When I heard that Starbucks was planning to open it’s first shop in Milan, my first thought was WHY?
Italians have perfected the art of the ritual of having a caffè. Whether it is the mid-morning break or the end of the lunch meal, folks here are serious about their coffee. In fact, most have their go-to Bar where they have a relationship with the barista.
The Bar d’Azeglio is our lunch spot and so Andrea prepares our cups daily. However I’ve been known to grab a quick mid morning breakfast at Robiglio or the delicious pastry shop Dolci e Dolcezze.
Each bar carries a specific brand. Our favorite is Caffè Piansa , which we also purchase to brew our early morning coffee at home. Torrefazione Piansa is a small company located just outside of Florence, so the beans are toasted locally.
Illy Espresso is another great brand.
In the Illy cup is an espresso macchiato, with a small amount of hot foamed milk. One can also request cold milk.
The choices for your coffee are endless.
Short or corto; Caffe lungo, which contains more caffeine; macchiato caldo, my favorite, with a small amount of hot foamed milk; macchiato freddo, which comes with a samll pot of cold milk for you to add to your coffee; caffe corretto, to which a small amount of hard liquor is added, and the list goes on….
Here we have a cappuccino and it really works best with a cornetto (the Italian version of a croissant) or a lovely budino de riso (rice pudding pastry) or a fruit pastry such as the apple with my cappucino at Dolce e Dolcezza:
It’s also good to remember that having a coffee at the counter can be a third to a half the price of sitting at a table!
Which brings us back to the question of Starbucks. In a large city such as Milan or Rome or any other Italian city where there are lots of tourists and/or students the thought of being able to sit down at a table with your computer and enjoy free wifi can be appealing. Also we Americans have perfected the art of coffee to-go which is available here, but the idea of an espresso in a styrofoam, cup well, I’ll leave you to ponder that idea!
*For your enjoyment I’m attaching a link to a song about caffe by the late, great Neapolitan singer Pino Daniele. He is singing in the dialect of Naples and Roberto Benigni is featured. At that time smoking was allowed in restaurants. so just try and smile through the smoke filled clip. The action will start after the 8 second film commercial.
fondlyfromflorence&beyond 