"It" bartender: Vincenzo Marianella

(Credit: Michael Vin Lee)

A forerunner in the movement toward high-quality cocktails in Southern California, Vincenzo Marianella makes drinks with nothing less than juiced-before-your-eyes ingredients. Anything bottled or premixed would be sacrilege.

The Italian transplant worked behind the bar in New York and London, where he learned secrets of the trade from world-renowned mixologist Salvatore Calabrese. When he moved to L.A. a few years ago, he spent months searching for the right place to practice his art. (Don't you love making booze sound highbrow?) He eventually found his place alongside Donato Poto and Michael Cimarusti, the power duo at Providence, where he’s made a name for himself. Not every bartender is fit for collaborating with Food & Wine magazine's cocktail clinic. Ahem.

Here’s one of Marianella's signature cocktails:

Ramona
2 oz. premium Rum
3/4 oz. Marie Brizard Apry
3/4 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 bar spoon papaya orange habañero marmalade
1 dash Gary Regan’s orange bitters
garnish: 1 jalapeño pepper

Shake ingredients with ice and fine strain into a cocktail glass. Drop a thin slice of jalapeño into the drink. Take the rest of jalapeño and squeeze it over the drink to release the spicy oil.

Need a helping hand? The handsome cocktail chef will help you squeeze those jalapeños. Book him for a cocktail consultation through his website www.mymixology.com.