The terrace of the Cinquanta con Vista rooftop bar opens wide to embrace the Amalfi Coast, stretching from Ravello to Conca dei Marini, where beauty is so overwhelming that it defies any attempt to catalogue the fluid spectrum of blues where sky and sea blend. You can only surrender, letting your eyes, lungs, and thoughts fill with this infinite expanse — until even your taste buds awaken, teased by the salty kiss of the sea.
But this is just the beginning. Cinquanta con Vista is a project that brings together one of Italy’s most innovative and dynamic bars, Cinquanta Spirito Italiano in Pagani (Salerno), and the refined Hotel Due Torri in Maiori, in a special liaison dangereuse dedicated to cocktail artistry with a view.
It’s a taste of the most traditional Italian summer, reimagined in a fresh and vibrant drink list, featuring twists on great classics and bold, free-spirited creations — best enjoyed with half-closed eyes, lost in a state of sweet indolence, sinking into an armchair, glass in hand, while the sea breeze carries notes of salt, seaweed, and warm sand, slipping through the open collar of your shirt, unbuttoned just a little more than usual.
Cinquanta con Vista, a New Coastal Cocktail Experience
Then, in an instant, your senses awaken with a jolt, stirred by the Negroni Nazionale, a tribute to Salvatore Calabrese and his Negroni Svegliato, a cocktail that pulls you upright, steadying your feet, as if setting you off on an ideal stroll through the silent alleyways of a town in the afternoon heat.
It’s that liminal hour in the height of summer, when sounds fade one by one, dishes rest in a well-used sink, and in the sun-scorched air, a scent slowly unfurls — distant at first, then unmistakable — the sensual aroma of coffee rising from a moka bubbling gently on a low flame. It’s the first step into the afternoon — a lazy hand ruffling hair off a damp forehead, lips brushing against the rim of a cup, only to be met with an unexpected surprise: the ceramic is not ceramic, the coffee is not hot but cool and dense, revived by the liquid energy of gin and aperitivo, waking you from an imaginary post-lunch drowsiness.
Suddenly, you’re present, fully aware, back in the moment. And after a day by the sea, the crunch of herb-infused sea salt between your teeth mirrors the rhythm of tiny grains of sand shifting underfoot, before that familiar footballer’s flick sends the last traces of beach dust flying from the soles of your shoes.
Summer Makes Anything Possible
It’s that fleeting moment that seals a summer passion, beneath a pergola that cannot hide from the scent of sea cave breeze, carried by the wind until it meets the sun-scorched intensity of rosemary, sage, and marjoram, their leaves steeped in the day’s relentless heat. From that tangle of green leaves, in a few months, bold citrus fruits will ripen — among them, the daring bergamot, a fruit the perfume industry sought to monopolise — but thankfully never could — now equally cherished in mixology and pastry-making.
And beneath that same pergola, a pas de deux of glances unfolds, heightened by the cut and collision of tequila and mezcal, meeting bergamot rosolio and herbal liqueur, served — naturally — with a rim of salt, bringing you back to the sea, where the day first began. And now, as it draws to a close, there’s just one last bite of the defining flavour of Italian summers — a peach, chilled in a cooler bag, its moment of revelation carefully timed for an energising mid-afternoon snack, after hours of jumping waves (or kissing until lips go numb — anything is possible).
The Allure of Peach in Cinquanta con Vista’s Summer-Ready Drink List
The quintessential summer fruit breaks all the rules — bouncing from the beach to the distant memory of a barbecue, where it surrenders to the flames, roasting at last and melting silkily into vermouth, which steals its essence like a fairy-tale hero, destined for a happy ending. It feels like a too long, too intense kiss, the kind you never want to end — and really, who says it has to? To taste that silver-screen peach, its velvet flesh transformed into liquid, until your teeth anticipate the crunch of the pit, imagining breaking it open to reveal its hidden depths — the bitter almond notes, a secret so subtle that only the truly hungry (or the truly stubborn) would ever dare to taste it.
A flavour sublimated in the chilled almond whispers of sherry, the finishing touch to Giancarlo’s Bamboo — closing the circle, bringing you back to solid ground. To the reality of Cinquanta con Vista: cocktails to be experienced, sipped with the intensity of a cat stretching out in the sun, unwilling to miss even the smallest nuance of this dream you allowed yourself to live.
The article first appeared on Coqtail – for fine drinkers. Order your copy here
Photo by Serena Pepe, courtesy Cinquanta Spirito Italiano
