Posted by TheShot on 04 Dec 2007 | Tagged as: Foreign Brew
Today we make a brief return to Alba, Italy for the latest stop in our Espresso in Torino and Piemonte series. Pasticceria Cignetti is one among many boutique food shops along Alba’s pedestrian-only main street/fashion runway. But it is a good example of a local espresso at a place where the espresso isn’t exactly the [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 01 Dec 2007 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Café Society, Foreign Brew
Our Espresso in Torino and Piemonte series next takes us to quite a historical café — and the closest thing to a tourist trap in Torino this side of the Holy Shroud. Caffè Al Bicerin was founded in 1763 as an apothecary shop and later remodeled as a café. But over the centuries it has [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 29 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Foreign Brew
Our Espresso in Torino and Piemonte series takes us back to Alba, Italy for Golosi di Salute — a café that’s certainly known more for its edibles than anything you can drink here. But that doesn’t mean the espresso is a slouch. Luca Montersino is famous for making pastries and sweets with natural and local, [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 23 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Foreign Brew
Our Espresso in Torino and Piemonte series now turns to Bra, Italy. Bra carries a lot more influence than its 29,000 residents might suggest. For one, it is the unofficial capital of Piemonte’s Roero area — with a downtown that’s deceptively bustling for its size. Bra is also the world headquarters for Slow Food. Of [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 20 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Foreign Brew
Our Espresso in Torino and Piemonte series returns to Alba, Italy. We really liked Caffè Calissano and wish we had an institution like it somewhere in SF. If it were here, its espresso would rank it in the top quartile of the city. But in Alba, comparatively, it served some of the “worst” espresso we [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 16 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Foreign Brew
Our Espresso in Torino and Piemonte series turns back to Torino for an espresso at Eataly — which has taken over the former Carpano vermouth factory across the street of Torino’s massive Lingotto complex. Torino is also the birthplace of vermouth and consequently the apéritif. (I am also quite a longtime fan of Carpano Antica.) [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 13 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Foreign Brew, Restaurant Coffee
This installment of our Espresso in Torino and Piemonte series comes from the very small town of Pollenzo, practically in the middle of nowhere. At least geographically speaking. But on the food map of Italy, this place is one of the country’s brightest stars. One of the reasons is that it is home to the [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 09 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Café Society, Foreign Brew
Back to our Espresso in Torino and Piemonte series, today we return to Torino’s “living room” for classic grand café style at Caffè Torino. We touched on this café last year when writing about the coffee at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. Like other grand cafés on the square, there’s seating in the piazza outside. [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 05 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Foreign Brew, Roasting
Continuing our Espresso in Torino and Piemonte series, we turn to a local roaster who does a whole lot more than the typical torrefazione/caffè in Italy. This one is located in the bustling small town of Asti — as in SF’s Palio d’Asti, which itself is named after the famous bareback horse race in the [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 03 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Café Society, Foreign Brew
As for the next installment in our Espresso in Torino and Piemonte series, this time we’re breaking out the big guns. This grand café on the grand Piazza San Carlo is as grand as anything on Venice’s Piazza San Marco. And this square marks the home of a few notable grand cafés in Torino — [...]
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