Flood in Buenos Aires. The water falls torrentially and the street where her bar is located looks like a river, but Mona Gallosi arrives at the appointment with a radiant smile. Although she had to wait for the makeup artist, she was delayed by the storm, and although her entire day since then became a chain of delays, the easy laughter still accompanies her. Between changing clothes for the photos and finding a place for the talk, Punto Mona, her cocktail and gastronomy space in Chacarita, resonates with her laughter and beats the noise of the rain on the roof. For 18 years, this was the version that Radio Metro listeners heard and all those who ever saw it on a TV segment. And judging by the attitude on this dog day, a very genuine and true to life one.
News: At what stage do I find it?
Mona Gallosi: Quite an introvert. I am not as voracious as always, I lowered the decibels a lot after the pandemic, which was a turning point in my life. When I became a mother I wanted to stop being a nomad, so I created Puente G, my event hall where I united art, culture and gastronomy. In the pandemic, between ecommerce and digital events, I was like a cumbia singer with three events a day. 2020 was a very successful year, but that did not come without a cost. Successful because I hired more people, I was able to take charge of my structure, the company grew a lot and I directed and coordinated. Because fear does not paralyze me, but drives me, I achieved a successful 2020. But that led me to a 2021 of slowing down a little and rethinking. It was a hybrid year, because we could hold events but not have many people, it was all about improvising with a very strong psychological strain. Suddenly my commercial manager resigned and I found myself doing what I had not done for many years: the fine number, the strategies. And I had a burn out. Luckily it wasn’t a stroke, but it was understanding that life had put a stop to me. So I stopped, analyzed and thought about what I really wanted.
News: And what was it?
Gallosi: Today I am a gastronomic businesswoman and director of a company, but I still have that imprint of a bartender, of service and hospitality. I really like gastronomy, so I thought about having my bar. When I opened my event hall my son was three years old, and it was easier to manage the structure and schedules. On the other hand, a bar is more unpredictable. At the same time, the event leaves more money, but there is a creative part that is lost. I talked about it quite a bit with my husband and I thought he wanted to transform the place into a bar. It was changing his identity, so I let go and started over. That called for a restructuring of the team, a remodeling of the place, an investment, a concept between the cosmopolitan and the industrial. The name is strategic because it is a meeting point, because we are going to Mona’s, and my name has been a brand for 18 years. It is a bar with high-level cuisine. I was always a person who wanted to do everything, and now I am in a moment without such voracity. I resigned from Metro after 18 years of radio, I also left Radio con Vos. I had to understand that my company needed quality time, and I needed it too. To renew myself, to be creative, to be with my son, my friends, my husband.
News: Were you afraid of leaving the spotlight and losing validity?
Gallosi: It happened to me during pregnancy, that’s why I became a mother so late. I thought what was going to happen to my career, me, me and the ego. And then I realized that everything falls into place, and that everything may be behind us, but I come home, my son hugs me and I don’t need anything else. It was something I learned to handle over time. And this last slap on a health level made me realize that nothing is happening, that I already have a name and a brand. Yes, I am restless. I often talk about it with Inés de los Santos, that today she is in a great moment and she has that voracity that I know. We both come from the golden age, not everyone experiences what happens to us anymore, we capitalize on it with work, talent and effort. We made a name for ourselves and they choose us, but for the first time in my life I am saying no.
News: Did you learn to handle the guilt of saying no?
Gallosi: There were moments of guilt, because the ego and the fantasy of ceasing to be are at play. But life is today and it’s also about enjoying it. And I live well, I have a good life, a nice house, a husband who loves me, I don’t want to miss all that. I am 45 years old and have been working since I was 15. I finished night school, working during the day, and college working at night. And I continue studying and learning. I still do things but with a team, so I can delegate. And I understand that maybe I earn less, but I enjoy it.
News: However, he is on television, in “The Great Bartender”, as a jury. How is that combined?
Gallosi: It’s a short project. They were two intense weeks of 12 hours, very difficult, because you do the same scene four times in different shots and it has important exposition. I’m still recovering… But it was important for me to do it. It’s great for the industry, I love that they bet on there being three bartenders and not some artist to pull, that they bet that the project could work anyway. It gives it a little more prestige.
News: With Inés they opened many doors, and yet if we talk about female bartenders, they are still almost the only known names, why?
Gallosi: We both had a golden era. The 2000s were like a turning point in cocktails. At that time many foreigners came and gastronomy was exalted, there was a place that we could capitalize on. But it also has to do with the fact that there are no strong exponents, even if they have talent. Our strength had to do with necessity, creativity and opportunities. We are two women who have had important events: me, a spinal operation; Inés, a traffic accident. Young girls who had to get ahead. That they were in a more sexist era and knew how to set the limit. I also think that there are so many girls who go more unnoticed. And there is a generational thing, the one now gets tired, bored, “I already gave everything here.” You have to make a name for yourself. I worked for 12 years in a Thai restaurant that was called “Mona’s bar,” and it was because it was there. Today I have clients from that time. The new generations do not build, it is all immediate. And to build you have to dedicate time, it is a process.
News: How do you see the night codes today?
Gallosi: I see a lot of young people eager to learn, to understand cocktails, who are encouraged. Then I see clients more my age who already have a refined palate and are looking to chat with the bartender and become regulars. And I see a lot of fashionable people, that customer who goes where he opened the new thing. More hummingbird, which probably won’t come back. It is difficult to generate regular clientele. We have some regular customers, but the audience is quite varied.
News: Has the consumer been educated in cocktails since it began?
Gallosi: Yes, it evolved a lot. Before, the one who demanded was the traveler, because the traveler tried other things, he was able to understand, he has a different palate. But today technology, networks and the Internet provide more knowledge and we see more of what is trending. I was able to travel a lot and I can say that Buenos Aires is not far from what happens anywhere in the world. Maybe we lack machinery, because we work with a lot of techniques, although more artisanal. But we have good raw materials, from coastal herbs to juniper and red berries from Patagonia, including grapes and yerba mate.
News: What’s in fashion today?
Gallosi: Gin is in fashion, mezcal is growing little by little, whiskey is seen in all the bars. Today the garnish is ice, it is a good glass, maybe a powder, maybe a sheet that we make with the raw materials we throw away.
News: And what do you drink?
Gallosi: I drink wine (laughs). White, red, rosé. If I go out, I drink Dry Martini and whiskey and mezcal, which I like a lot. I like drinks that have a passage through wood. But I’m not one to drink cocktails. If I go to a bar I’ll order a cocktail, but if I’m out with my husband, chances are he’ll order the cocktail and I’ll order the wine. I like the Dry Martini because it makes you alert, it relaxes you, at the same time you know what you are drinking and how much you have to drink, because when you drink something sweet, you don’t know when you are drunk…
News: But how long has it been since your last drunken bender?
Gallosi: A lot! I have a great alcoholic culture, but I also drink a lot of water and know how to stop. I don’t like losing control.
