Chrissy Teigen at the MCC

The cocktailing world had Campari® on their minds and lips as the fourth annual Manhattan Cocktail Classic (MCC) kicked off with a red-hot bang. Campari left a lasting impression on the palates of the who’s who in the New York food and cocktail scene with two exciting events celebrating the world of Campari cocktails and the talented bartenders who craft them.

On Friday night, Campari had a throng of elegantly-clad bartenders, industry influencers and cocktail aficionados clamoring for Campari cocktails at its bar in the New York Public Library for the annual Manhattan Cocktail Classic Gala event. Behind the Campari bar, famed industry personality and author gaz regan served his signature ‘Finger- Stirred Negroni’ alongside mixologist Jacques Bezuidenhout’s classic Negroni. Also featured during the stylish fete was the Pabo Amargo, an original concoction from Leo Robitschek of James Beard nominated hot spot The NoMad, as well as the Negroni Sbagliato, a refreshing twist on the classic, perfect for the Summer of Negroni.

Ending the weekend on a high note, Campari hosted its fourth annual “Bartender Bash” Sunday evening at Manhattan hot spot Gallow Green. This year’s Campari Bartender Bash commemorated the fabled romance of Davide Campari – the son of Campari’s founder – and his unrequited love, opera singer Lina Cavalieri, a turn of the century star soprano at The Met. Legend has it that after Lina posed for one of Campari’s iconic advertising posters, Davide was so smitten, he followed her on her world tour.

Supermodel Chrissy Teigen, wife of musician John Legend, wowed the crowd in a stunning red dress to mark the occasion as she witnessed an over-the-top theatrical reenactment of a wedding ceremony never realized in true life, officiated by spirits luminary and Negroni impresario, gaz regan.

Revelers toasted the happy couple with an array of classic and original Campari cocktails as they danced the night away to the beats of DJ Kiss. Perfect pairs of top bartenders from the hottest New York cocktail bars told the legend of Davide and Lina through original Campari cocktails inspired by the different cities that Davide supposedly traveled to in pursuit of Lina.

Master Mixologists Jacques Bezuidenhout and Francesco Lafranconi paired up to serve two cocktails inspired by Milan, Italy, where Davide is rumored to have first met Lina and fell madly in love her.

• Theo Lieberman of Milk + Honey, NYC’s original cocktail/mixology bar with a newly opened location in Flatiron District, joined forces with Lauren Schell of Middle Branch, the little sister to the basement classic Little Branch, to create cocktails to represent the light and breezy French Riviera city of Nice, where Davide pined for Lina on her whirlwind world tour.
• Leo Robitschek of The NoMad, the city’s hottest new hotel and bar, recently nominated for a James Beard Award, and Jeff Bell of PDT, NYC’s iconic, James Beard award-winning speakeasy, partnered to serve cocktails reminiscent of Moscow, the final European city Davide is said to have stopped before boarding a steamer ship to follow Lina to the US.

The exclusive events were private/ticketed affairs, but fans can visit www.facebook.com/Campari for an inside look at Campari’s MCC festivities.