TASTEMAKER EMILIO GIOVANAZZI

The first time Emilio Giovanazzi was asked to create a cocktail list, he was working in Paperinos, the beloved but now-closed Italian restaurant in Glasgow that belonged to his uncle. “It was a great place, and it would consistently win awards for its wine list,” he recalls. As the city’s eating habits evolved, they needed to think of a way to attract a younger crowd. Emilio's dad (who owned La Parmigiana restaurant), figured cocktails was the answer. “He went to a charity shop and picked up the first cocktail book he could find,” says Emilio. “And it happened to be The Savoy Cocktail Book.”

- 

That discovery guided Emilio into the world of bartending, via a spell in academia. He studied engineering in Aberdeen but eventually dropped out and worked in bars across the country before setting his sights on Gleneagles. In 2019 he began working at the hotel's Century Bar, and these days you'll find him dressed in his finery as head bartender at the American Bar, the hotel's glamorous Art Deco-inspired cocktail lounge.

Much has changed since he arrived. “We used to have a simple, mostly champagne-forward cocktail list,” he says. “But then Michele Mariotti joined us as head of bars from Singapore’s Mandarin Oriental, and he wanted to create something more conceptual.”