Attention cocktail lovers: here’s your chance to do a good deed by drinking. Yes, you read that right. Starting Monday, Negroni Week kicks off its third year, during which restaurants and bars across the United States and abroad will celebrate the classic cocktail by donating a portion of its sales to their charity of choice. (The effort is sponsored by Campari, the signature ingredient in a Negroni along with gin and vermouth, and Imbibe magazine.)
Three participating restaurants are right in our back yard. If you order a Negroni at Kapnos Taverna in Ballston, $1 of that sale will go to owner Mike Isabella’s own charity, Fit to Fight, a 12-week fitness challenge in which chefs lose weight and raise money for Live to Fight, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people in the martial arts community who have life-threatening illnesses.
SOCCi at the Marriott Renaissance Arlington Capital View in Crystal City, meanwhile, is raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network, an international nonprofit that raises money for children’s hospitals, medical research and community awareness of children’s health issues.
The Portofino Restaurant in Crystal City is supporting Cite Soleil, an organization dedicated to relief efforts for earthquake victims in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
So raise your glass next week to put a charitable twist on happy hour.
And if your tastes don’t lean toward Campari, gin and vermouth (for me, it’s definitely an acquired taste), hang tight for the second installment of this post.
We’ll be surveying a bevy of bars in Arlington, McLean and Falls Church for a roundup of their best summer cocktails—concocted with all manner of liquors, mixers and elixirs. Stay tuned!