Turin - a gilt trip through lavish cafés · A gilt trip through lavish cafés The birthplace of...
Transcript of Turin - a gilt trip through lavish cafés · A gilt trip through lavish cafés The birthplace of...
experience: COFFEEHOUSES OF TURIN
THIS PAGE: The perfect cappuccino; OPPOSITE: Elaborate chandeliers are par for the course in Turin’s grand cafés.
TURINA gilt trip through lavish cafés
The birthplace of breadsticks, vermouth andchocolate gianduja, Turin, Italy offers food fiendsa wealth of finds. Sample them all in the city’sopulent cafés, where bicerins and pasticceria seccaare served with a demitasse of history.BY RAQUEL PELZEL PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARYLOU CROWLEY
Intermezzo 25
TURIN MAY NOT BE KNOWN
for romance like Venice or ruins like
Rome, but what she is known and loved
for is what keeps me going every day—
coffee and chocolate. For a caffeine
addict like myself, Turin is a dream come
true. Here, drinking coffee—made with
or without chocolate—is an art form,
served up by tuxedoed waiters and on
silver platters in some of the most lavish,
decadent spaces imaginable. Turin’s cafés
offer enough history-steeped ambience
to justify spending an entire afternoon in
coffee-assisted contemplation. If you’re
the type of person who likes to immerse
yourself in atmosphere thick with style,
good food and drink, heed my warning:
you may never want to leave Turin.
The automotive capital of Italy and the
home of Fiat, Turin doesn’t rank high
on most travelers’ must-see list. Its gritty
and urban atmosphere keeps most of the
boot’s “big three”(Rome,Venice, Florence)
tourists happily away. Those who persevere
and succeed in cracking through Turin’s
industrial façade will discover doors that
open to an eclectic world of culture,
cuisine and amazing cappuccinos.
Turin’s cafés have been thriving for
centuries as welcome havens for royals
and artists, factory workers and leftist
thinkers. Amidst marble and bronze,
massive chandeliers, frescoes, etched
glass, velvet settees and high-backed
chairs, some of the world’s most intense
THIS PAGE, LEFT: A couple drinking bicerins at Al Bicerin; TOP RIGHT: Caffè Platti’s honey glazed chestnuts.
26 Intermezzo
intellectuals, like Nietzsche, Garibaldi
and Cavour, plotted philosophical argu-
ments and revolutionary tactics, all while
sipping a cappuccino or a bicerin.
A centuries-old coffee concoction and
the signature drink of Turin, the bicerin
is a highly secretive chocolate mixture
cooked stovetop for up to four hours,
and then blended with espresso. Served
in a glass mug, it can be topped with
gossamer crema or with a dollop of
whipped cream. Al Bicerin, Turin’s oldest
café, is where the drink was invented
some two centuries ago, and where the
recipe has never, ever changed.
Opened in 1763, Al Bicerin is located
across from the Santuario della Consolata,
one of Turin’s most exquisite churches
(don’t discount the structure upon first
sight—it doesn’t look like much, but
inside, it’s magnificent). The drink was
apparently created to nourish commun-
ion-fasting churchgoers who came in after
services. Though their café was also fre-
quented by nobility, the owners decided to
keep the price of a bicerin set, so regulars
as well as royals could afford this regal
treat. A testament to the accessibility of the
café, the price of the bicerin didn’t increase
until the early 1900s.
Low ceilings, wood paneling, velvet
banquettes and candles lit on small
marble tables (even in the daytime)
contribute to Al Bicerin’s eighteenth-
century charm. Some of its more
notable patrons of the past include
Alexandre Dumas and Giacomo Puccini,
who based La Bohème on the nearby
artists’ garret off Via San Agostino where
he lived. Turin is also where zabaione
was first created, and Al Bicerin makes
theirs whipped by hand and to order,
laced with Piedmontese liqueurs and
wines like ratafià, passito or Moscato.
Though Alexandre Dumas enjoyed
his bicerins at Al Bicerin, he purportedly
sipped his first at the Caffè San Carlo. I
nearly nixed the café from my list due to
its bland exterior. But as a couple brushed
past me on their way out the door, I caught
a peek inside as the door slowly shut.
To Al Bicerin’s soft-lit surrounds,
the San Carlo counters with grandeur
and gold leaf. With gilt columns, a mas-
sive Murano glass chandelier, statues,
frescoes and mirrors galore, the café’s
interior is jaw dropping. Opened in 1822,
the San Carlo was known as a meeting
place for supporters of the Risorgimento,
the movement to unify Italy. During the
Risorgimento (which spanned decades
until Italy was united in 1861), the San
Carlo was closed down many times due
to the activities of its rebellious clientele.
A lot of the San Carlo’s original artwork
miraculously survived World War II
bombings, much of it in a special room
called the Japanese cabinet.
One of the first gas-lit coffeehouses in
Europe, the Caffè San Carlo is one of the
Intermezzo 27
THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A busy lunchtime at Baratti & Milano; adding the finishing touch to a bicerin; theCaffè San Carlo’s lavish interior; a taste of what awaits you at the counter of Baratti & Milano.
few places where you can sit and revel in
lavishness while eating a gelato (try the
hazelnut-chocolate gianduja flavor) from
an outpost of the legendary Fiorio gelat-
teria next door. The original Fiorio on
the Via Po was so popular among the
opinionated Torinese that during his
reign in the 1830s and 1840s, King Carlo
Alberto used Fiorio rumor briefings as
a way to keep abreast of social opinion.
If you really want to feel like a local, visit
Fiorio on the Via Po on a weekend well
after midnight and stroll along the
avenue with a gelato in hand—I guaran-
tee you that you won’t be the only one.
In the same piazza as the Caffè San
Carlo is the Caffè Torino. At only 102
years old, it’s a relative newcomer to
Turin’s thriving café scene, yet after
one visit you’ll wonder how the nine-
teenth century did without this bustling,
hobnobbing apex of culture and taste.
Famous for its coffee and cocktails, the
Torino is a worthy spot for a late after-
noon Negroni. A generous selection
of complimentary cocktail snacks, like
prosciutto-wrapped melon, ham-filled
aroncini, cornichons, sausages and
frittatas are offered tapas-style.
Known for its Baroque revival décor,
the café is swathed in gold and fuchsia
fabric. Crystal chandeliers, a ceiling of
gold-plated stuccowork and gilt friezes
make the room sparkle like metallic-
wrapped candy. The café is lauded for its
30 Intermezzo
THIS PAGE: Turin is the birthplace of grissini breadsticks (left) and gianduja, which can be made into the most delicious cakesand confections, like they do at the Peyrano bakery (right).
Intermezzo 31
holiday confections, especially its hand-
crafted artisanal Easter eggs. Pralinera,
petits fours, candied orange peel and
pasticceria secca all beckon from a glass
showcase—if they’re just too tempting
to resist, sit and enjoy a sweet, an espres-
so or something from the restaurant’s
menu, most of which are presented with
original utensils and serving ware made
from silver-plated britannia metal, an
alloy similar to pewter.
The best cappuccino I experienced,
hands down, goes to Baratti & Milano in
the Piazza Castello. Thick with steamed
whole milk and topped with a cumulous
shift of crema, this is what a real cappuc-
cino is all about. Founded in 1873, the
confectionery room is a sight to behold—
the best views being when you look up
at the truly stunning ceiling fresco and
down at the intricate marble floor. If
you make the mistake of leaving Turin
without a few boxes of Baratti & Milano
gianduja and chocolates, fear not—you
can buy them in the duty-free shop at
the airport in Milan.
Separated from Baratti & Milano by
the vast Teatro Regio, one of Turin’s won-
drous concert halls, is Mulassano, my
favorite café in all of Turin. With only
five indoor tables, the teeny café exudes
clubby atmosphere. Once frequented by
royals, silent film starlets, directors and
singers, this is where the “toast” and
tramezzino were born—the former being
a crispy-tender grilled and pressed sand-
wich, the latter being a crustless, non-
toasted and triangular shaped one.
Intricately carved woodwork laces
the interior, twists around clocks and
transforms itself into lilting leaves and
bunches of grapes around moldings.
The ceiling, made from deep brown
squares of embossed Madeira leather,
resembles an expansive bittersweet
chocolate bar, an appropriate backdrop
for finishing off one of Mulassano’s
famous cioccolati, a thick pudding-like
cup of super hot, hot chocolate that’s so
dense, it’s best eaten with a spoon.
Near the Porta Nuova and my hotel was
the café that I visited most often, the Platti
on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. Opened
in 1870, this café is known for their Platti
cake made of ganache, angel food cake and
gianduja cream. I can also attest to their
solid selection of morning pastries and
savories. To stand at the coffee bar mid-
morning, down an espresso or three, nibble
on a croissant marmellata, partake in the
communally available oysters on the half
shell and chase it all down with a fresh
strawberry-swirled Prosecco, well, is to
be that much closer to heaven on earth.
With the winter Olympics scheduled
in Turin for 2006, it’s best to plan your
trip now, before lines and English menus
riddle the city’s wide, tree-lined boule-
vards. Go to a café, order a bicerin, eat
lots of gianduja and enjoy the gilt trip.
THIS PAGE: Sweets to take home from Al Bicerin include chocolate pasta and tins of unsweetened cocoa; the inside of the decadently appointed Caffè Torino; amaretti cookies at the Avvignano confectionery; trays of bicerins go to thirsty patrons outside.
THIS PAGE: Thick with steamed whole milk and topped with a cumulous shift of crema, this is what a real cappuccino is all about.
Intermezzo 33
From Turin, with Love
GiandujaChocolate made from toasted hazelnuts
and cocoa; named after a carnival mask
worn to symbolize a Piemontese wine-
loving peasant.
GrissiniLong, thin breadsticks; legend has it
they were first made by a Savoy court
baker for the young and ailing Duke of
Savoy, who suffered from frequent food
poisoning. It was thought that if bread
baked long enough, it would not har-
bor bacteria. Napoleon was apparently
a big fan of the crisp breadsticks, and
nicknamed them le petits bâtons de
Turin.
VermouthAn infusion made from white wine,
sugar and more than forty kinds of
herbs and spices; invented by Antonio
Benedetto Carpano in Turin at a liquor
shop on the Piazza Castello in 1786.
Major producers like Martini & Rossi,
Cinzano and Gancia all were based in
Piedmont.
34 Intermezzo
THIS PAGE, LEFT: A Campari cocktail served outside the Caffè Torino; TOP RIGHT: Hand-wrapping gianduiotto chocolates at Peyrano.
Affection for Confections
StrattaNearly as fabulous as the cafés are Turin’s decadently appointed confectionery
shops. At the Piazza San Carlo, opposite from the Caffè San Carlo and the Caffè
Torino is Stratta, former official purveyor to the royal household. The storefront
dates from 1833 and is made from cherry and walnut wood; inside, a coat of arms,
decoupage ceiling, a multitude of mirrors and a Murano glass chandelier all convey
its privileged stature. Stratta’s artful boxes are worth collecting—each one is topped
with replications of theater posters past.
Piazza San Carlo 191
AvvignanoThough the space dates to 1883, Avvignano, located within the roundabout of the
Piazza Carlo Felice (just across from the Porta Nuova train station), was trans-
formed from a liquor shop to the sweets shop that it is today in 1922. Step inside
and be swept away by the thrilling scent of sugar in all forms, from pastilles and
gianduiotti candies to glorious droneresi meringue bonbons filled with rum-spiked
chocolate.
Piazza Carlo Felice 50
PeyranoA block and a half from Platti is the minimally designed chocolate shop Peyrano,
where the focus is not on décor, but instead on the sprawling display case of bon-
bons and sweets. Founded in 1915, cacao beans are still roasted, ground, refined and
turned into chocolate in the original workshop on the Corso Moncalieri across the
River Po. Bitter chocolate accented by grappa and gorgeous chocolate-dipped goose-
berries are just two of the many sweets to try and to take home.
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 76
Intermezzo 35
THIS PAGE: The Murano glass chandelier at Caffè San Carlo; art boxes and gianduja sauce at Stratta; gianduja chocolates at CaffèPlatti; a cake at Al Bicerin mimics the flavors in the drink—chocolate and espresso cake, white chocolate icing and whipped cream.
The Cafés of Turin
Al Bicerin: Piazza della Consolata 5
Baratti & Milano: Piazza Castello 29
Caffè San Carlo: Piazza San Carlo 156
Caffè Torino: Piazza San Carlo 204
Fiorio: Via Po 8
Mulassano: Piazza Castello 15
Platti: Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 72