Starbucks lovers, you know the exhilarating feeling when a new branch opens near you. You pick up your trusty drink, occasionally with the wrong spelling of your name, on the way to work or before an endless day of errands. It completes you.
But what you’ve never had is the epicurean Starbucks experience mixed with Italian grandeur. Its first ever retail location in Milan, Italy opened on 6 September and of course it’s a full-blown Reserve Roastery. How grande. It’s so posh, you’d probably never dare visit with the intention of working on your laptop (or poring over textbooks) for hours on a single drawn-out latte. They even serve cocktails and pizza. Read on.
Here’s what you need to know
The building is a former post office
The 2,300sqm Starbucks is in the Poste building in Piazza Cordusio, Milan. It was built in 1901 and used as the Stock Exchange headquarters before it became a post office.
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The first Starbucks in Italy
The Reserve Roastery a homecoming of sorts for the company, as founder Howard Schultz was inspired by Italian espresso culture all those years ago. There are only two other Roastery locations in the world at this time: Seattle, United States and Shanghai, China.
What’s inside?
It’s not a café. It’s a theatre. Starbucks wanted to bring a different coffee-drinking experience to Italy, the spiritual home of the espresso, so you won’t find your regular Frappuccino here. There’s a coffee bar offering a handcrafted menu of more than 115 beverages across different brewing techniques. The Roastery also lets you see the on-site coffee-roasting process live and buy beans by the gram.
What will it serve?
Coffee, of course, and cocktails served to you by mixologists at the Arriviamo bar. There’s even pizza and other Italian wood-fire oven-baked breads by Princi Bakery. Also a first: an affogato station, with handmade custom ice-cream.
It’s not a competition, but this is undoubtedly the most beautiful Starbucks in the world – *sigh* Italy gets everything.
Photo credit: Starbucks
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