Radio Cocktails is a bottle shop concept that is offering the most affordable bottled cocktails on the market without jeopardizing any quality.
The drinks, which include a small variety of handcrafted ready-to-drink cocktails, are the product of long-time bartender Luca Cesaretti and his wife Gina Aguilar. The ‘virtual bar’ as they sometimes refer to it as, currently operates out of Il Covo, where Cesaretti has worked as a bar manager since its inception.
“He’s the most talented and skilled and properly trained bartender that I’ve ever met,” says Ryan Campbell, the chef and co-owner of Il Covo. “The stuff that he makes is incredible, so how do we not showcase this?”
Cesaretti is originally from a small town in Italy called Rimini, which is well-known for its vibrant nightlife. This brought Cesaretti into bartending at the age of 18 before moving to other Italian cities like Milan and Rome, to work at some notable bars in the area.
Cesaretti and his wife, whom he met while working at an internationally-celebrated bar in Rome, moved to Toronto in hopes of gaining new experiences, which they found at Il Covo. While Aguilar had left the popular Italian spot a while back to pursue other opportunities, Cesaretti has maintained his position there, further honing his craft to the highest praise.
With indoor dining continuing to be obsolete, Cesaretti set out to create something that would spark a new interest in how we drink during a pandemic––enter Radio Cocktails.
“With this concept, we don’t just want to do bottled cocktails,” says Cesaretti. “Every time we create a cocktail, we want to tell the story, how the cocktail was created, where the cocktail comes from.”
Radio currently has eight specially-made cocktails available to order. Their most popular is the Negroni, a traditional Italian cocktail that uses equal parts gin, vermouth and Campari. Other cocktails include a Boulevardier, Manhattan, Margarita, Espresso Martini, Gin Martini and Vodka Martini, as well as their special ‘Toronto Cocktail’, made with Canadian whiskey. Each cocktail comes in 500 ml bottles, which is enough for up to five servings per bottle.
Each bottle will run you $39, aside from the popular Negroni, which is generously priced at $29.
Cesaretti says that there is no reason why Radio Cocktails prices their bottles so reasonably, other than wanting to provide an approachable and convenient alternative to large-batch beverages at the LCBO.
“We want to keep the cost low because we want to be affordable for everyone, to be casual and recognizable,” says Cesaretti.
Radio Cocktails is available to order online through their website for pickup at Il Covo, located at 585 College Street. Alternatively, you can order bottle cocktails through Tock or Uber Eats.
Due to provincial law, which only permits restaurants and bars to sell alcohol with the purchase of a food item, Radio Cocktails also has a curated, quality selection of snacks on their delivery platforms.
