October 5, 2026, is one for the diary. That evening, Coqtail – for fine drinkers will unveil Welcome, its new issue dedicated to hotel bars, at Mandarin Garden. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., during the week of The 50 Bars celebrations, cocktails by Guglielmo Miriello and Gaetano Ascone will meet the cooking of Antonio Guida, with a host of special guests joining the evening.
Mandarin Garden, a Hotel Bar Open to the City
Some hotel bars have a way of turning visitors into regulars. You find your place at the bar, stay for a conversation and forget about the clock for a while. At the same counter, someone visiting Milan for the first time might sit beside a guest who knows the bartender by name. Reading both, understanding how much time they have and what they are looking for, is part of the detail-driven craft of hospitality.
That idea sits at the heart of Welcome, the tenth print issue of Coqtail – for fine drinkers, which will be presented at Mandarin Garden, the open-air lounge at Mandarin Oriental, Milan. Here, hospitality extends beyond the hotel’s residents to a local crowd drawn by cocktails, food and the pleasure of spending time at the bar.
A Cocktail Menu by Guglielmo Miriello and Gaetano Ascone
On October 5, two days before the ceremony unveiling The 50 Bars 2026 ranking, Welcome to the Garden will unfold around the bar, with Presobene London Dry Gin as partner. Guglielmo Miriello, Director of Mandarin Garden, and Gaetano Ascone, Bar Manager, will create the cocktail menu, working from a bar station supplied by Studio 54, the event’s technical partner.
Miriello will personally prepare his French 75, a classic he has been serving for more than 20 years. Presobene London Dry Gin keeps juniper and Mediterranean botanicals at the forefront, while brut Champagne brings a fine, persistent effervescence. Served in a generous coupe, the cocktail is finished with a marasca cherry — a departure from the classic recipe that leaves a subtle sweetness on the palate.
Miriello’s cocktail, alongside Ascone’s creations, will be paired with dishes by Antonio Guida, Executive Chef of Seta at Mandarin Oriental, Milan. At the decks, DJ Rocco will shape the soundtrack around the natural pace of an open-air evening, moving between drinks and conversation.
It is, after all, the kind of atmosphere Welcome sets out to explore: a hotel bar equally prepared for the guest walking through its doors for the first time and the regular returning for the hundredth.
Immagini courtesy of Mandarin Garden and photo by Emanuel Florentin per Coqtail – all rights reserved
