Top Harrogate restaurant launches the definitive gin in new collaboration with Hedonist of Leeds

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Stuzzi Per Negroni is the result of an exciting new diversification into spirits production by Stuzzi which has sites in Harrogate and Leeds.

Located on Kings Road in Harrogate, Stuzzi is one of Yorkshire's most popular restaurants and has been featured in the Michelin Guide for four consecutive years and five years in The Good Food Guide.

The team behind the award winning Italian small-plates restaurant, set about launching the gin after their two venues were closed during lockdown and they realised how vulnerable the hospitality industry can be.

Stuzzi, will debut their first ever spirit this month, with the launch of ‘the perfect gin, for the perfect Negroni’.

Stuzzi Per Negroni Gin (RRP £39.50, 70cl, 40% abv) has been created in partnership with award-winning Leeds-based distillery Hedonist to celebrate and enhance the classic cocktail, whilst remaining authentic to the serve’s Italian roots.

It has been distilled with a medley of botanicals to create the definitive Negroni, including Candied Sicilian Orange, Bergamot, Lavender and Cinnamon, before being cut with the greatest water in the world…Yorkshire water.

The idea for the gin came during lockdown when Stuzzi’s two restaurants in Leeds and Harrogate were both closed.

Having always made as much produce in-house as possible, such as their own bread, pasta and desserts, it was a natural next step to explore their other passion of Negronis and diversify into spirit production, creating a gin specifically crafted for the world’s most popular cocktail.

Jimbob Phillips, co-founder and director of Stuzzi said: “The uncertainty of Covid not only brought us a lot of time to drink but also to think.

"Realising how vulnerable the service industry is to lockdowns, we used the time to turn our attention to how we can diversify and protect the business.

"While supping lockdown negroni after lockdown negroni we started thinking about how we could perfect this ruby red nectar and the idea for the first Stuzzi gin was born”.

He continued: “Our gin lifts the negroni, rather than working against it. A negroni made with Stuzzi Gin isn’t a twist on a classic, it’s turning the volume up.

"It almost softens the initial bitter punch, making a dangerously drinkable cocktail with layers of flavour.

"It’s our best interpretation of the classic. And we think it’s a game changer for negroni lovers.. a bitter, sweet, symphony”.

The new gin stays true to the Italian no-nonsense approach to food and drink, using simple but great quality ingredients to deliver the best possible flavours.

With four consecutive years in the Michelin Guide, the Stuzzi team know flavour and this commitment to sourcing the best ingredients shines through in Stuzzi Gin, with incredible tasting, authentic botanicals from all over Italy.

Nick Harvey, co-founder and director of Stuzzi said: “Stuzzi Gin was created with both bartenders and Negroni lovers in mind.

"Our aim is to elevate every Negroni and make it the go-to gin for the serve. Stuzzi Per Negroni is the perfect combination of the glamorous Italian Sprezzatura with inherent Yorkshire honesty.

"We enlisted the help of Hedonist Drinks, long time friends of the Stuzzi family, celebrated and award winning bartenders with a distillery just down the road, they were the perfect partner to join us on our mission - we needed this to be a gin that was made in a bar, not in a boardroom”.

"Having initially trialled Stuzzi Per Negroni in our venues, we knew it was too good to keep to just two sites and from this month it is available for both the on and off-trade”.

Stuzzi Per Negroni is available now for the on and off-trade, as well as via buy from the Stuzzi Mercato.

About Stuzzi

Stuzzi Restaurant was launched in Harrogate in 2014 by flavour obsessed friends. Jimbob, Harvey, Brett & Tom who had worked their way around Yorkshire’s most popular restaurants. In 2018, they opened a second site in Leeds.

They were inspired by the little plates of Italian cuisine served in small osterias and bars throughout Italy - especially in and around Venice - traditionally eaten by hand, in-between drinks to “keep oneself going”. Traditional recipes sit alongside modern Italian cooking and street food essentials to create a chaotic mix of gastronomic treats from the world’s greatest food country.

With four consecutive years in the Michelin Guide and five years in The Good Food Guide, these four importers of fine Italian stuff know flavour, Italian ingredients and how to use them.

For more information visit the Stuzzi website at:

www.stuzzi.co.uk/

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