Tato’s Next Chapter: Barcelona
Tato Giovannoni, the visionary who founded Florería Atlántico in 2012 , placed 30 on the Worlds 50 Best Bars and won the Roku Industry Icon Award for 2023. He’s now opened a new location in Barcelona and we want to know all about it.
The team of Floreria Atlantico in Buenos Aires
Tato, I know you are very attached to Argentina, your land, its sea, its nature and the local products. What was the stimulus that caused you to start this project in Barcelona?
It’s mixed because hopefully it’s part of a bigger expansion. As you know I love my country, I love to expose our culture through travel and the idea of opening in Barcelona is a little bit of that, because we are opening two different venues: One is Brasera Atlantico, which is our easygoing, al passo as we we call it which means eating on a counter like a typical Argentinian steak house. In the basement we have Floreria Atlantico, which centers on the immigration that came to Argentina—here we're going to showcase that migration from the Mediterranean sea to the Argentinian coast. So its going to be about Spain of course but also some other countries and cities from the Mediterranean coast and their journey to Argentina. Our Buenos Aires location just celebrated 10 years. We want to keep the Argentinian theme going around the world.
Tell us about the space and how you landed it
I started a collaboration with Alex Resnick, an Argentinian businessman from San Francisco, who opened many places around the world for Wolfgang Puck. We put a company together called the Hierophant* holding (*the highest priest in the tarot card deck). We found the location by chance. Some friends opened an Argentinian steakhouse just before COVID right here then closed it. When I was in Barcelona Worlds 50 best bars last year, I met them and they asked if I was interested in the space. I said, no; I had just moved to LA-- we were thinking of starting in the US-- but then I had a look at their space it and it was suitable. It was 400 square meters, on two floors. So you see I wasn’t planning to open in Barcelona, it was just a bit of luck and it happened randomly.
The moody underground space at Floreria Atlantico Barcelona
Did the project for LA stop?
No, but I am not there very often. We are working on Miami, and Washington DC, in LA it might be a steakhouse restaurant rather than a bar. Time will tell.
You have a number of products including Gin, Vermouth, Vodka and Amaro, do you have any other products up your sleeve with Chris Stewart, head of research for Empirical Spirits?
The project is called Wandering Spirits. We are working with Odd Strandbakken who is now at the Four seasons in Seoul, Korea. He used to work for Himkokin Oslo. We also have contributions from Patrick Pistolesi, Gabriele Manfredi, Megs Miller and Kelsey Ramage. The idea is to invite people we admire with their own point of view and try to represent that journey of immigration to Argentina.
Who will head your operation in Barcelona?
We partnered with Diego Cabrera and Gustavo DiPasquale, both Argentinians, they are very successful in Madrid with Salmon Guru and Viva Madrid. Mauro Colagreco is the chef. We are 50/50 partners, and the others will be more involved in the day to day business.
How much time do you plan to stay in Barcelona once the project is up and running?
About 10 days every 2 months
That’s a lot of traveling!
Yeah, I basically live out of a suitcase.
pictured: Tato and Diego Cabrera at the bar in Barcelona.
I saw a trailer of a documentary you are working on. Tell me about it.
We were supposed to have completed it before COVID, now it’s coming back. It’s an idea I had 6/7 years ago during a trip to the coast of Argentina in a small town in Patagonia that had the biggest seaweed production in the world; the town was abandoned and the grandson of the owner took it over. You can see orcas, whales, and the NY times called it the Galapagos of Argentina. Over there we planted vineyards: the closest vineyards to the ocean in the world. And when we were over there we saw so much seaweed, so much nature and almost no people, and I had the idea for a cook called Catching Spirits, which is me going to random, isolated places and native people. Interviews with native people and connecting with nature, collecting indigenous plants and putting them in bottles to macerate or ferment; and at the end of the chapter I go alone in the middle of nowhere at night with a small still. I make a fire and and distill, and basically I get the spirit of the place.
Fascinating! When do you plan to launch it ?
I don’t have a set date yet. It will take time to get all the chapters done because I need to spend at least 10 days in each place. Even though I am very social, I really like that time to be alone in nature; it’s very nurturing to me.
You studied cinematography, are you directing as well?
No, but they know that I am very picky, I give them a lot of suggestions as they are directing me!
You have so a lot of things going on, how do how can you manage it all?
I think after I left a bar doing 16 hours a day 6 days a week, I only had time for that. Before I left, I was not good at delegating. Now that I have left it, I found I have gotten pretty good about trusting people and delegating.
You talk a lot about feelings, how do you assess a person you first meet to find out if they are the right person to work for you?
Kind of instantly. For me, it’s not as much as their knowledge, it’s a feeling, an instinct.
Any hopes and dreams you haven’t achieved yet?
Many. I’d love to have more time for my family, my kids, Milo is 15 and Matilde is 11. Even though they know I am working for the family, sometimes they just want me, and I want them too. I’m working on a TV show from an Argentinian director who lives in the Netherlands, about how I interpret my life; it will be about energies. I think so much in life is led by energy. I want to keep distilling in nature, I’d love to live in a small town in Italy a few years from now, I also want to dedicate more time to my drawing. I even designed my own deck of tarot cards.
Put me on the list for a deck of those cards!
(laughs) OK!
What would you advise your 20 year old self, knowing what you know now?
Not much, I’m very happy with how things worked out, even with the mistakes I made, because I learned from them. I just let destiny take me where I’m meant to go..
Five questions for Tato
If you could have a drink with any historical figure dead or alive who would it be?
Gandhi, but maybe we’d only drink a tea.
You can only have one spirit in your next bar, which one?
Something neutral, maybe a simple grain spirit.
Which superhero do you identify with?
Aquaman.
Where do you go for downtime?
Downtime? I need to learn from my barber who vacations twice a year.
Sailboat or motor boat?
Sailboat. That’s another life goal for me.
You are invited on our sailboat Tato, any time!
About Festival Atlantico where Tato was creative director.
The third edition of the Festival Atlantico, brought together almost 200 participants, from bartenders and chefs to artisans, farmers, and journalists. The event, emphasized sustainability within the drinks industry. Global leaders in bartending and gastronomy shared innovative solutions to minimize the environmental impact of the sector.
The festival was held at Hotel Huacalera in the province Jujuy, located i n the extreme northwest of Argentina which borders with Chile and Bolivia, and aims to inspire concrete changes in environmental awareness. In addition to offering immersive experiences and talks in natural settings, Festival Atlantico actively involves local producers, highlighting regional products, recipes, and ancient culinary practices.
Just a few of the attendees were: Jean Trinh of Alquimico Cartagena, Vijay Mudaliar of Native and Analogue Bars, Little Red Door’s Alex Francis and Barney O’Kane, Naren Young of Sweet Liberty Miami Patrick Pistolesi of Drink Kong Rome, Giacomo Giannotti and Margarita Sader of Paradiso Barcelona, Fabio La Pietra of Sub Astor San Paolo, Gabriele Manfredi, Moe Aljaff, Nikos Bakoulis of The Clumsies Athens, Miguel Gonzalez Larraguibel, Megs Miller, Kelsey Ramage, Holly Graham, Gina Barbachano of Hanky Panky and José Luis León of Limantour, Aaron Díaz of Carnaval, Luis Flores, Marcio Silva, Odd Strandbakken, Diego Cabrera of Salmon Guru Madrid.