Have You Heard The News? …We Are Off To Italy!

BY: VANESSA ROBERTS

If you are following us on instagram and snapchat (add us on snapchat: @breakwithaudrey), you would have noticed an Italian cocktail-infused frenzy taking over our accounts a few weeks ago…

Not that my love of cocktails or Italy is anything new (far from it in fact!) but super-excitingly, I was invited to represent Breakfast With Audrey in a cocktail-making challenge for a chance to win a TRIP TO ITALY!!

The competition, which was hosted by local wine aficionados The Wog With The Grog in collaboration with prestigious Italian liquor distillery NARDINI, pitted blogger against blogger (all in the best of fun) to see who could create the ultimate unique cocktail featuring a Nardini liqueur.

In true Italian style, the event was rolled out in several stages. The first stage included a preliminary cocktail mentoring session with Wog With The Grog founder Robert Dessanti at La Pesa Restaurant in Darlinghurst, followed by meet-ups and drink-ups for the finalists at the chef-hatted Ormeggio restaurant at The Spit in Sydney.

So much fun at the meet-and-greet at Ormeggio restaurant!

Press and snapshots from the night at Ormeggio.

After much testing and careful refinement, all finalists were then invited to present their finished product to a panel of judges at the grand finale which took place at Porsche Sydney South.

At the finale, guests enjoyed Majolini sparkling wines, freshly shucked oysters from Rockin’ Oysters, food by celebrity chef Luca Ciano, a cannoli bazooka from Pasticceria Caruso and prosciutto from De Palma Salumi. It was a whirlwind night and a great success.

Images: Snapchat, Instagram, Chic Traveller

My cocktail, named ‘The Glamadonna’ (with the loose translation being ‘glamourous woman’, and also the name of my jewellery label) was inspired by the women of Italian cinema who are loved for their beauty, style and confidence.

The cocktail needed to capture the above qualities so the final recipe included: Nardini ‘Acqua di Cedro’, crushed fresh figs, elderflower liqueur, agave nectar and fresh mint. Overall the cocktail was potent, sweet, exotic and of course, delicious! 🙂

Cocktail prep and the finished product (luckily there was an expert on hand to make them!) Pictured with Deb Carr from Sydney Chic blog.

For decoration, we added half a fresh fig to the rim of a classic martini glass, which itself was decorated with rows of retro-style sparkling crystals I adapted from a vintage Glamadonna necklace.

The entire competition was a huge amount of fun, bringing so many wonderful and talented people together. Not only did we receive an unforgettable introduction to the esteemed Nardini brand, I think we all became greater Italophiles as a result!

I had fun creating my own pop culture imagery for Instagram using the Nardini product!

The Nardini x The Wog With The Grog Cocktail Mixing Challenge was certainly an experience I will never forget, and I cannot thank the organisers enough for inviting me to take part! I will be visiting the Nardini distillery in Venice in Italy later this year thanks to Grace Cucinello’s Travel Counsellors, and I cannot wait to share the experience with everyone.