Who said that a good dish necessarily has to be accompanied by a good wine? Even a cocktail can enhance its taste. Flavio Esposito, young BarChef who promotes his Food & Drink Experience project in Milan, where the worlds of bar and kitchen meet, knows it well. Hence, a barman also becomes Chef, having experience not only behind the counter, but also in the kitchen. Flavio has this passion for cooking art since he lived in Naples, where he got into coffee so much that he considers it one of the ingredients that combines food and drinks and gives balance to everything.

Cocktail – E nù juorn’ buon (It’s a good day)

Ingredients: 15g ground coffee, 1 cup of water, 1 cl. Violet liquor, 2 cl. Rum spice, homemade mozzarella foam with cocoa

Procedure: Fill part of the boston with water and mix it with two very fine freshly ground teaspoons of coffee. Blend everything with the Indian Chai Tea technique, that is pouring the mixture three times from one boston to the other. Then, bring it to the boil and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, ass violet liqueur and Rum spice. Add also ice and part of the coffee corresponding to a double in the other boston and shake powerfully for 9 seconds. Leave to rest for 5 minutes and serve in a glass cappuccino cup. Finish with milk foam with cocoa and garnish with a vanilla bean and dried dog rose.

Dish – Beans full of happiness

Ingredients: 250 g stew chickpeas, 100 g lollo rosso radicchio, ½ shallot to mince, salt, pepper and extra virgin oil, 1 glass of Prosecco, 100 ml vegetal broth

Procedure: Brown the shallot in a saucepan with two tablespoons of oil. When the shallot is brown, add radicchio and the well-drained chickpeas after about two minutes. After about 3 minutes, simmer with sparkling white wine and add some spoonful of broth. Cover the saucepan partially. Bring to the boil and cook for about 2 hours. When the chickpeas are soft, remove from fire and add salt, pepper, a knob of butter and parmesan cheese. Strain everything with a stick blender until you get a velvet chickpea sauce. Serve in a dish and decorate by adding crispy radicchio in the middle, including liquorice powder and coffee beans.