Every series starts somewhere. Ours started a few streets away.
For our first ever guest shift, we didn’t book a flight — we invited Cooktl, the cocktail bar from Begoña Rodrigo’s La Salita, Valencia’s Michelin-starred, three-Repsol-Suns restaurant. Some of the most interesting cocktail thinking in the city happens there, and on 26 October it happened at our counter.
Denise Coppola — the bartender leading Cooktl’s liquid program — brought their kitchen-brain approach to Gato Negro. Their whole thing is cooking cocktails: vegetables, acids, smoke, house-made vinegars. Drinks built like dishes.
The lineup for the night: Telote — corn and tequila in a bubbly, savoury tribute to street food. Mento — a snap pea distillate with smoke and green pepper (yes, really, and yes, it works). Gallardo — Martini Fiero, rhubarb and Mediterranean herbs with a touch of bubbles.
New hands, same chaos. Denise was a blast, the room was full, and we knew immediately: we were going to do this again.
And we did. Drink Kong — six straight years on The World’s 50 Best Bars — came from Rome in April. This October, Sips from Barcelona, currently the No. 3 bar in the world, takes the counter. Not bad for a series that started with a walk across the neighborhood.
Follow @gatonegro.vlc so you don’t miss the next one.
