In January, Milanese bar Bob - The Other Side left its beloved Isola district and headed to Latin America. The route included six different cities, over 20 Campari-based aperitivo cocktails, and several layers of knowledge. Behind the bar was César Araujo, a Peruvian raised in Milan, now leading different bars within the Chinese Box Group, including Bob.
The premise was straightforward: bring the Italian aperitivo format into some of the most interesting bars in the region and see how it would behave in each context. The first stop was Umi Bar in Panama. A Japanese-inspired space, born as an izakaya and shaped by its clients into one of the city’s standout hotspots for drinks and an omakase menu featuring both local and top-quality seafood from around the world. The contrast worked naturally. The structure of the Italian aperitivo: bitterness, balance, clarity. Felt comfortable in a room that values discipline and detail. Hospitality played a major role, allowing guests to feel at home.
One of the cocktails created by César Araujo
César Araujo during one of his stops—here at Bar de Lima in the historic center of the Peruvian capital
San José, Costa Rica, offered something else entirely. At
Otro Bar, the listening-bar counterpart to
La Buenos Aires, vinyl, dim lighting, and focused attention shaped the atmosphere. The evening felt intimate, slower. The aperitivo became part of a rhythmic experience, allowing, as locals say, a “pura vida” feeling to take over.
Lima carried a different weight. As César’s native country, it was a reencounter with a past he had left at ten years old. Visiting markets and rediscovering products and flavors from early memories, now as an adult, became a journey of self-discovery. Watching him smell lemons, passion fruit, and fresh herbs, almost tearing up, was powerful. At Sastrería Martínez, Bob connected The Other Side experience with one of the city’s best speakeasies, a Tailorshop turned bar. Later, at Bar de Lima in the historic center, located in a restored colonial house that started hosting international guests this year, the energy shifted completely, echoing the Viceroyal era. There was no sense of hierarchy, no comparison between venues. Just two sides of his heritage meeting in an aperitivo.
From Peru, the route moved south to Santiago, Chile, stopping at
El Sindicato, the community showed up, and the night felt more collaborative. Chile’s bar scene has slowly built its own voice over the years, and it shows. The final stop was São Paulo at
Tan Tan, a city that is intense, fast, and demanding. Large crowds, big personalities, high expectations. A good place to test any idea.
Across five cities, each cocktail was different; it was no longer Milanese, nor reduced to a spritz. It became that moment when time slows and the night shifts into something quieter. Intimate in Panama, revitalizing in Costa Rica, deeply connective in Peru, shared in Santiago, and energetic in São Paulo. In each city, César gave educational talks as part of Campary Academy, sharing his experience leading the Chinese Box Group, the processes behind the cocktails, and the aperitivo state of mind.
Araujo during one of his talks.
Seeing
César move through that route added another layer. He left Peru years ago to build a career in Europe. Returning now as the face of a project shaped in Milan gave the tour a personal dimension. It was a quiet rediscovery of Latin America through aroma, flavor, and memory. Perhaps that is what
The Other Side ultimately represents . A way of understanding time and connection. The aperitivo is not confined to Milan, nor to what sits inside the glass. It lives in that pause between day and night, in the moment the city slows down and conversation takes over.
