Lina Huring is a designer and food creator who has been living in Milan, where aperitivo stopped being a drink and became a way of living. This is her ongoing love letter to that ritual, and here five best hacks for a joyful, stress-free moment before (or beyond) dinner — here’s what she has to say.

Lina Huring is a designer and food creator who has been living in Milan, where aperitivo stopped being a drink and became a way of living. This is her ongoing love letter to that ritual, and her five best hacks for a joyful, stress-free moment before (or beyond) dinner — here’s what she has to say.

The key to aperitivo is simplicity. It’s the cultural practice of letting go with elegance. Aperitivo is the ritual of opening (aprire in Italian) because the bitter drink opens the stomach for eating. I like to think of it as opening in the sense of “opening up” or entering an easier state of mind. We open our mouths not only to eat and drink, but to talk: to reconnect with our friends and family.

What sets aperitivo apart from *just a drink* is what we eat. There’s no single correct version. Aperitivo is whatever you have on hand, and you adjust the effort to match your energy. Plain chips and olives are good enough. It’s never the star, always the transition. It comes as it is, and it doesn’t judge. The beauty of aperitivo is that it’s the beginning of something: an evening, an adventure, the rest of your life. 

Here are her 5 hacks for an easy summer aperitivo: 

Here are her 5 hacks for an easy summer aperitivo: 

1. Negroni in a jug*

1. Negroni in a jug*

To spare yourself an evening as your friends‘ private mixologist, batch the Negroni ahead in jugs and serve over ice in plain drinking glasses.

1 orange, sliced · ice cubes (about 2 cups, plus more for the glasses) · 30 cl gin · 30 cl Campari · 30 cl vermouth · 10 cl cold mineral water. Add ice cubes and orange slices to a jug, pressing a few slices toward the glass. Pour in equal parts gin, Campari and vermouth, stir gently, and you’re done.

2. Cheese means love

2. Cheese means love

Serve your Parmesan (or any local hard, aged, salty cheese) in big chunks carved straight from the block. Add a little glamour with a small dipping bowl of chestnut honey.

3. Carbs + salt + fat

3. Carbs + salt + fat

The bitter drinks demand carbs with a bit of salt and fat. A golden square of focaccia is everyone’s favorite at the aperitivo table. No good focaccia on hand? Tear up a nice sourdough instead, and dress it with good olive oil, sea salt and a little fresh rosemary.

4. Raw fava beans and pecorino

4. Raw fava beans and pecorino

The perfect finger food — it keeps your guests, and their kids, happily busy. Fava season is short, but sugar snap peas or raw fennel are lovely stand-ins.

5. Apericena

5. Apericena

The Italian art of an aperitivo turned into dinner. Just keep pulling out whatever you
have on hand: canned olives, anchovies, cheese, stone fruit, carrots, and on it goes. No one has to cook, and everyone can focus on simply being together.

*note: being a wine importer, I must add that nothing is stopping you from switching the Negroni in a Jug to a good bottle of Pet Nat.
Salute!

Text edit: Frida Karlström
Photography by: Lina Huring

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