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Penelope Vaglini
World's 50 Best Bars
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Coming Up
Since 2022, Academy Chair for Italy of The World's 50 Best Bars has been one of the clearest signals of Penelope Vaglini’s place in bar culture: a role built on assessment, comparison, and the ability to read a field where standards move fast. It sits alongside her work as Managing Editor of Robb Report Italia, where the language of luxury is handled as editorial material rather than decoration. The wider practice spans publishing, curation, education, and bar culture. Vaglini is co-founder of Coqtail – for fine drinkers / Coqtail Milano, editor of Freelance, Academy Chair for Europe's 50 Best Bars (since 2026), and teacher, international Food Design course of IED Milan. The range each post asks for a different kind of judgment: the page, the classroom, the bar world, and the systems that connect them. What ties those roles together is attention. As a co-founder, editor, Academy Chair, and teacher, Vaglini works across formats without leaving the discipline of taste behind. In her field, a drink carries technique, context, and lineage; it is read as craft, not only as product. Her profile is built on that translation between language and practice.
Where They Are Now
At Robb Report Italia, where she is Managing Editor, the work is to shape copy around exceptional objects and experiences without losing precision. That kind of editorial labor depends on order, judgment, and an exact sense of tone. Vaglini’s position there places her inside a publication that treats luxury as a language to be edited carefully. Coqtail – for fine drinkers / Coqtail Milano extends that editorial logic into a specialist community. As co-founder, Vaglini helped build the first Italian community specialized in mixology and its online magazine, which has become a must-read for cocktail lovers. The project links audience and discipline, treating cocktails as a subject for study, exchange, and close reading. Since 2022, she has been Academy Chair for Italy of The World's 50 Best Bars, and since 2026, Academy Chair for Europe's 50 Best Bars. These roles place her in a judging structure where individual assessment becomes part of a wider field of recognition. For Vaglini, that work runs parallel to her editorial practice: both depend on discrimination, consistency, and an understanding of how standards are formed. She is also editor of Freelance and a teacher in the international Food Design course of IED Milan, where the same editorial discipline meets instruction. Across those settings, the throughline is clear: language is used to clarify expertise, and expertise is used to sharpen language. Her work moves between publishing, education, and bar culture without separating them.
Recognition
Penelope Vaglini has received Identità Golose — Best Italian Food Writer (2025).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Penelope
What is Penelope Vaglini's current role?
As of 2026, Penelope Vaglini is Managing Editor.
What recognition has Penelope Vaglini received?
Best Italian Food Writer (2025).
