Cafe entertainment in Italy
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Caffè dei Frari
Take your espresso with a heaping of history at this century-old carved wooden bar, or recover from the sensory overload of I Frari with a sandwich, glass of wine and easy conversation at the dinky indoor cafe tables downstairs or on the Liberty-style wrought-iron balcony upstairs.
reviewed
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Caffè Gambrinus
Grand, chandeliered Gambrinus is Naples' oldest and most venerable cafe. Oscar Wilde knocked back a few here and Mussolini had some of the rooms shut down to keep out left-wing intellectuals. Sure, the prices may be steeper, but the pre-dinner aperitivo nibbles are decent and sipping a spritz while soaking up elegant Piazza Triesto e Trento is a moment worth savouring.
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Cafè Latino
Think locked-eyes-over-cocktails time. This is the place to impress your partner with cocktails (from €7) on the terrace, surrounded by orange and lemon trees. Sip a Mary Pickford (rum, pineapple, grenadino and maraschino) or a glass of chilled white wine. If you can’t drag yourselves away, you can also eat here (meals around €30).
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Bar San Calisto
Those in the know head to the down-at-heel 'Sanca' for its basic, stuck-in-time atmosphere and cheap prices (a beer costs €1.50). It attracts everyone from drug dealers, intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals to keeping-it-real Romans, alcoholics and American students. It's famous for its chocolate – drunk hot with cream in winter, eaten as ice cream in summer. Try the Sambuca con la Mosca ('with flies' – raw coffee beans).
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Caffè Florian
Florian adheres to rituals established c 1720: uniformed waiters serve hot chocolate on silver trays, lovers canoodle in plush banquettes indoors and the orchestra strikes up a tango as fading sunlight illuminates San Marco’s portal mosaics. Ever forward-thinking, this cafe was among the first to admit women, served as a clubhouse for Italy’s independence movement and still hosts contemporary art and design events.
reviewed
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Qcoffee Bar
One drink grants you access to the works of two modernist master architects through the Querini Stampalia bookshop. Rainy days are right for hot chocolate in Mario Botta’s neoclassical cafe, with white walls framed with black polished-concrete floors and a harmonious repeating-rectangle theme. Outside, Carlo Scarpa’s clever, Levant- inspired concrete irrigation channels bring Venice’s canals indoors, adding industrial cool to your spritz in the sunny garden. The cicheti are especially scrumptious.
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Il Caffè Rosso
Sunny piazza seating is the place to recover from last night's revelry and today's newspaper headlines, until the cycle begins again at 6pm with Spritz cocktails and standing-room-only student crowds.
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Procacci
The last remaining bastion of genteel old Florence on Via de' Tornabuoni, this tiny cafe was born in 1885 opposite the English pharmacy as a delicatessen serving truffles in its repertoire of tasty morsels. Bite-sized panini tartufati (truffle pâté rolls) remain the thing to order, best accompanied by a glass of prosecco.
reviewed
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Intra Moenia
Despite the sloppy service, this free-thinking cafe–bookshop–publishing house on Piazza Bellini is a good spot for chilling out. Browse limited-edition books on Neapolitan culture, pick up a vintage-style postcard, or simply slip on that beret, sip a prosecco and act the intellectual. The house wine costs €4 a glass and there's a range of salads, snacks and classic Neapolitan grub for peckish bohemians.
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Paradiso
This cheery yellow mini-palazzo is fuelled by a steady stream of coffee and cocktails that cost less than you’d expect given the designer chairs, waterfront terrace and lack of competition – this is the only cafe within reach of anyone in stilettos at the Biennale. Watch curators woo shy artists as starchitects hold court under sun umbrellas – even between Biennales.
reviewed
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Moma
Molto trendy: this cafe-restaurant is a find. It’s sleekly sexy and popular with workers from nearby offices. There’s a small stand-up cafe downstairs, with a nice little deck outside where you can linger longer over coffee and delicious dolcetti. Upstairs is a cucina creativa (creative cuisine) restaurant (meals €65).
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Caffè del Doge
Sniff your way to the Doge, where hyperactive coffee connoisseurs slurp their way through the menu of speciality imported coffees from Ethiopia to Guatemala, all roasted on the premises. The decor is more laboratory than classic Venetian cafe and the looped video ad seems like hype, but these beans have earned an international following.
reviewed
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Caffè Cibrèo
Duck into this charming old-world cafe behind Mercato di Sant'Ambrogio for a coffee and ciambella (doughnut ring).
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Rosati
Rosati, overlooking the vast disc of Piazza del Popolo, was once the hang-out of the left-wing chattering classes. Authors Italo Calvino and Alberto Moravia used to drink here while their right-wing counterparts went to the Canova over the square. Today tourists are the main clientele, and the views are as good as ever.
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Chiaroscuro
With arguably the best coffee in Florence – and that’s saying a lot – this casual bar looks more like Soho than Florence with its rough-cut wood interior and kitschy, ‘60s-style glass chandelier. A variety of excellent beans is available by weight, and the aperitivo buffet (6pm to 8pm) makes for a cosy early evening.
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Libreria del Cinema
It’s difficult to know in which category to put this place, as it’s a bookshop and cafe, but we’re putting it here as a perfect coffee-and-snack pitstop. There’s aperitivo from 6pm. And, of course, you can browse the impressive cinema book collection too.
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La Bottega del Caffè
Ideal for frittering away any balmy section of the day, this appealing cafe-bar has greenery-screened tables out on the captivatingly pretty Piazza Madonna dei Monti with its fountain. As well as drinks, it serves lipsmacking snacks, from simple pizzas to cheeses and salamis.
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Caffè Gilli
At this Florentine institution you can sip your coffee or cocktail beneath Venetian chandeliers and billowy art-nouveau ceiling frescoes, or opt for the terrace, with ringside seats on the upscale bustle of Piazza della Repubblica. The elaborate cakes and sweets are also worth a gander.
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Old Stove Duomo
In the shadow of the Duomo, this classic Irish place spread over two narrow floors has a good selection of draught beers and one truly outstanding draw – a little wrought-iron balcony with cathedral views that are heart-stopping. Jockey early and often if you want to make it your own.
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Ciampini
The graceful, traffic-free Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina is an ideal stop for an al fresco coffee among the well-heeled folk of the neighbourhood. Bring your big sunglasses and little dog. Sitting outside is pricey, so remember it’s an investment and settle. There’s also a full food menu and tip-top gelato.
reviewed
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Canova Tadolini
In 1818 sculptor Canova signed a contract for this studio that agreed it would be forever preserved for sculpture. The place is still stuffed with statues, and it’s a unique experience to sit among the great maquettes and sup an upmarket tea or knock back some wine and snacks.
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Caffetiera San Colombano
This stylish cafe, to the right as you arise atop the city walls coming from the train station, is a pleasant caffeine, ice-cream or light lunch stop during a wall-top city stroll or bike ride.
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Lino’s Coffee
While Italy never needed an answer to Starbucks, Parma-import Lino’s takes up the challenge nicely with highly credible coffee and some oddly appealing variations on a theme. ‘Coffee Crack’, for one. The locals love it, in case you were wondering.
reviewed
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Caffe delle Oblate
On the top floor of a convent–turned–public library, this new cafe offers plenty of space to spread out, with tables scattered around a vast, open-air loggia. Views of the adjacent Duomo are remarkable, and there’s even free wi-fi.
reviewed
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Fauno Bar
On Piazza Tasso, this elegant cafe covers half the square and offers the best people-watching in town. It serves stiff drinks at stiff prices – cocktails start around €8.50. Snacks and sandwiches are also available (from €7).
reviewed