On September 6 and 7, Gaia Bar, inside Musa Lago di Como, hosts the inaugural edition of Beyond The Bar – Lake Como Series, a new project by Campari Academy. Giorgio Bargiani, Monica Berg, Sofokli Cali, Abi El Attaoui, Francesco Galdi, Lorenzo Querci and Manja Stankovic come together to discuss the next generation of bartenders, the future of guest shifts and how cocktails can reach beyond traditional drinking occasions.
Beyond The Bar – Lake Como Series: Rethinking the Guest Shift
Guest shifts have redrawn the map of the bar world. Over the past few years, they have sent bartenders and their drinks across borders, bringing venues and communities in different countries closer together. Now Campari is looking beyond this established format, turning encounters between industry professionals into opportunities to discuss how the business is evolving and the new generation entering it.
On September 6 and 7, Musa Lago di Como, the five-star boutique hotel in Sala Comacina, hosts the debut of Beyond The Bar – Lake Como Series. The two-day program combines guest bartending with discussion, bringing together Italian and international owners and managers invited by Campari to share best practices and ideas around three practical questions: how to engage younger professionals, how guest shifts might evolve and where bitter-led cocktails can go next to reach new audiences.
Seven Professionals, Seven Perspectives
The conversation brings together seven leading figures from the bar industry: Giorgio Bargiani, Monica Berg, Sofokli Cali, Abi El Attaoui, Francesco Galdi, Lorenzo Querci and Manja Stankovic. They were also chosen to represent different stages of a career in hospitality, from professionals who still work behind the bar to those now overseeing teams and beverage programs internationally.
Together, they bring to Lake Como experience gained at some of the industry’s best-known venues, including Connaught Bar and Tayēr + Elementary in London, Moebius and Ceresio 7 in Milan, Nouvelle Vague in Tirana, Mimi Kakushi in Dubai and bars within the international Buddha-Bar network.
From Brunch to Aperitivo: The First Day of Beyond The Bar – Lake Como Series
The program begins on September 6. From noon, Gaia Bar at Musa opens its doors to cocktail enthusiasts for a brunch that runs into aperitivo, with Cali, Galdi, Stankovic and El Attaoui serving their own takes on the Garibaldi alongside the resident team led by bar manager Luca Salvioli.
The drink offers a way into one of the directions Campari sees as particularly relevant to contemporary cocktail culture. It is quick to prepare, lower in alcohol than many classics and adaptable to different drinking occasions. Brunch is one of them, while the straightforward build of the Garibaldi also makes bitter-led drinking suited to daytime service and high-volume settings.
For Giorgio Bargiani, the reference point is the Negroni. The Connaught Bar’s assistant director of mixology will serve his own variation from an express station, using one of the cocktails most closely associated with Campari as his starting point. From 6 p.m., the evening moves into a private aperitivo for members of Milan’s bar industry, accompanied by pizzas from Lorenzo Sirabella of Dry Milano. The informal gathering is designed to encourage conversation and strengthen connections ahead of the following day’s working session.
Who Are Tomorrow’s Bartenders?
Above all, Beyond The Bar – Lake Como Series is conceived as a forum for discussion and collaborative work. On September 7, the group reconvenes at Musa in the late morning for a roundtable, with one of the central topics focusing on the generation now entering the profession.
The aim is to build a clearer picture of emerging owners, managers and bartenders through the experiences of the seven international guests, and to understand how expectations and professional relationships have changed compared with those who entered the industry 10 or 20 years ago.
One of the clearest shifts is access to knowledge. Young bartenders arrive behind the bar with a far broader pool of information at their disposal, encompassing techniques and recipes as well as more immediate access to international professionals and their work. Training can begin long before someone steps behind a bar for the first time.
The way emerging professionals gather information and develop working relationships has changed as well. Digital platforms have reduced the importance of geographical boundaries, making it easier to follow what is happening in other cities and countries. From there, the discussion turns to the relationship between brands and younger generations, with the roundtable seeking new activities and forms of engagement capable of speaking to this new guard.
Rethinking the Guest Shift
Another subject on the table is the guest shift itself. Its widespread adoption has multiplied exchanges between bars and professionals, but its very ubiquity raises a new question: what should come next? And what value can the format create today for bartenders, host venues and their communities?
The seven participants will draw on their own experiences to explore formats capable of producing something that lasts beyond a single night.
Negroni and Garibaldi With Campari
The discussion will also examine bitter-led cocktails and their place in contemporary drinking culture. The Negroni and Garibaldi will serve as starting points for conversations around alcohol content, speed of service and different drinking occasions.
The September 7 session will also produce a tangible outcome. Insights from the roundtable will be developed into a series of videos produced by Coqtail – for fine drinkers, media partner for the two-day event organized by Campari Academy.
Beyond The Bar – Lake Como Series is the first edition of a format conceived to continue working with bars around Lake Como before expanding, in the future, to other destinations.
In partnership with Campari Academy
