The Alchemy of Il Locale

As experienced by Allyson Volpe

When Il Locale first opened its bar in 2015, you just knew upon entering the swanky interior that it was a very special place.   One of its enormous walls housing a vertical garden, the others a bespoke design, bordering the bar lit with hundreds of bottles of liquor, and its roof consisting of a retractable glass window.  With its long history dating back to its foundations in the 1200s (and possibly to Roman times) as evidenced in the kitchens, laundry, cantina and living quarters in the basement, and the street level structure of the once Renaissance palazzo of the 1500s, the place was always deemed to be unique.  The bar and restaurant, conceptualized by Giacomo Corti, embodies a gorgeous Italian style with its remarkable setting.

Four years on under the direction of head bartender Matteo di Ionne, Il Locale deserves its accolades of being one the best bars in Florence, if not in Italy.  With a hefty price tag for a drink and an inclusive accompanying ‘tower’ of gourmet hors d’oeuvres, the encounter qualifies as more of a sensory gourmet experience rather than a local where you would stop by for a quick drink.  One look alone at the first page of its seasonal drinks menu with a quote inspired by poet Ezra Pound – “The Renaissance is not an era but a temperament” -- you soon realise that this will not be your normal aperitivo but a certain interpretation of the Renaissance imagination.   With such ingredients as snake wine, birch sap, stimulating roots, plant shrub, charcoal olive oil, squid ink and red onion cordial featuring on their drinks menu, the taste bud curiosity is piqued as to what that interpretation might bring.

When one visits the bar, it seems more in keeping with an exotic laboratory experiment with bartenders hard at work creating any given signature cocktail.  The entire scene is mesmerising as one notices unusual apparatus not normally witnessed in a bar: one peculiar machine lending a smoky taste to signature drinks, another flask collecting a drip by drip potion made from distillation of fresh herbs, or a micro-greenhouse housing edible herbs.  The occasional vapour from the dry ice wafts up to offer your eye another curiosity. This is alchemical cocktail chemistry at its best.

With abundant passion of Italian creativity and gastronomy, Il Locale Bar merits all the credit it receives.  It is creating a connoisseur experience where the art of the concoction is experimented upon and transformed. It is an appreciation of the sensory experience employing some of the best ingredients Italy has to offer and the art of alchemizing new tastes with original creativity.