is said that Antonino Ercolano was already serving them in 1800. He had invented the little La Favorita trattoria in order to turn to account the culinary arts he had learnt as a seminarian at the archbishopric. He had not managed to become a priest,...
The great Pesaro-born composer Gioachino Rossini was a sophisticated gourmet. He had haute cuisine in his veins, together with music. He acquired his sophisticated tastes during his long stay in Paris, from 1824 to 1836, when he was the acclaimed director of the Théâtre Italien....
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text="The most family-run" font_container="tag:h2|text_align:center" use_theme_fonts="yes"][vc_column_text] Of the almost 240 historic establishments in the Association, almost 100 have been run by the same family for two or more generations. Here we see those with the longest lineages, in a list of great prestige that pays tribute...
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text="The warmest in war" font_container="tag:h2|text_align:center" use_theme_fonts="yes"][vc_column_text]During the Second World War, some members of the Agnelli family, the owners of the Fiat car company, spent the winter at the Hotel Tornabuoni Beacci in Florence and, in great secrecy, had a lorry-load of coal brought to...
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text="The most “original furnishings”" font_container="tag:h2|text_align:center" use_theme_fonts="yes"][vc_column_text]The first three floors of the Grande Albergo Ausonia & Hungaria on the Venice Lido are adorned with original Liberty-style furniture of 1905, created by master cabinetmaker Eugene Quarti of Milan, who exhibited some items at the Paris Salon...
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text="The first goliard" font_container="tag:h2|text_align:center" use_theme_fonts="yes"][vc_column_text]In 1820, there was a famous episode of goliardery at the Caffè dell’Ussero in Pisa, which was described by Ersilio Michel in Maestri e scolari dell’Università di Pisa nel Risorgimento nazionale (Sansoni, 1949). A certain Ricci, a student from Livorno,...
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text="The most sealed" font_container="tag:h2|text_align:center" use_theme_fonts="yes"][vc_column_text]Closed in 1979 upon the death of Irma Marescotti, the Liquoreria Pasticceria Marescotti Cavo in Genoa remained sealed, quite literally, for almost thirty years. In 2006, Alessandro Cavo obtained permission from the Marescotti estate to reopen the establishment. When he...
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text="The top top-guests" font_container="tag:h2|text_align:center" use_theme_fonts="yes"][vc_column_text]These undoubtedly include Goethe, who was a guest in countless historic places during his “Travels in Italy”, D’Annunzio who, with or without Eleonora Duse, left a trail of broken hearts and unpaid bills behind him, and Ernest Hemingway, a faithful...
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text="Historical city records" font_container="tag:h2|text_align:center" use_theme_fonts="yes"][vc_column_text]Incredible! In spite of its fast-paced business life, Milan leads the way with 16 historical establishments, followed by the more traditional Venice with 14, Turin with 13, Rome with 12, Florence with 9 and Naples with 8.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column css=".vc_custom_1491570506256{margin-top: 20px !important;}"][vc_basic_grid...
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text="The most flooded" font_container="tag:h2|text_align:center" use_theme_fonts="yes"][vc_column_text]Caffè Lavena in Venice, under the old “procuratie” in Piazza San Marco, literally goes under every time high water hits the city.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column css=".vc_custom_1491570506256{margin-top: 20px !important;}"][vc_basic_grid post_type="listing-item" max_items="10" grid_id="vc_gid:1492003244481-6de9837e-c892-8" taxonomies="274"][/vc_column][/vc_row]...