What are the historic cafés of Naples

Article by Michele Sergio published in Il Roma on 11 February 2018

We are in Naples in the late 1700s, a cosmopolitan city, very lively and in constant ferment, permeable to any novelty in terms of taste, fashion and customs, from beyond the Alps and exotic provenance, when they open “the first doors of the coffee”. Here the Neapolitans discover and drink coffee, a drink of absolute novelty, but they can also taste other delicacies: pastries, chocolate, ice-creams and also typical dishes of traditional Neapolitan cuisine. In a short time the cafés multiply and become places of aggregation not only for ordinary people, but also for politicians and artists, entrepreneurs and scholars, which consolidate the habit of meeting in “fixed places”, to discuss, compare, create, inspire , decide and conspire! Neapolitan cafés become the privileged lounge where to make culture, trends and information. It is in the cafeterias that in Naples, up to the first decades of the 20th century, one confronts the daily themes, discusses political issues, discusses philosophical themes, sees the light of journalistic tests, creates works in music and prose, is composed poems, there is inspiration for a new painting, a political party is born, a subversion of power is fostered and planned. The main Cafés are concentrated along the axis of Via Toledo, the Neapolitan promenade par excellence: Caffè Trinacria, Caflisch, Caffè d’Europa, Strasbourg Brewery and Caffè Gambrinus. Sad note: only the last of the historic Neapolitan cafes has survived the severe test of time. Just the memories, the few vintage photos and some gouaches, however, to make still alive the image of these magnificent places in an ancient Naples that (unfortunately) is gone.

Caflisch – First example of a franchise designed by the Swiss Luigi Caflisch who chose the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies as a place to set up other branches of his modern and avant-garde activity outside his country. The most important of the various sales outlets arose in 1827, in via Toledo, in the vanvitelliano Palazzo Berio.

Caffè Trinacria – Founded in 1810, still in Via Toledo. Classic nineteenth-century coffee with mirrors and red sofas. Among the illustrious visitors we remember Alexandre Dumas and Giacomo Leopardi who used to consume his beloved sorbets here.

Caffè d’Europa – For many years the most beautiful and refined coffee in the heart of the city of Naples. Since 1845 in Piazza San Ferdinando by the will of the couple Thevenin, in particular of Madame Thevenin, Parisian moved to Naples, which was able to convey the best customers at its cafeteria.

Strasbourg Brewery – In spite of the name it was a coffee-concert located in Pilace Castello (Place Municipio). It was one of the most loved by the Neapolitans who, among ornamental plants and fragrant flowers, enjoyed coffee while listening to music. Habitual goal of Salvatore Di Giacomo and Ferdinando Russo.

Caffè Gambrinus – In Piazza del Plebiscito, since 1860 it was a meeting place for artists, politicians, journalists, writers and poets. Art nouveau art gallery, with paintings and statues of the best exponents of the School of Posillipo, hosted café chantant shows. Gambrinus visited the Princess Sissi – who in 1890 tasted the violet ice cream (it can still be consumed today) – Gabriele D’Annunzio – habitual visitor, who, as a bet, wrote the famous poem-song “A Vucchella” – Matilde Serao – who founded “Il Mattino” between a coffee and a pasta dish – Oscar Wilde, Jean Paul Sartre.