L'Antiquario

L'Antiquario classic, contemporary, modern. 

In the heart of the Chiaia area just west of the historical center of Naples, in a road that has always been occupied by antique shops , l'Antiquario is hidden behind a door that once belonged to one of these antique traders. 

A classic cocktail bar that serves only cocktails and champagne, l'Antiquario opened in October 2015, by the idea of Alexander Frezza and his partners Francesco Cappuccio, Vincenzo Cardone, Luigi Pignatelli and Salvatore Grasso. The bar wants to be a staple of the cocktail craft and a portal into the international cocktail world.

The classic design with the dark wood, red velvet and William Morris wallpaper is a tribute to all the classic bars that have made history in the cocktail scene all over the globe.

The caption to the bar is "classic, contemporary, modern" a hint to the art dealing vocabulary and an insight in to how to read cocktails an contextualize them. For the first two years the bar did not have any signature cocktails, the menu was divided in three sections, classic, contemporary, and modern, and each section had famous cocktails with the reference of the bartender, the bar, and the year they were crated, giving clients the opportunity to discover and understand the origin of each cocktail. The aim was to build the foundation of conscious clients and mostly the opportunity for the staff to train extensively on the basics of the trade. 
 

The staff’s white jackets are a tribute to the hospitality profession, to all those bartenders that in the past did this job till old age, and a way to make a statement to the commitment and level of expertise that goes into this job, too often underrated by the public. 

Today L'Antiquario has established itself as a staple in the Italian cocktail scene, it has developed its own character and personality, it has its own signature cocktail menu but also continue to have a classics section. 

Two of its iconic cocktails are the Te nel Deserto ( Desert Punch) and the Giostra di Negroni (Negroni 
Carousel), one being a twist on one of the most famous hospitality rituals in the world, the north African
mint tea serve, in this case transformed in a cold punch like drink made with gin, orange curacao, 
gunpowder mint tea, fernet, muscovado sugar and lime, served in the original Moroccan tea pots. The 
Negroni Carousel is a mini negroni tasting, three variations on the classic structure of a negroni, 
gin+vermouth+bitter. The three negronis are Umami (with shitake mushrooms and dried tomatoes), 
Graden (with peach and rose petals), Sospeso (with Neapolitan coffee). The carousel is animated and goes round and round while you si the negronis.

L'Antiquario also offers a list of champagnes by the class that varies seasonally, a list of over 600 spirits and a selection of cold food.