Drinking at Milion, Buenos Aires. (Milion Buenos Aires Review 2022)

Question for you Buenos Aires drinkers and readers of that stupid Top50 list (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUAYWXH2tsI)

How can Floreria Atlantico be the #5 bar in the world, when it’s at best, the 3rd best bar in town?

When you’re part of a carefully created hype machine, that’s how. It’s also the only reason that Tres Monos made the list. From that post, my direct quote is …

Tres Monos being in the top 50 bars in the world, means that my cellar in PEI which has more variety than this bar should be on the list!!! I always knew the list was some product managers wet dream to fuck bartenders and sell more product, but this has to be the proof!!!

Disclaimer:

I do need to preface that running a bar is one of the single biggest risks any food/hospitality entrepreneur can undertake. All the bars in Buenos Aires, I’ve visited are completely worthy of your money and spending it there. My issue going forward in other Buenos Aires bar articles is about these “rankings”. They’re all bullshit.

This is a fine looking place : “Old restored manor. One of the top spots in Barrio Norte. Music, great drinks and a garden for summer nights” … that’s an easy to put it. Also this is cocktail bar… no bullshit microbrewery stuff here. If you want that … there are microbrewers around every corner of Buenos Aires it seems.

Another great description:

This glorious Buenos Aires bar is housed in an incredibly attractive old mansion with French doors. It has balconies, an elegant staircase and at the back, a cascade of greenery framing a tranquil courtyard. Inside there’s a compact bar area and a superbly stylish restaurant. The building dates back to the dawn of the 20th century and has been thoughtfully restored so that something of that old world atmosphere remains, though in other ways this is a very modern place serving top notch tapas, excellent Argentine steaks and potent cocktails. Milion is at its best in warmer weather when you can relax in the garden under the darkening sky or, if you start to feel chilly, retreat into the separate garden room with its inviting red cushions and wall projections.

Cocktails

1. 1. Negroni Sbagliato + Chocolate Old Fashioned:
      Both drinks were well executed. The chocolate old fashioned was a whimsy spicy play on a classic. Approved. This place deserved a bit of time.
   2. Bartender choice for me + Blue Cheese Olive Dirty Martini
      I’m clearly a hard study for drinks. However, our new friend Alex (head bartender) there at Milion was up for challenges. He’s younger but quite experienced and willing to try to new things.

      

      
   3. Another bartender’s choice and a cocktail with Hierro-Quina Peretti tonic

      HIERRO-QUINA PERETTI – This particular appetizer is a drink made from iron citrate and cinchona. Originally it was called Ferroquina Bisleri, but today its name is Hierro Quina Peretti. It was created in 1887, as a tonic to “restore the blood” and for the athlete, although its formula derives from Ferro China Birré, from Italy. Here’s the thing … if you drink this straight, it tastes like you’re drinking blood … that metallic haemoglobin aftertaste … yep you got it.

      “Iron and cinchona scientifically dosed to achieve the triple stimulation that the heart, the brain and the nervous network require; this is the FERRO QUINA BISLERI”. This is how it was announced from the pages of Caras y Caretas to the drink born as a tonic to “restore the blood” and for the athlete by the Italian apothecary Felice Bisleri.

      The first formula was created in Milan, based on chinchona bark and iron salts, and in 1887 it landed in Argentina at the hands of Bisleri’s cousin, José Peretti, who produced the local version of this amaro de intense flavor, infusion of cinchona and 7 herbs that make it one of the most complex appetizers made in the country , in an artisanal way for more than 200 years.

      Ferroquina and its ability to strengthen those who take it

      Originally called Ferro Quina Bisleri, its name later changed to Hierro Quina Peretti , as it can be found today, respecting all the images on its label, including that of the imposing lion reminiscent of the Phaedrus fable, which refers to the day in that a cow, a goat and a sheep associated with the king of the jungle in order to get prey. The intention was, upon obtaining it, to divide it into four parts.

      However, the pact was not fulfilled, since upon obtaining his treasure and dividing it up, the lion stood up: “I take the first because my name is León, the second because I am stronger, the third because it corresponds to me, and whoever dares to take the fourth, he will have a very bad time” . Thus, the appetizer and vigorous imprint of him took the image of that lion to represent the strength of his powerful formula

      

      

After about 3 hours of drinking and talking about drinks with a bartender who knows what they’re doing … I’d ask the question of that top 50 list … just say that bar owners pay you for placing them. Now I have ZERO proof of this … none at all, but there is no discernible method by which they rank these bars. The thing is that this is important because these bars proudly show off their plaques and put it into their promo material.

So my question, how can Floreria be #5 when it’s not even better than Milion in terms of service?