Something to Gossip about

While most people around the world flock to bars and pubs to enjoy drinks early in the evening, the Milanese throw in nibbles to be munched along with cocktails – and call it “aperitivo hour”. Bangkokians can now sample this popular Milanese bar trend every evening at Gossip on Soi Thong Lor.
Gossip mixologist Karol Ansaldi and chef de cuisine Julien Lavigne recently introduced the Milanese tradition of pre-dinner drinks accompanied by a complimentary all-you-can-eat Mediterranean buffet. So far Gossip is the first joint in Bangkok to offer this sumptuous ritual.
Gossip Eats and Drinks offers a cornucopia of premium-quality, Mediterranean-inspired culinary delights with spices from around the world, while guests have a choice of three stunning scenes. They can gather, relax and share a dining experience on a cosy terrace perched on a pond, in an elegant open-air cocktail bar, or in a retro-chic gentlemen’s club on the first floor.
During aperitivo hours, guests have a wide selection of food and drinks to choose from. Recommended are arancini, which are fried-rice-and-cheese balls with spiced tomato relish, cod and anchovy rillettes, ricotta, grilled quid and chorizo, a lamb kefta skewer and yoghurt sauce and olives.
Drinks-wise, Gossip has an array of cocktails such as the James Bond Casino Royal Orange Vesper Martini, which is orange-flavoured vodka with dry vermouth, raisins and Miller’s gin. Also recommended is the Aurelia, where Italian basil and thyme are gently pressed and shaken with Tanqueray gin, limoncello, apple and celery bitters and finished with a touch more citrus.
Between roughly 6 and 9, the Milanese file into their neighbourhood bars and fashionable watering holes to partake in one of the city’s long-held social traditions: the aperitivo. Strictly speaking, an aperitivo is a pre-meal drink served to whet your appetite or, as the Italians say, to “open your stomach”, commonly with drinks such as Campari and orange juice or Cinzano on ice.
But in recent years it has become much more. Now, with the added promise of free snacks, bars compete to offer the most alluring pre-dinner scene in town. Spreads range from traditional olives, nuts, cheeses and potato chips to awesome pasta dishes, bruschetta, cold cuts, crudites, raw fish and fruit salads.
In the past 20 years, the aperitivo experience has been elevated to a social standard for the Milanese and shouldn’t be dismissed as just another happy hour. Every bar puts out some plate or nosh for patrons ready to start the evening, who come for drinks laced with digestivi.

Open up
Aperitivo is served from 6 to 10pm daily.
Gossip is at the end of Thong Lor Soi 15.
Call (02) 185 3093 or go to www.Facebook.com/GossipThonglor.