Italian pinzimonio, which means cruditee (mostly carrots, celery, fennel, indivia salad) dipped in olive oil, vinegar and salt accompanied by the most amazing Spritz ever!
Saturday night at home, but feels like the best bar.
Here in the UK there is a different tradition around aperitif, even when you move away from the pub & beer combo, to something more “upscale” (noting against beer, I love it from my Dutch days!) there is not much food/appetizer served with your drinks: a few olives, perhaps some chips but you have to ask for more to accompany what’s in your glass.
In Italy you can have a proper dinner while you do your aperitif: there is food to take to your table or to nibble at the bar, “real” food like bowls of pasta with simple sauces, hummus with focaccia or cut vegetables, pizza slices, cold cuts, and mountains of chips. The chic places would bring these pre-arranged plates to your table so you can sit and sip your champagne in peace without mingling with the people at the bar to fill in your plate.
It’s a treat you can have only once in a while, unless you really want to skip dinner every evening, as it’s so satisfying you won’t eat anything else back home (and as an added bonus, you don’t get drunk because the food you have with alcohol prevents you from absorbing all the spirits immediately :))
