Kate Hawkings was not just a neighbour and a friend but a mentor of mine in my Bristol days. Within days of moving there, and just hours of meeting her for the first time, she told me to quit my quite considerably bollocks job at a well known high street coffee chain, so I did. And I never looked back.
From there she got me my first real job in hospitality (and introduced me to my current employers), gave me my first taste at running my own place, taught me most of what I know about front of house and everything I know about wine, fed me my first oyster, but most importantly, poured me my first Negroni.
By the way if you haven’t ever had one you haven’t really lived.
Anyway, this book is Kate personified. It’s full of wit, knowledge, and of course, booze. Everything you need to know about the aperitif from the history, to the geography, to the science, to which damn glass to put it in and why. You read it and you can hear her voice, so naturally you won’t question a word of it.
Not only is the read a deliciously informative hoot, but it’s bloody gorgeous to look at too. Quadrille did a lovely job stylistically, but Sarah Hogan’s photography is stunning. It’s clean, bold, and like Kate’s writing makes the drinks really sing without any need for extra clutter and unnecessarily busy compositions.
Everything about the book, front to back, is just classy AF. So go out and get it (try Kate’s preference of Hive as she quite rightly supports the fact they pay all their taxes) and then kick back with a Negroni and plan what to drink next.
Cheers!
#harrisonthehand