Tarallucci e Vino, a group of authentic and casually elegant Italian restaurants with five locations in New York City, has recently brought on a new bartender, Damiano Coren, to curate a new cocktail program. A native Italian, Damiano grew up working behind the bars at some of Italy’s most revered watering holes, before landing gigs at London’s Dorchester Hotel, NYC’s Employees Only, and most recently The Standard East Village. His new cocktail menu, which just launched at Tarallucci e Vino’s newest location in NoMad (44 E 28th Street), reflects his global background and utilizes seasonal ingredients and house-made syrups.

Damiano also experiments with a variety of techniques, including juicing produce in a centrifugal machine (which preserves the essential fiber and nutrients in the ingredient) to make homemade ginger syrup and fresh celery juice that he incorporates into the cocktails. He also uses “smoked” black cardamom (an ingredient usually used to prepare meat) to make a black cardamom cordial with celery juice, Americano Vermouth and Prosecco for his new Gin & Juice cocktail. Tarallucci e Vino is also known for their unique and comprehensive selection of Lambruscos (some of which are exclusive to the restaurant), so Damiano has curated new cocktails that feature the group’s most interesting bottles. For example, the Tuca Tuca cocktail is his version of a mimosa but with fresh clementine juice, infused canton and Lambrusco.

Born and raised in Rome, Damiano Coren started his career at very young age at the renowned Hotel de Russie in Rome. Excited to learn more about the world of mixology, he moved to London to pursue opportunities at the Lonsdale bar and the Dorchester Hotel, where he remained one of the highest regarded employees. Eager to understand the American bar culture, he relocated to New York City where he was immediately recruited to join the teams at Macao Trading Co. and Employees Only, awarded “Best Bar in the World” and the “Best Bar Team” at the annual Tales of The Cocktail in New Orleans. Most recently, Damiano spent two and a half years as head bartender at the Café Standard at The Standard Hotel in the East Village.