Time to brush up on your Italian.
New York bartenders are reporting a significant rise in bad attempts at pronunciation, now that the Negroni sbagliato, a classic aperitivo invented by accident decades ago, has rather suddenly come back into style. The libation went viral on TikTok earlier this week, thanks to a sexy sound bite from “House of Dragon” star Emma D’Arcy.
In a banter-heavy bit with co-star Olivia Cooke, D’Arcy revealed, in her sultriest voice, that the the obscure riff on the popular Negroni, made with prosecco instead of the usual gin, was her favorite. Fans almost immediately turned the clip into a meme, and bartenders all over town say they’ve been flooded with orders during the cocktail hour.
“I’m not on TikTok, so I didn’t really know what was going on,” Federico Doldi, beverage director at Gansevoort Meatpacking, told The Post, speaking about the uptick in requests. “I was kind of surprised, because I arrived here a year ago and people didn’t even know what it was.”
While a traditional Negroni, built around the bitter Italian liqueur Campari, includes sweet vermouth and gin, a Negroni sbagliato — pronounced spAHg-lee-AH-toh, Italian for “wrong” — is made with the same first two ingredients, but instead of gin, the recipe subs in prosecco or another sparkling wine.
Doldi’s $23 version at the Gansevoort Meatpacking is made with Martini & Rossi Bitter liqueur, sweet vermouth and Champagne instead of prosecco, but since people have been ordering the TikTok version, he anticipates potentially having to pop more bottles of the Italian sparkling wine.
At cocktail bar Dear Irving, a version of the Negroni sbagliato has been on the menu since 2014. However, it was seldom ordered, bar director Meaghan Dorman said, noticing that people were fairly timid about pronouncing the name of the drink. In the last week, she noticed more people ordering, with more confidence.
“I’m glad it’s become more of a visual thing, so people hear how to pronounce it. When we had it on the menu [before], it was a little intimidating, no one could say it,” she said, of the bubbles-forward cocktail she sells for $19.
“It’s great to get at the beginning of the night as an aperitif,” she said.
The Negroni sbagliato was first stirred up in 1972 by Mirko Stocchetto at a bar in Milan, when he accidentally grabbed prosecco instead of gin, birthing the classic Sbagliato recipe, Anne Louise Marquis, national portfolio brand ambassador for Campari America, told The Post.
“Now, it’s having its own trending moment thanks to the viral video circulating the internet. I’ve seen Negroni sbagliato remixes, dances, memes — it’s really inspired a lot of creativity,” Marquis said.
Johnny Swet, a master mixologist at Jimmy, the rooftop bar at ModernHaus SoHo, says he’s noticed imbibers dabbling in the viral libation — though he encourages leaving in the gin and adding the prosecco for a bit of fizz.
“Me, personally, I’m a gin guy. I would order it with gin and the sweet vermouth and prosecco,” he said.
“It just adds a depth of flavor,” he said.
How to make a Negroni sbagliato
Ingredients:
1 part Campari
1 part 1757 Vermouth di Torino Rosso
1 part prosecco
Method:
Stir first two ingredients with ice in a glass.
Top with prosecco.
Garnish with an orange slice.
Recipe by Campari
