[:en]Roma Bar Show: in September the first all-Italian event entirely dedicated to mixology. Interview with Fabio Bacchi.[:]

[:it]by ANNA TAMBURRINO

For years, there had been a significant absentee in the rich and envied panorama of Italian food and wine culture, made up of salons, fairs, tastings and international initiatives: beverages.
The extent of this shortcoming was as serious as it was impossible to ignore, but as often happens, things happen only when the time is right. And it finally seems to be.
Rome will soon be the stage on which Italian mixology will take place: on September 23 and 24, the Palazzo dei Congressi in Eur will host an international event dedicated exclusively to the bartending sector, from production to trading and tradition, the first in Italy.

Fabio Bacchi, who in addition to being one of the most complete professionals in the sector is also one of the four personalities to whom we owe the idea, says he is very enthusiastic and excited about this important initiative, which has a bit of the flavour of a personal challenge.

“It has not been and will not be easy, but expectations are very high” – he says while reiterating the need to keep our feet on the ground because these big initiatives can hide unexpected pitfalls.

“It seemed very unlikely, both for the size of the operation and because in Italy there is little inclination to create a system in the bartending sector, as in many other sectors, but we did it.”.

There is much anticipation for this event, which appears to be an almost inevitable, natural step. The truth is, however, that if someone had not had this intuition, which today seems banal, we would not be here talking about it. How did the Roma Bar Show come about?

The idea of creating the first large-profile event dedicated to mixology was born thanks to a group of professionals with different souls, including Andrea Fofi, Leonardo Leuci, Giuseppe Gallo and myself, the first to realize that in Italy, unlike the rest of Europe, there was no such event.
In Italy there has always been a sort of “pulverization”, that is, many smaller events spread out, but each of them far from being comparable to the Bar Convent in Berlin or other salons that take place every year in the major European capitals: London, Amsterdam, Paris, Athens. The final request then came from the corporate world, which saw the need to create a network between small producers and large multinationals. This is how the Roma Bar Show was born, for which we start with the advantage of the expertise of all the events that preceded it in the rest of Europe.

An absolute novelty for Italy then, but not for the rest of Europe. What exactly is it?

The Roma Bar Show will be a very large hall, approximately 5000 square meters, full of innovative and different contents compared to what has been seen so far, from a technical but above all human point of view.
The protagonist will in fact be the consumer, who will be able to enjoy two days (but in reality many more thanks to the numerous events outside the salon) of experiential paths and tastings, rather than academic initiatives reserved for industry experts.

Of course, there will also be companies. spirit industry The Italian bar was in fact very receptive: more than 100 companies, both large and small, responded and will participate in the show together with the most prominent names in international bartending.

Thanks to a specific communication effort, the city will also be involved in this important event. And this is because the organization of the Roma Bar Show represents a clear stance taken by the bartending sector in Italy.

The Roma Bar Show promises to be much more than what will happen inside the Salone. The city as a whole will be involved in initiatives that will go well beyond the two days planned. At this point a question arises spontaneously, perhaps annoying but legitimate: why not Milan?

The choice of the city of Rome is not a coincidence. Many wonder what the reason is, thinking that an elegant city, always avant-garde and receptive to new trends like Milan could be the perfect location for an event of this kind that wants to be international in scope.
The answer is very simple: first of all because it is the capital and usually these events take place in European capitals, then it is often forgotten that Rome has an enviable appeal for tourists from all over the world, who will have the opportunity to see it from another perspective.

The other Italian cities, however, will not be completely detached from the phenomenon of “Roma Bar Show”: ours is a systemic operation, in which we have also involved Milan, like the other cities of the country, which have responded enthusiastically and will happily participate in this new project.

So the countdown begins: everything is almost ready and Rome, like the whole of Italy, is preparing to welcome the first international event dedicated to mixology. It seems a coincidence that it starts this year, which marks the centenary of the cocktail ambassador of mixology made in Italy in the world: the Negroni. One more reason to feel proud and not miss the initiative.[:]