Cipiace – Italian charm and a cocktail or two
Located right on Parvis de St Gilles, Cipiace is a bar you won’t miss when passing by. The dark green framed entrance will catch your attention and so will the bar keepers, who are energetically shaking and mixing drinks to the right at the long bar. They’re surrounded by dimmed lights and plant-wallpaper displaying leaves in several green tones.
The place opened in 2014 by Giorgia and Andrea, two Italians, who are passionate about good food and great ingredients. But the place has changed a lot over the years. Not only in terms of interior and decoration, but also the menu and the drinks have been reinvented to what is today a very interesting variety of food and cocktails. It’s packed every evening and now Cipiace opened a second bar in Antwerp.
None of their cocktails are ordinary. Their drinks list is very creative with some unusual techniques that make the cocktails extra special, such as infusing them with liquid smoke for example. The cherry Negroni is served in a little porcelain cup. You drink it with a dried pear on the side, as well as a small teaspoon with a blop of rich, melted chocolate, with a cherry marinated in syrup on top – it’s their version of Mon Chéri. The cocktail is made from Laphroaig 10 Whisky, Martini Rubino, Martini Bitter, Italicus Rosolio and Amarena Fabbri syrup. With each drink you order you get a small snack, such as Taralli (an Italian kind of cracker).
Another special thing about Cipiace is that instead of egg whites for their whisky-sour-style cocktails they’re using Aquafaba, which is the water that chickpeas or other protein-rich legumes were cooked in. Once in the shaker, it attains the same effect as with egg whites and you get a nice, even foam on top of your cocktail. The great thing is that you produce less food waste and it’s vegan.
However, Cipiace is not only about drinks. They also offer small Italian bites or bigger dishes: from bruschetta to pasta variations that change with season. You’ll find a lot of options that will make your belly happy. To cure a possible hangover that your first experience at Cipiace has left you with – head straight back for the brunch to cure it. Brunch takes place on Sundays and goes on until 15:30h.
Price: around 9-13€ for a cocktail, 9-16€ for starters, 17-19€ for pasta and 20-26€ for seafood and meat dishes
Address: Parvis Saint-Gilles 49A, 1060 Bruxelles
