Exploring Patagonia can be as much a spiritual journey as a physical one. At Sur, a new cocktail bar in Milan, that experience comes without the long-haul flight. Instead, guests can travel through the South American region one drink at a time, following a cocktail menu conceived as a journey from north to south.
South Is More Than a Direction
Patagonia’s rugged, austere beauty has captivated generations of writers, among them Jorge Luis Borges, Francisco Coloane, Luis Sepúlveda, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Bruce Chatwin. For many, traveling through Patagonia meant following a single direction: south, or sur in Spanish. But here, south is as much a state of mind as a destination, a distant horizon where one might lose oneself and perhaps find something along the way.
Sur, a Place to Slow Down and Recharge
Beyond its spiritual associations, heading south also means escaping the demands of everyday life, restoring one’s energy and reconnecting with the natural world.
“We chose Patagonia for a reason,” said Emanuel Julian Schuster, co-founder of Sur. “It’s where we Argentinians go when we need to slow down and recharge. Milan is an extraordinary city, but it can also be exhausting. We wanted to share that feeling of escape with our guests, giving them somewhere to unwind without having to fly across the Atlantic.”
From Pibä to Sur
Schuster is one of five partners behind Pibä, a restaurant concept bringing elevated Argentine street food to an international audience. The brand currently has two European locations, in Barcelona and Milan.
Sur has opened next door to Pibä’s Milan outpost, on Piazza Santa Maria del Suffragio. The two establishments share the same ownership team and Argentine roots. At Sur, those influences extend to both the food and cocktail menus, with a particular emphasis on Patagonia’s ingredients and culinary traditions.
Sur: A Journey Through Patagonia, One Cocktail at a Time
Sur’s cocktail menu features nine signature drinks, arranged as stops along a journey heading, naturally, south. Guiding the experience is Nahuel Lobo, a fictional traveler who ventures across Patagonia in search of “essences, spices, wild fruits and recipes preserved through time,” as the menu’s introduction explains. Each cocktail is accompanied by one of his thoughts, memories or anecdotes, turning the drinks into chapters of a larger story.
Every cocktail represents a stop along this imagined route, with a regional ingredient at its center. Take Incontro con Lihuen, built around merkén, a spice blend distinguished by its smoked chile peppers. Its warm, pungent character meets the vegetal notes of tequila and agave, balanced by the brightness of grapefruit and the sweetness of pineapple and apple.
Another example is Lago Nahuel Huapi, named after the Patagonian lake. Here, the regional connection comes through cedrón and calafate. Cedrón, an aromatic shrub, brings a warm, lemony fragrance and flavor, while calafate, a native berry, contributes notes reminiscent of wild berries. Fino sherry adds a dry, lightly toasted character, with soda providing effervescence.
The Alcohol-Free Cocktails
A journey through Patagonia is also a journey of personal discovery, and two of Sur’s cocktails revisit earlier chapters in Nahuel Lobo’s fictional life: one when he was 12, the other when he was 13.
Since spirits would hardly be appropriate at those ages, these memories are represented by the menu’s two alcohol-free cocktails.
Il Vecchio Granaio combines dealcoholized amaro, pear, wheat, boldo and soda, producing balsamic and herbal notes softened by a delicate fruitiness. Un Viaggio Inaspettato, meanwhile, brings together the green, vegetal character of fig-leaf soda and the crisp sweetness of apple, with cinnamon and palo santo lending warmth and aromatic depth. At Sur, Patagonia finds its way to Milan through cocktails that capture the flavors, ingredients and landscapes of the region.
Photos courtesy of Sur
