‘I want to pay homage to amazing memories,’ says Elisabetta Luppi

Most nights, you’ll find Elisabetta Luppi some 55 stories closer to the stars, overlooking Port Philip Bay. Elisabetta is the venue manager at Lui Bar, the sister bar to Vue de Monde atop the Rialto tower in the Melbourne CBD. It’s a rarefied space that the Italian expat has made her own.

Her talents have also seen her nab a spot among the top 25 bartenders in the Espolòn Afterlife To The Bone cocktail competition, and for month of August you can find her cocktail, Nonno Mario, available at Lui Bar.

Below, lightly edited and condensed for clarity, Elisabetta tells us about her drink, how her grandfather’s Sunday afternoon mixing skills inspired the drink, and what it’s like working at one of the highest bars around.

I’m Elisabetta. I’m the venue manager of the Lui Bar. We are in Melbourne CBD, overlooking Port Philip Bay.

Tell us about your drink. What’s the drink called?

So the drink is called Nonno Mario, after my grandfather.

It’s a twist of Sgroppino. I’m originally from Venice. The Sgroppino was created in Venice. It was one of the first cocktails ever created because it dates back to 16th century. It’s connected with me through memories that I had with my grandfather.

When I was a teenager, we used to have these amazing meals with a lot of family members every Sunday. The main ingredient was lasagna. So our belly was always very full — you would stand up and not even be able to walk. So my grandfather would be going in the kitchen, taking a bottle of prosecco, a lemon sorbet, mixy, mixy, and having this beautiful cleanser. As he was saying, to cleanse the palate, to untie the stomach, and to make more for more. I was going back to the lasagna.

I just wanted to pay homage to these amazing memories that I have, you know, and I am still connected with.

That Sunday lunch with the family — did you appreciate it as a teenager?

If I had the chance to have this again now that I’m 30, it would be much better. I couldn’t wait to run away and go to my friends when I was a teenager. I think when you grow up, you realise how important these things are and you become more attached than when you are 16 or 17.

So what’s in the drink?

So I made a corn husk and roast corn ice cream. There is verjus, vanilla, yuzu, and then there’s Espolòn Blanco, which I think with the ingredients goes very well because there is a touch of vanilla, there’s vegetable notes.

What’s it like working at Lui Bar, 55 stories closer to the stars?

I can say I saw many sunsets — I haven’t see a sunrise yet, but I’m planning to maybe one day. I’ve been here for five years and I grew up so much professionally. I started as bartender and grew up over the years until I reached the venue manager position.

After the renovation, taking this position, it was a big step up. I always have challenges, which can be, you know, making a new cocktail list from scratch, to dealing with a lot of professionals around, because at the end, we’re working with more than 50 people on this floor.

What’s your creative process like? Where do you get ideas?

It depends. I find I’m scrolling on Instagram and I see someone that use an amazing ingredient and I’m like, these ingredients sound amazing — I want to try to do something with it.

Other times, it’s just popping around bars for a little bit of inspiration. Reading books a lot.

Sometimes I connect with memories or some occasion that I had, even around the world, because I traveled quite a lot. I’m lucky to have been traveling a lot. I get inspired maybe by the food that the culture had, like for example, Thailand.

Nonno Mario

35ml Espolon Blanco 
25ml lime leaf verjuice
20ml Yarra Valley Yuzu
15ml Vanilla
1 1/2 scoop of roast corn husk and roasted corn ice cream

For the lime leaf verjuice:
500ml verjuice
20gr lime leaf 

Rinse the kaffir lime leaves under cold water to remove any dirt.  Place the leaves into a vacuum seal bag. Pour the 500ml of verjuice into the bag. Vacuum seal the bag. Pre-heat your sous vide water bath to 55C. Place the sealed bag into the water bath and leave it for 2 hours. After 2 hours, remove the bag and allow it to cool at room temperature. Strain the infuse verjuice and transfer the liquid into a bottle.

For the roast corn husk and salted roasted corn milk:
2 corn cobs 
husk from the 2 corns 
500ml milk 

Place the corn on a preheated grill and cook for about 15-20 minutes.  Remove the corn from the kernels off the cob. In a saucepan, combine 500ml of milk, the husk and the kernels.  Simmer at low heat for around half an hour.  Let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour to infuse the flavours. Strain the product. 

For the roast corn husk and salted roasted corn ice cream:
- 500 ml corn milk 
- 200gr cream 
- 80gr condensed milk
- 49gr Dextose 
- 10gr Trimoline
- 26gr Sugar
- 5gr salt 
- 4gr MF4 (ice cream stabiliser) 

Dry blend MF4 stabilizer, dextrose, sugar and salt. Whisk all the liquids together. Transfer the liquids to a sauce pot to heat on the stove at 90C, stirring constantly. Add the blended dry ingredients, making sure they dissolve completely and activate the stabiliser. Once everything is well mixed, allow the mixture to rest for 2 hours. Blend again with an immersion blender. Transfer the liquid to a Pacojet containers and freeze until solid. Once frozen, put the iced liquid into the Pacojet machine and let it blend. Freeze again until firm.