With a history that combines bars, brands and communication, Mona Gallosi He became one of the most influential figures in local cocktails. In dialogue with NEWS from Mona Pointhis cocktail and gastronomy space in Chacarita, remembers the moment he decided to grow without a network, analyzes the changes in a historically masculine industry and shares how he reordered his priorities after a burnout that redefined his way of working and living.
News: In addition to being a bartender, you are a businesswoman, a communicator, brands choose you… At what point did you assume that you had to take charge of all this that you are?
Mona Gallosi: It was gradual. I worked as an employee for 11 years in a restaurant and there I began to form a brand under my name and shortly after I started my business of mobile bars, consulting, working with brands, on the radio… Around 30 I had a click and said: “I am the same, but I stand differently, I have other needs”, and I was very clear that I wanted to grow. I still work as an employee, I work for Sofitel, for Campari, but at that moment I felt like I needed to take a leap. It was quite scary, one jumps into the void, with a lot of vertigo and alone. I had uncertainty, but I was always very methodical. From a very young age I always had a very careful relationship with money, always thinking about growing at a professional level.
News: What gives you the most adrenaline today?
Gallosi: The trips, the classes. Obviously, opening new places is a very demanding matter. My son Delfo gives me adrenaline, watching him grow. One of the things I like to do most is communicate. It seems to me that the most important thing a person has is their knowledge.
News: What are you most interested in communicating?
Gallosi: I am interested in communicating to the new generations that they have perseverance, that they enjoy today, that they incorporate information, that they are not so egotistical, that they do not believe that they know everything. I am interested in gastronomy and cocktails continuing to grow globally and it seems to me that the only way is with clear communication, working as a team.
News: It seems that there is a lot of camaraderie among the bartenders.
Gallosi: Globalization has helped, there is much more communication, solidarity and brotherhood. If I have to talk a little about Argentina or Buenos Aires, there are very marked litters and that also has to do with generation. Inés, Piñata, Tato, Atienza, Rama… there are also some younger colleagues, I am from the group of the older ones, those of us who appeared in the 90s, early 2000s and who know each other a lot and have experienced different crises, different moments of glory. Then came other generations that make up the guys from Frank’s, Nicki Harrison, who also support us. The new generations, the most incipient, I still believe have not found that bond of belonging, but we embrace the new generations. There is space and audience for everyone.
News: You just mentioned Inés de los Santos, together they are two strong women in cocktails who imposed themselves in a man’s world, do you think those barriers no longer exist?
Gallosi: Luckily there are no barriers anymore, but there are obstacles. Ine and I come from a very macho, very difficult time, although there have always been women in gastronomy, we always had to take exams, show that we knew, study, work hard and that marked a before and after. For example, I have a team of 70% women and 30% men. Today in many bars there are more female bosses and I think it has to do with what we have set, that strong women could run companies, bars, gastronomic spaces, conversations, and that has been inspirational for the new generations who have also taken it as their own.
News: How do you combine your work with motherhood?
Gallosi: It’s not easy, my son is still small, he’s 9 years old. But I have a good partner who trusts me, who supports me. I don’t work so much at night anymore. But I do have to travel, it is part of my career, it does me good, it is important to show what I do, who I am and what I have to give. On trips you learn about trends, cultures, you understand about inputs, about the raw materials of each country. I learned that in order to do everything I had to have time for myself. In the morning I drop my son off at school and then I study, I go to the gym, I do Pilates, I have my little moment to have coffee alone in a bar and read a book, take care of my house. Starting at noon I come to the office and at 5 in the afternoon I leave to pick up my son and take him to his activities.
News: A few years ago you had a burnout, what did that experience teach you?
Gallosi: I can’t help but get emotional every time I think about it because in reality I didn’t have a stroke because Juan, my husband, acted very quickly. It was like the death of a system that no longer had to work. I was always a workaholic. My son was born and I was answering emails all night. I always cared a lot about my company, the growth, the families that worked in my company. I don’t have partners, I don’t have investors, I always did everything with a lot of effort. I had forgotten about myself and the important things in life. From burnout I decided that life was going to be different and that I came first and then there was the rest. I started to prioritize what was truly important. Yes, I work, but with breaks and delegating. I realized that I can’t be Wonder Woman and that one person can’t do everything.
News: How would you define yourself as a leader?
Gallosi: Generous, strong, but at the same time I have that very maternal thing. I know when the other person is bad and what they need. I think I’m a good boss, but we’d have to ask them.
News: I think this listening has to do with that mystique of the bar. After so many years as a bartender, what did you learn?
Gallosi: First, to observe. I met a lot of people. I learned about history, cocktails, architecture, fashion, countries, travel. I think being a bartender is much more than making cocktails. It is being a good host, it is hospitality, it is service, it is connecting with people, it is creating an atmosphere. I love my profession, I like decoration, I like fashion, I like design, I studied clothing design, I decorated my entire space. I understood that my life passes through hospitality, service and creativity. My profession has given me everything. I never imagined having the life I have and I am very grateful.
News: Did you start gastronomy by chance?
Gallosi: I think nothing is a coincidence because I cooked from a very young age, my paternal grandmother taught me the flavors, the aromas. My maternal grandmother to be flirtatious. My dad was always a great seeker, a great entrepreneur and I loved that too. Mom was always a very meticulous housewife. I feel that I learned everything as a girl, they were the tools that, when I came to study looking to be a great designer, I realized that I actually had a very marked profession that had to do with gastronomy, because gastronomy at some point is our home.
News: Returning to cocktails, what are the trends?
Gallosi: What has to do with the creativity of clarified drinks, these translucent cocktails, a little more minimalist, is a bit ending. We have gone through dark times in cocktails, we have gone through strange times, a lot of smoothies, a lot of fruit, and today, back, we are grasping the basics, which is classic cocktails. Yes, obviously the signature cocktails are there, but a lot is being played with the revised classics and with the well-made classics, because after so much creation and so much innovation, it began to happen that the bartenders did not know how to make classics.
News: What is your drink for each moment?
Gallosi: Today I drink more wine, I like to drink whiskey, mezcal. If I choose a cocktail, I like to have a martini, I think it’s elegant. Today sweets don’t catch my attention, my palate is also evolving. And cocktails are also about moments, about moods.
News: What are your next challenges?
Gallosi: I am working hard on the relaunch of the “Mona en casa” e-commerce that we launched during the pandemic and it went very well. New projects appear, but I don’t always get excited. What I do know is that I want to do radio again. I did radio for 20 years and it’s something I miss a lot.
Thanks: @porjulitoledo, @neratta, @irenearcieri.
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