Man is born free and everywhere he is drinking coffee in chains like Starbucks and Costa.
With a checkered history of philistine and fascist leaders, Italy may struggle to convince you that it is the land of liberty; but when it comes to the aesthetics of caffeine and cake consumption, it is a country where an independent spirit still reigns supreme.
Here, the high streets are not dominated by the standardised coffee shop brands but has bars with an identity as individual as the people who run them. They are emblems of emancipation in a sea of uniformity.
The best pride themselves on an attention to detail that is truly heartwarming in these drab times.
The bearded utopian, William Morris, once wrote that you should “have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. The finest Italian bars transfer this philosophy out of the domestic setting with a confident choice of furnishing, decor and lighting which effortlessly manages to marry functionality with elegance.
The economy may be in free fall, but there is something consoling in the thought that these coffee bars will be the last to hit the ground. Continue reading
