The venue, with “multiple souls” as Querci describes it, will be teaming up with two London bars every Thursday during November for pop ups that will gather bartenders from around the world in a celebration of London’s influence on mixology and the heritage of hospitality. Drinks International caught up with Moebius’ owner Lorenzo Querci to talk about the Milan bar scene and the London takeover.
When speaking about the Milan bar scene, Querci says: “Nowadays the Milano bar scene is growing dramatically, raising the bar by the day. Almost every two or three months we see a new valid bar popping up, managed by strong and well prepared professionals. For us this leads to healthy competition, where everyone is stimulated by the others to keep pushing and to aim to the best.
“The peculiarity of the Milano bar industry is that there are excellent bars for almost every type of bar, like modern, tiki, hotel, street, restaurant, club, speakeasy, so the bar scene can cover the demand with ease and at a great level,” Querci adds.
With Milan’s current success came struggles during the pandemic, as Querci notes: “Lockdown hit hard since Italy was the first to get all the mess. Hospitality as a whole had to strive between uncertainties, new rules everyday, opening and closing as the government was saying so and so on. When things eased and people started to have the confidence again to be among others, the city experienced a boost work wise, giving the industry fresh air to breathe.”
Now the industry is back in full swing, Moebius is building on its relationships with other players in the global bar scene. “To collaborate with London bars is equally to create a cultural bridge between Moebius and the capital of mixology, giving us chances of growth, improvement and connection making,” Querci continues.
“Furthermore, gathering so many professionals in one place is like setting up a creative hub in which clever minds think alike, gaining the opportunity to see different approaches, creative thinking and various interpretations on the art of hospitality.”
A law graduate, Querci’s father has owned a restaurant in Siena, Tuscany since the eighties, which Querci attests was the foundation to creating Moebius, “that family heritage gave me the possibility to step into the game, creating a peculiar place like Moebius. I always refer to myself as a dwarf on a giant shoulder, because thanks to my father's experience I could see further, and that’s quite fun since I’m two metres tall!”
The London takeover events will be held from 8:30pm to 12:30am and will be sponsored by Campari, Pernod Ricard and Moet Hennessy.
