Turin has been one of my favourite Italian cities, alongside Trieste. These two cities are with any doubt the coffee capitals of Italy. There are plenty of splendid coffee houses in Turin, and the city is proud of its culinary traditions.
Indeed, the capital of Piedmont and the former capital of the Kingdom of Savoy has lots of offer in terms of food and wine. The region of Piedmont is well known for many culinary products and alcoholic drinks, including the world famous Barbera d'Asti red wines, vermouth (essential ingredient for martini and a wide range of other cocktails), as well as white truffles. Although Italy do not grow its own coffee, Turin is the hometown of Lavazza, the Italian coffee giant which is a major player in the global speciality coffee market. And a city that takes its coffee seriously, their food cannot be too far off the mark either.
In fact, it does not have to cost anyone a fortune to eat good and tasty foods in Turin. Delicious and healthy fares can be had in this cosmopolitan city for less than 10 euro, including a glass of wine or a cup of coffee. This price is much less than what you would be expected to pay in Florence, Paris or London, and the foods you get in Turin are simply marvellous. The city's inhabitants are so used to high quality food at reasonable prices, any cafes or restaurants serving lesser quality fares for extraordinary prices would soon find themselves struggling.
Indeed, the capital of Piedmont and the former capital of the Kingdom of Savoy has lots of offer in terms of food and wine. The region of Piedmont is well known for many culinary products and alcoholic drinks, including the world famous Barbera d'Asti red wines, vermouth (essential ingredient for martini and a wide range of other cocktails), as well as white truffles. Although Italy do not grow its own coffee, Turin is the hometown of Lavazza, the Italian coffee giant which is a major player in the global speciality coffee market. And a city that takes its coffee seriously, their food cannot be too far off the mark either.
In fact, it does not have to cost anyone a fortune to eat good and tasty foods in Turin. Delicious and healthy fares can be had in this cosmopolitan city for less than 10 euro, including a glass of wine or a cup of coffee. This price is much less than what you would be expected to pay in Florence, Paris or London, and the foods you get in Turin are simply marvellous. The city's inhabitants are so used to high quality food at reasonable prices, any cafes or restaurants serving lesser quality fares for extraordinary prices would soon find themselves struggling.
One of the key objectives of my visit to Turin is to try out the various cafes dotted around the city's beautiful centre. One thing which always puzzles me is, in spite of the presence of some of Italy's most impressive Renaissance palaces and buildings, there have been surprisingly few foreign visitors to Turin. Not even a classic hit such as the original 1969 film 'The Italian Job' starring Michale Caine could help to pull hordes of tourists to this beautiful city. Perhaps the reason of Turin's relative obscurity in the world of tourism has been the city's perception as an industrial heavyweight, due to its association with Italian industrial giant Fiat. It is a pity though for anyone to miss out on Turin, because this city has some of the richest architectural heritages and cultural activities amongst the top European cities. The well preserved city centre of Turin is composed of grand public buildings and stately palaces from the 18th century, and the residential neighbourhoods slightly outside of the city centre across the River Po are full of beautiful parks, green spaces and pretty banglows. A walk through the parks located on the hills overlooking the city centre makes one feel as if this city is a huge park in itself.
The relative absence of foreign tourists en mass in Turin is a blessing in disguise though, as Turin has managed to escape the overt commercialisation prevalent in Italy's mega unholy trinity of tourist traps known as Florence, Venice and Rome. Prices of food, drinks and entertainment have stayed accessible to ordinary folks. Most people I met in Turin are slightly reserved, do not chatter much, but friendly in a subtle way. At least I have not encountered any unfriendly locals during my 5 day stay in the city, nor did I come across any dishonest merchants who tried to cheat my money.
Although the centre of Turin is not overrun with tourists touting their cameras, it is a pity that some of the most renown cafes in Turin have been unable to resist falling prey to commercialisation. The only consolation is, unlike the gran cafes in Venice's Piazza San Marco or around Florence's Piazza della Republica, where 99% of the clients consist of foreign tourists with fat off-shore bank accounts in Switzerland and/or the Bahamas, the gran cafes of Turin located along both wings of the impressive Piazza San Carlo are full of affluent Italian tourists and businessmen in the latest Zegna or Armani suits. Nevertheless, when a cup of latte costs some 3.60 euro and upwards for consumption on the premise, in a city where most places charge less than 3 euro for a good cup of latte in their lounges, the alarm bell began to ring.
So, I gave most of the gran cafes on Piazza San Carlo a miss and head towards the small lanes and side-streets instead. There are such a bewildering choices of nice small cafes all over the city centre, and each has its own merit and flaire. In general, if you don't know where to go, just follow the local Italian students or the normal office workers, and you will usually find some really delicious fares at reasonable prices. And the city is beautiful at night too, when all the buildings and grand squares are lighted up. In the night, this city radiates such elegance and confidence, it is easy to forget that one of Europe's biggest car manufacturing plants is just less than 15 minutes away. Have a nice time in this wonderful city and enjoy the true Italian flaire!!
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