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CAFFE FLORIAN Venice, Italy BY ROBERT W. THURSTON B lessed with what it calls a “privileged” location on Venice’s St. Mark’s Square, Florian has operated in the same building since 1720. Venice is a jewel, albeit a fragile one, and each stretch of any canal or street brings new visual treats. St. Mark’s tops everything. Approaching Florian on a nice aſternoon, you will first notice a small orchestra, musicians in formalwear, playing outside the café. But this is mere preparation for the lush interior. Te red velvet banquettes, gilded lions’ heads, waiters straight out of Love Boat, paintings on every wall, lamps on marble bases that are themselves works of art—Florian’s interior invites you to linger. It invites you to eat something extravagant, too, since you have shown money is not an immediate concern simply by stepping inside. I chose scones with butter, cream, and jam; with a small espresso, the bill came to 23 euros, about $18. Te scones and jam were excellent, the cream not as thickly clotted as it could be, the coffee fair. In recent years no Italian café I have visited has served espresso with profound, layered depth. At Florian I almost didn’t care; I was in the ultimate café. When I asked my waiter the key to the cafe’s longevity, he replied many famous people had been there, including Casanova and Lord Byron. Yet Florian reeks of history; anyone can sense much has transpired here. If specialty coffee is supposed to transport us from plastic couches and office ADDRESS Piazza San Marco, 57, 30124 FOUNDED 1720 WEB www.caffeflorian.com 28 | March 2011 • www.specialty-coffee.com routine, then Florian can suggest imaginary vistas. But don’t think about settling in with your computer; Florian is to be savored, not just used. Like many another Italian cafés, Florian is as much a bar as a coffee house. Coffee can be tarted up with any kind of liquor, and elaborate alcoholic drinks are as common as the coffee. I sense Italian cafes are sometimes on the edge of neglecting coffee in favor of liquor. Yet tradition operates here, too; seventeenth- century coffee houses purveyed a wide range of drinks. Florian sells many goods to take away. Besides its own line of packaged, ground coffees, there is tea, chocolate, porcelain, pastries, perfume, postcards, books, scarves and other accessories, tableware, and souvenirs. An espresso cup and plate with logo cost 20.40 euros, while aprons in “Florian red” are a bargain at 13.70. Most items can be ordered on line, as well. Te café is also deeply involved in Venetian music and art, playing a leading role, for example, in the Biennale. Florian is not just a single-unit, local café; there are Florian cafés in Florence and Abu Dhabi, too. My request to see coffee-making in action was politely rebuffed; work areas are off-limits to customers. Given the brisk pace at which many waiters move when busy, I can see why. Tat policy matches Florian’s hushed atmosphere—why disturb people with the hisses and banging of making coffee? Some 20 million visitors, about 20 percent of them Italians and 6 percent Americans, visited Venice in 2007, the last year for which numbers are available. Tat number increases the danger from pollution and pressure on the water supply. Florian is thus a guilty pleasure. In any case, I’ve been in this “retreat for artists, intellectuals, politicians, and illustrious persons” before, and I’m sure I’ll be back. SCR Robert W. Turston is a professor of history in the Department of History at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.