Behind the Old Fashion Cafe counter, in the SoHo district, there is the story of a family that from Puglia brought its idea of hospitality to New York. Antonello Iacca grew up in the tables of the Old Fashion of Taranto, the place opened by his parents and his uncle in 1998, and today, together with his brothers, recreated that spirit in Manhattan. We met him to tell us what Italian aperitif means for him.
The story of the Old Fashion Cafe begins in Taranto in 1998, with the bar opened by your parents and your uncle. What made you grow up behind that counter, and what about that family story led to New York?
Growing behind that counter taught me that a bar is not just a place where you need drinks, but a place where relationships are built. I saw my parents and my uncle know each customer by name, remember their tastes and make them feel at home. This philosophy I brought with me to New York, Italian hospitality made of attention, warmth and authenticity. And for me, the most beautiful goal was to be able to bring my brothers to America and share with them this dream. The Old Fashion Cafe is not just an entrepreneurial project, it is a family project. Seeing them by my side every day and building together something that comes from our roots is the greatest satisfaction that I could desire.
It is said that your family has helped create the modern culture of the Italian cocktail. What do you mean by an Italian aperitif, and how did you bring it into the Old Fashion Cafe?
For us Italian aperitif is first of all a moment of sharing. The cocktail is important, but it is only part of the experience. It is the essence of sweet doing nothing, taking a break, putting aside the commitments and living the moment. This is the philosophy we brought to the Old Fashion Cafe. We want every guest to feel like he was in an Italian square, with a good drink, something to share and the right company. Rather than serving cocktails, we try to make a lifestyle and the authentic spirit of the Italian aperitif live.
You arrived in New York in 2016 and worked behind other counters before opening your premises. What did you learn in those years, and what made you say “now is the time to open my place”?
The most important experience was certainly the one behind the Ulivo counter, a place where Italianity is not only a concept, but you live every day. There I understood how Americans see Italy and how much they appreciate two values that are natural to us, hospitality and quality. After those years, I felt it was time to take a step further. With the Old Fashion Cafe I wanted to bring beyond the ocean not only our idea of aperitif, but above all the sense of family that has always characterized the Old Fashion of Taranto, in Puglia. I wanted to create a place where people didn’t just come to drink a cocktail, but they felt welcomed as guests at our house.
You are considered one of the great aperitif experts in New York. Is there a cocktail of your menu, maybe linked to your Italian memories, to which you keep in a particular way and that tells the soul of the club?
Surely the White Negroni. It is the cocktail that most represents our philosophy, and has been included among the one hundred most important aperitifs in the world, a recognition that makes us very proud. For me it is synonymous with class, elegance and balance, it takes inspiration from the great Italian tradition but interprets it in a contemporary way. It is a drink that perfectly tells the soul of the Old Fashion Cafe, respect for our roots, attention to quality and the desire to offer an experience that remains in memory. In the end, this is what we try to do every day, bring a piece of Italy to New York, an aperitif at a time.
Looking forward, what do you want the Old Fashion Cafe to become for New York and for the Italians living here?
I’d like it to become a point of reference. A place where Italians can feel a bit at home and where Americans can experience an authentic experience of our culture. Our goal is to continue to make Italian hospitality known through good drinking, good food and an atmosphere that makes you want to return. The United States is a country that rewards those who know how to innovate without forgetting their roots, and I believe it is precisely from the encounter between Italian tradition and an international vision that can be born the best ideas.
L’articolo Antonello Iacca and the Old Fashion Cafe, a piece of Puglia in the heart of New York proviene da IlNewyorkese.
