White Russians at Prada

From: Godfrey Deeny

1. It’s all about the utmost attention to detail. Name any designer whose choice of cocktails compliments their fashion aesthetic better than Miuccia Prada’s, whose mini cocktail after each show is, well, a miniature social work of art.
   
   Most designers serve up the products of whatever sponsor they can cobble together. This can vary from agreeable glasses of Belvedere and lime at the better sort of event, to raw Algerian-like reds at a certain white-coated Belgium designer’s cocktails. Not at casa Prada, where the choice of cocktail is as elegant, and as well presented, as Miuccia’s actual fashion.
   
   Take last month’s epic Diamonds in Venice collection, when liveried waiters offered a choice of either White Russians or Negronis. For the uninitiated, and those who have never got The Big Lebowski out on DVD, White Russians are a soothing blend of vodka, Kahlua coffee liquor and milk, served in an erect tumbler, as Prada did correctly.
   
   A White Russian’s origins are obscure, unlike the Negroni - equal parts of Campari, gin and sweet vermouth, served over ice with an orange slice – which was invented by Pascal Olivier Count de Negroni, a gallant cavalry officer who led a legendary charge of cuirassiers in the Battle of Reichsoffen during the Franco Prussian War of 1870. Too Much Information, I know, but they are both great drinks, and impeccably served by Miuccia’s staff. The Negroni in just the right size of short glass to guarantee that certain pugnacity; the White Russians in charmingly etched tumblers.
   
   And, where other designers entertain with banal little petits fours, Miucccia even customizes the amuse-bouches, tiny, wee, open sandwiches in fresh bread and good butter topped with a single, artfully curled anchovy or a thin slice of cucumber cut into the shape of a small star. Even the bar, is craftily moved around the Prada show space, so that whatever configuration Miuccia chooses – from baseball bleachers to mini mountain stands to the latest mock cathedral design – the bar is re-positioned at the center of the arriving and departing fashionista thorough fare.
   
   Like we said, it’s all about the obsessive attention to detail. No wonder my favorite bar in Milan is at Prada. Ah, before I forget, to top it all, Miuccia even brings her own glassware and desserts from famed Milanese confectioner Galli to Paris to entertain in style when showing MiuMiu.

2. Prada Bar - And the Making of the Perfect Negroni

3. Even Prada′s glassware is right - they′re etched...