Daniela Danzi is the creative mind behind Pandora Design, a company that specializes in temporary table accessories. Exclusively for YOOXYGEN, Pandora Design has created an aperitif eco-kit: in this interview with The New Yooxer, Daniela Danzi explains how the project came about, and the significance the aperitif ritual plays in today’s society.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DANIELA DANZI
DISCOVER PANDORA DESIGN COLLECTION
THE HISTORY OF THE APERITIF
The Italian ritual of the aperitivo is inextricably linked to the city of Milan, where the custom of meeting for cocktails and finger food before dinner has become an inalienable rite: a widespread and utterly democratic trend, regardless of age or social status. Cocktails like the Spritz, the Campari, the Rossini, the San Pellegrino, and the Negroni have become internationally renowned thanks to the Lombard capital.
CAMPARI PHOTO GALLERY
Of course, the custom of enjoying an aromatic drink to whet the appetite—either alcoholic or not—has been a tradition throughout history. The etymologic origin of the word “aperitivo” comes from the Latin word “aperire”—to open, or to begin. Ancient Romans consumed a drink created from wine and honey, a predecessor of the modern cocktail. But it was only in the 1920s that the habit become so enthusiastically embraced by Italy’s most urban citizens; Gaspare Campari being one of the first. It was Signore Campari, a café owner with bars in some of Milan’s most prime locations, who first launched the fashion of taking a “Bitter” or “Cordial” in the company of others before the evening meal—serving snacks and canapés alongside these “Campari” cocktails. Almost one hundred years later, the social and relaxing aperitivo hour has remained a steadfast fixture of the Milanese lifestyle.
