Michele Giarrusso, Tavolino
Michele's career started back in 2005 in Italy when he was part of the Forte Village luxury resort team.
After a number of years working in bars and restaurants he decided to move to London in early 2010 to strengthen his knowledge in the hospitality industry. He worked in a variety of venues, private single & corporate events and for various companies until finding his place within the recently opened Tavolino bar and kitchen as opening manager.
Sgroppino Rosato
50ml Italicus
30ml Chapel Down Rose English Wine
1 scoop of lemon sorbet
Inspiration:
Originally the Venetian word sgropìn indicated the classic sorbet, without milk and with a lower alcohol content. The first certified evidence dates back to the 15th century in Venice where it was used as a mid-meal palette cleanser for the aristocracy but over time the ancient recipe was transformed to give rise to the current Sgroppino, a combination of spirit, fizz and lemon sorbet.
There are many ways to make this, some involve blending the ingredients together and serving it in a creamed mixture as a dessert cocktail. Another more interesting serve is to let the sorbet sink and have a drink that changes in texture and sweetness as you go.
While helping out Tavolino, as we were going through a pandemic, I decided to
support the local producers as much as possible while keeping to the Italian structure due to the nature of the concept. Sourcing the lemons from the British countryside was the first step enabling the production of a creamy and tart homemade sorbet. I then moved onto the main ingredient, the wine, which as we all know the provenance and the terroir play a big part in when choosing it. Kent in the south-east of England is a great area to source wine and so I decided to use a rose, a still one.
Finally, to honour the Italian roots of this classic serve, I called for Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto, a gentle liqueur with the predominant citrus flavour balanced from the gentle floral aroma. To complete the serve and make it as practical and easy as possible due to the high footfall location, I poured everything into a slush machine and slowly let it freeze before serving.
The result? A delicious sweet and sour classic, slightly pink in colour, with a soft texture and the fragrance from the bergamot.
