The Royal Victoria Hotel in Pisa includes a tenth-century tower, which was built by the Università dei Vinajoli as its headquarters and as an inn. When Pisa was conquered by Florence in the fifteenth century, it became the “Locanda della Vittoria”.
Records
The most open
No restaurant in Italy is more open than the Zeffirino in Genoa, where you can take a seat at any time from noon to midnight, any day of the year, and be served immediately!
The most “all-female-orchestras”
In the 1920s, the Caffè Paszkowski in Florence was the first large establishment to present a café-concert with an all- female orchestra, a very rare thing at the time, as we see in a period photograph.
The most Nobel prize
It is the Barbetta Restaurant in New York: the husband of the owner, Laura Maioglio – a second-generation descendant of the founder – is the German-born scientist Günter Blobel, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1999 and donated the prize money to the city of Dresden to help rebuild the Frauenkirche and the synagogue, which were destroyed during the Second World War.
The first takeout ice cream
The ice cream cone was introduced by Caffè Fiorio in Turin in the 1930s. It was heavily criticized and considered highly inappropriate for ladies and young women who “licked” it on the street, but it immediately became all the rage!
The most “illustrious pens”
In the cellar of the Ristorante Casa Perbellini – 12 Apostoli in Verona, with its Roman and medieval archaeological finds, there is a collection of almost 200 pens of journalists, writers, artists and famous personalities who have won the almost 40 editions of the Premio 12 Apostoli award: they include Fellini, Callas, Sciascia, Pound, Guareschi, Soldati, Montanelli and Walesa.
The most widely passed down
Since 1803, with seven generations of family ownership, the same family has been at the helm of the historic Gran Caffè Renzelli.
The most in the Rock
The Crotto dei Platani in Brienno, on Lake Como, was built around age-old crotti, natural cavities that open up in the mountain, from the depths of which blows a constant stream of cold air, called the Sorèl, which has been used for centuries to preserve food and drinks.
The most deleted
Al Royal Victoria Hotel di Pisa, il facchino Primo Lucidi – immortalato in una foto con il proprietario Andrea Piegaja e il trasvolatore oceanico Charles Lindbergh.
The most kissed
An endless success story since the early twentieth century, they have become delicious ambassadors of western Liguria throughout the world: Baci di Alassio of the Caffè Pasticceria Balzola.
Liberty – what a passion!
The intricately carved wooden bar counter in the Sala Verde of the Gran Caffè Renzelli dates from the late 19th / early 20th century and is in the Art Nouveau (Liberty) style.
The “first aperitif”
The rite of the aperitif was invented in the early twentieth century at the Caffè Camparino in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan.