Every coffee shop in Turin has a story and often in these cafes, the story is met with history. Caffè San Carlo is one of those places where you can inhale the glorious surroundings, a meeting place of past intellectuals, poets, politicians and even adventurers. This is the place where Dumas savored his first bicerin, where the Duke of Abruzzi planned the expedition to Antarctica and where Gramsci decided to found the New Order.
San Carlo is a true masterpiece of sumptuousness and elegance: statues and Greek columns, huge mirrors, gilded stuccos, marbles, crystal chandeliers, crimson velvet and so on. A celebration of baroque beauty that has certainly contributed to its reputation as a favorite coffee of individuals who created the history of this country. Giolitti stopped here every time he arrived from Rome, waiting for the train to Mondovì, while Luigi Einaudi used to stop there after buying some ancient books nearby. The list could go on for lines and lines.
History can satiate the intellect, but certainly not the stomach. So if your eyes are already full of this beauty, your stomach is still waiting to be satisfied. Don’t worry, San Carlo is famous for its elegant dinners made in the highest quality tradition. Refined and carefully selected raw ingredients make up the base of a menu with a prevalent Piedmont influence. Disentangle between Fassona, an agnolotto, a veal with tuna sauce or perhaps mixed boiled meat. But if you are looking for something lighter but equally tasty, do not despair. The menu also offers of seafood alternatives and different options of Italian regional cuisine.
In faith to its name San Carlo is above all a coffee shop: a place where you can taste traditional pastries so famous in Turin, sip quality coffee (famous for its precious blends) or a hot chocolate. A space dedicated to conversation and meetings to sit, relax and enjoy the traditional delicacies. Perhaps imagining that right there, in the table where we are sitting, some prominent historical figure drank his coffee.