Aperitivo Hour at Taggia
Taggia's new Aperitivo Hour launched Monday, October 5th. It's a fantastic idea. A longstanding custom in Italy, sipping on an aperitivo accompanied by Italian bites is believed to open your palate and stimulate your appetite for dinner. Taggia brings this European tradition of socializing with friends and family over cocktails and small plates to Phoenix. From 4-6 pm daily, each order off the new Moderno Italiano cocktail list or beer or wine will be accompanied by Chef's complimentary snack plate. Meet your friends, enjoy drinks in the Lobby Bar of the beautiful Kimpton FireSky Resort, share some nibbles, and stay for dinner.
Chef Massimo de Francesca explains:. "Aperitivo is before dinner, before supper, before a meal. In Italy, once people finish work, they have their aperitivos in the hours between lunch and dinner. Because we’re an Italian restaurant, I wanted to stay true to that style, that way of life, that way of eating."
"Any of the specialty cocktails from the list crafted by Stephanie Teslar will be paired with complimentary Italian bites. One plate per person per drink. I want people to come in with their friends - everybody orders a cocktail, and everybody gets a plate."
"Although tonight I've given you variations, I plan on doing one plate every week for consistency. Of course, I can work with dietary restrictions. If someone doesn't eat meat, we’ll maybe do extra cheese or something like that. Allergic to nuts, no problem. Most of the bites are gluten-free so we can do that too. If we have advance notice of a big group, we can mix and match and change up the plates."
"This isn't common in North America. Most people think of Happy Hour with sliders and fries. The idea is to have something different with quality ingredients. That’s my philosophy - to promote our cocktail program, encourage socializing, and eat the Italian way."
Want to learn more about Chef Massimo and his fantastic menu at Taggia? Click this link for my interview.