Simone Caporale
Alessandro Scire CalabrisottoShare
Few bartenders have shaped modern hospitality quite like Simone Caporale. From a lakeside café on Lake Como to the most celebrated bars in the world, his career reads like a blueprint for what twenty-first century mixology can be: technical, theatrical, generous and relentlessly creative. Whether behind the stick at London's Artesian or co-founding Barcelona's Sips, Caporale has become one of the defining voices of his generation.
Early Life & Path to the Bar
Caporale grew up near Como in northern Italy, where the rhythms of Italian hospitality were part of everyday life. He started working young, finding his first job in a lakeside café as a teenager. That early grounding in service — the idea that looking after guests is a craft in its own right — would stay with him throughout his career.
In 2009 he made the move that would change everything, relocating to London to pursue bartending seriously. After a spell at Roast in Borough Market, he joined the team at the Artesian bar inside The Langham hotel, stepping into a room that was about to become legendary.
The Rise of Simone Caporale
At the Artesian, Caporale worked alongside Alex Kratena, and together the pair turned the bar into a global benchmark for creative cocktails. Their approach was ambitious and unafraid — menus built around bold ideas, striking presentation and serious flavour. The recognition followed: the Artesian was named the World's Best Bar for four consecutive years, from 2012 to 2015, a run that remains one of the most remarkable in the awards' history.
Personal accolades came too. In 2014 Caporale was named International Bartender of the Year at the Spirited Awards, cementing his reputation as one of the most exciting talents working anywhere in the world.
Signature Drinks & Contributions
What set Caporale apart was never a single recipe but an entire philosophy. The Artesian menus he helped create treated each drink as a complete experience, pairing inventive techniques with imaginative glassware and theatre. The goal was always to surprise and delight, never simply to serve.
Beyond the bar, he has worked to lift the wider industry. Alongside long-time collaborators, he co-founded P(OUR), a not-for-profit platform designed to share knowledge across the global drinks community, and helped launch the Muyu liqueur range. In 2014 he also partnered with chef Jamie Oliver on the Drinks Tube project, bringing cocktail craft to a vast online audience and becoming one of the most recognisable faces in the field.
In 2020, together with Marc Álvarez, Caporale opened Sips in Barcelona — an intimate, ideas-led venue that quickly earned a place among the world's most acclaimed bars and carried his philosophy of hospitality into a new chapter.
Legacy
Caporale's influence reaches far beyond the venues that bear his fingerprints. A generation of bartenders has absorbed his belief that hospitality and creativity belong together — that technical excellence means little without warmth, and that a great bar should feel like a gift to the guest. Through his menus, his mentorship and his industry platforms, he has helped redefine what ambition looks like behind the bar.
Curiosity: A Fun Fact About Simone Caporale
At the height of the Artesian's success, Caporale and his collaborators were known for tearing up convention entirely, presenting drinks in custom-made vessels that looked more like sculptures than glassware. It was this refusal to treat a cocktail as just a cocktail that helped the bar claim the world's top spot four years running.