Giacosa

Giacosa is the bar most closely tied to the story of the Negroni, Florence's gift to the cocktail world. According to the city's best-known drinks legend, in 1919 Count Camillo Negroni asked the bartender Fosco Scarselli at Caffè Casoni, on the corner of Via de' Tornabuoni and Via della Spada, to strengthen his usual Americano by replacing the soda water with gin. The result took the count's name and went on to become one of the most famous cocktails in the world. The Giacosa family, whose business dated from 1860, later ran the café on the same corner, which became a meeting place for elegant Florentines.

The historic bar closed in 2017, when the fashion designer Roberto Cavalli shut his showroom and café on the site. In July 2023 Giacosa reopened in a new home at Via della Spada 15r, across the street from the original. It is now run by Gruppo Valenza, which also owns Caffè Gilli and Paszkowski. The interior was recreated in a Belle Époque style by the architects Paolo Becagli and Alessandro Interlando, working from old photographs of the original café.

The drinks list centres on the Italian aperitivo, and the signature Giacosa Negroni is the obvious order: gin, red vermouth and bitter in equal parts, served over ice with orange. Around it sit other classic Italian aperitivo drinks, and the bar staff are known for attentive, professional service in keeping with the setting. Prices reflect the location in the city's luxury shopping district, but are in line with other historic bars in the centre.

It is at its best in the early evening, when shoppers and locals stop for an aperitivo before dinner. It suits couples, cocktail history fans and anyone wanting a classic Florentine drink in an elegant setting.

The bar is on Via della Spada, a few steps from Via de' Tornabuoni and Palazzo Strozzi. Piazza della Repubblica is about five minutes' walk east, and Santa Maria Novella around five minutes north. Procacci and the Ferragamo museum are nearby on Via de' Tornabuoni. If gin is not to your taste, the Americano, the Negroni's ancestor made with soda water instead of gin, is a lighter alternative with the same history.