The Banktown cocktail, one of Bob Peters’ new creations on the Aria menu. Kristen Wile/UP

The negroni, a bitter Italian cocktail, is a classic. It’s an acquired taste, making it a favorite among bartenders and cocktail connoisseurs but a bit intimidating to casual drinkers. So when Jon and I went to Aria Tuscan Grill the other night and saw Bob Peters’ reinvention of the cocktail menu there, we were surprised to see an entire section of negronis on the cocktail menu.

Peters, now a consultant after leaving his position as mixologist at The Punch Room in the Ritz, began working with Uptown Italian spot Aria in September.

The Boulevardie, a classic boulevardier, is a bourbon-based negroni. Kristen Wile/UP

The resulting fall cocktail menu launched this month, and it’s an impressive list of seven cocktails.

“I was thinking about a way to plump up the menu in a way that it wouldn’t be mentally overwhelming,” Peters says.

Among the “bevande speciali,” noted as “di Bob Peters” on the menu, is a cocktail called Banktown, a play on a martini with an absinthe rinse and oregano-infused vermouth served with a side of olives. It’s a bold drink that pairs deliciously with the briny olives, making the drink a little more interactive. I’ll be back to try The Bartlett, a Tito’s, pear nectar and prosecco drink. There’s also a new bar bites menu, with $5 dishes including calamari and venison sliders available at the bar only.

The second page of the cocktail list is entirely negronis, with six new additions to the restaurant’s three existing negronis.

“They’ve got an all-Italian negroni in there, they’ve got a mezcal negroni, a tequila negroni—all these cool plays off of such an iconic, classic cocktail,” Peters says, “which is one of my favorites.”

There’s the classic, using local brand Doc Porter’s gin, Campari, and vermouth. The smoky negroni uses mezcal for that roasted agave flavor, while the SNS combines tequila, chartreuse and vermouth for a bit more of an herbaceous negroni. Each of the negronis costs $14, and if you’re a fan of the cocktail, you’ll definitely want to work your way down this menu (I plan to!).

“I love the way the balance of boozy and bitter and sweet comes out,” Peter says, summing up the drink’s appeal. “That to me is perfect.” —Kristen Wile