Negroni Week for Ischia Plastic Free

The Romantica Resort & Spa will take part in the Negroni Week which will take place from June 24th to 30th for the second time.

The Romantica will support the Wild Foundation for the sustainability of Ischia Plastic Free, seas and coastal areas.
 

                            HOW DOES IT WORK

Every year for a week of June bars and restaurants can register for the event promoted by Campari e Imbibe Magazine and invent variations of the classic Negroni to offer to their customers for a good cause.
To participate, it is necessary to register the bar/restaurant on the official website  negroniweek.com  and choose from the list of charity partners, the one to which donate the registration fee. In addition, each location may decide to make further donations. At the end of the week, the organization calculates how much has been collected.

THE WORDS OF ALESSIA PERARO

I did not know about the "Negroni Week" initiative but since Davide proposed me to participate with our Bar, I immediately agreed.
The Romantica Resort & Spa is particularly sensitive to charitable initiatives. 
This year we decided to donate our registration fee and 25% of each Negroni sold to the Wild Foundation. Wild Foundation. 

The Wild Foundation is an organization that through the  Marine Wilderness program tends to responsibly manage the environmental impact on coastal areas as well as seas and oceans. 
Recently, the lack of real global attention to the environmental impact of consumption, tourism, waste disposal and more generally of human incivility, have contributed to the pollution of our magnificent seas. The consequences are very severe. Many marine species are in difficulty and many species of birds are forced to change migratory routes. Furthermore, the state of degradation of many coastal areas, beaches and seabed is shameful.
We immediately loved the strategy proposed by the "Wilderness Marine Values", especially because it shares the same principles and values that inspire us
as a Resort and as hotel owners.
We are Ischitan people and lovers of our territory. That is why we do everything we can to protect the island and pursue policies that favor environmental protection and the marine protected area "Regno di Nettuno".

Ph: Wild Foundation

To confirm what I just said, since the beginning of the season 2019, we implemented the draft ordinance "Ischia Plastic Free" approved in March 2018 by the CISI (Consorzio Intercomunale Servizi Ischia).
The ordinance provides for the banning of plastic disposable food products, which are considered one of the main causes of pollution of our seas. 
Read the article of Pasquale Raicaldo on "La Repubblica". 
We decided to anticipate the final ordinance, renouncing to the extension provided for the exhaustion of stocks. We wanted to give a strong signal, hoping to be an example and to scratch the doubts of the skeptics. Plastic free is certainly the right way to go. We decided to draw inspiration from the European Union principles and we are happy to consider ourselves as plastic-free ambassadors of our island.
We hope that our initiative can contribute to supporting the Wild Foundation, which also operates actively on the Italian territory.

INTERVIEW WITH DAVIDE CAREDDA BARTENDER OF THE ROMANTICA RESORT & SPA AND PROMOTER OF NEGRONI WEEK

D: Davide, where does the desire to join the Negroni week come from?
R: Negroni Week is a charity program that involves 60 countries around the world and more than seven thousand locations. it collects over two million dollars for many good causes. Furthermore, the Negroni is a cocktail that has been an Italian pride for a hundred years. These are definitely good reasons to join! 
We loved the principles of the Wild Foundation since the very beginning.
We are very lucky because Ischia is for real a green island. Our sea is clean and beautiful but we have to fight pollution to preserve the area. Moreover, it is clear that what pollutes somewhere contaminates the whole world.

D:Tell us about the Sweet&Strong         
R: the sweet & strong is a revisitation of the classic Negroni created by me for the Negroni week of 2018.
The name and flavor take inspiration from a woman, my manager Alessia Peraro.
It is a strong drink with an intense color that conceals a hidden sweetness to be savored.
Ingredients: 1/3 sweet vermouth; 1/3 red bitter; 1/3 Campari; shake everything and then add drops of blueberry nectar.
I like to garnish it with dehydrated orange and cranberry skewer.

D: Davide, how was the love for this profession born?
R: It was born after various work experiences in Italy and abroad, especially in the USA. I was fascinated and intrigued by the mixing request
of drinks considering the enormous variation of products available in any bar. I was 18, and I wanted to learn mixing techniques.
The experience in the United States has undoubtedly signed me. My first job in New York as a bar back, in a nightclub, was amazing and there I fell in love
with the profession.

D: When does your adventure begin at the Romantica Resort?
R: it started already three years ago. It was a great option for me and I was full of motivation. We have many interesting ideas to develop. 
One of the first was the Negroni Week. For the next projects, I can not reveal anything for the moment but I am sure you will hear about us!

D: What is your favorite cocktail?
R: my favorite cocktail to drink is the Negroni, to prepare ... Negroni too! My motto is: "if you drink Negroni we are brothers!"

D: What are your favorite ingredients?
R: I believe that the approach to the ingredients is an experience that starts from adolescence and that accompanies someone throughout the entire life. 
The more I grow the less I love sweet products. Now I am more focused on dry and aromatic flavors. I love to combine sweet and bitter flavors with a strong aftertaste, just like the Negroni!

D: How do you invent a new cocktail?
R: First of all to create a good cocktail I need a good inspiration.
Certainly, when a guest tells me "do whatever you think is good for me", making me understand his tastes, I feel free to create.
In this work everything is relative. Precisely for this reason, I believe that sometimes some associations in my field, while stimulating the comparison between professionals, limit creativity.

D: Are you a supporter of drink and food pairings?
R: of course, good food has to be combined with "good drink".

D: A professional figure that you were inspired by?
R: There are so many! Thinking of some of them I still remember the precious advice they gave me.

D: A place where to drink well in Italy or abroad.
R: I prefer to stay in our region. There is a local hidden in Naples, near Piazza Vittoria, really characteristic, both in furniture and in products,
where you can drink very good cocktails. Its name is l’antiquario. 

D: What is your dream?
R: until a few years ago I would have answered to open my own bar. Unfortunately, with the current awareness about the necessary sacrifices, the risks and the fears that it derives and the high Italian taxation, I changed my mind. I also think that if dreams are revealed they don't come true!

D: What is your hobby?
R: When I have free time, I like to make liquors for my own use, from the distillation of the pomace at a friend house, to the classic infusions in alcohol.
I'd like to be able to produce a good vermouth and share the experience of savoring it with my friends and guests.