure that qualitatively they are impeccable and that they have reached a level that was unimaginable 5 years ago. We also have a whole event activity, which sees us collaborate, internally or externally, in off-trade, on-trade or crossing partnership events with brands such as Ferrari, Chanel, Cartier, Alfa Romeo and many others. In this case, our mission is to give value to promotional activities. I believe that today Camparino can be defined as a valid school capable of showing the right path to many young bartenders. It is no coincidence that in the last 7 years we have already trained valid professionals. In short, it is always a starting point, while the world around us evolves and grows positively.
Favorite cocktail and spirit?
The Negroni, because I believe it is the most complex recipe based on two out of three products that represent the Italian spirits industry and two cities where the aperitif was born: Milan and Turin.
As for the spirit, I am a big fan of rum and tropical spirits. However, I always like to stay up to date on trends.
