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Ristorante Gran Caffe Quadri The story of the Caffe Quadri leads back in the year 1775, when Giorgio Quadri together with his young, greek wife Naxina reached Venice with a galley on May 28th. Giorgio Quadri has left Corfu with all his savings to find his luck in Venice. The bubbly Naxina had the idea of investing the saved money in one of the places, where the "boiling black water" was sold in Venice. At that time, the inhabitants and visitors of Venice have been curiously on the drink that prepared from a bean which the Turkish discoverers called Kahve. An ancient notation documents, that at this time, 208 well frequented cafés existed in Venicel, 24 of this alone at the St. Mark's Square. |
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Naxina and Giorgio immediately bought an old coffee shop which was offered to them under the Procuratie Vecchie at the corner Sotoportego dei Dai. This place which is generally described as a St. Mark's Square today, was well known at this time for the bar of Malvasia wine, which should strengthen mind and bodies. But with the coffee boom suddenly merchants and dealers changed their preference from the wine to the coffee fast. In 1830 the Caffe Quadri was extensive restored by the Vivarini brothers and got today's appearance for the most part. With this rebuilding the marvellous restaurant was also opened in the upper floor. The premises in the ground floor with it's distinctive stuccowork got a new touch, dominating in the colours pale green and yellow. The later caused beautiful wall paintings are from Giuseppe Ponga and they shows scenes of the daily life from the prime of Venice During the occupation Venedigs ( 1796 - 1866 ) the Quadri promoted to the "favorite Kaffeehaus" of the Austrian soldiers. Two centuries later the world has changed completely, only in Venice and the Quadri something are same as the past tense. The special situation at the St. Mark's Square, the elegance and the special charm of the Quadri attract many personalities from the whole world. In the past famous contemporaries like writers Stendhal, Alexander Dumas, Marcel Proust, Honore de Balzac, poet Lord Byron or composer Richard Wagner visit the Caffe Quadri. Nowadays they guests are important politicians like Michail Gorbatschow, Francois Mitterant or participants from the Venice Film Festival famous actors just like Woody Allen, Brad Pitt, Pierce Brosnan, Robert de Niro, Anthony Quinn and many others. This marvellous arranged Caffe under the arcades of St. Mark offers delicious viands and a romantic view to the St. Mark's Square with it splendid basilica and campanile. The restaurant at the upper floor with it's exclusive facilities belongs to the best in town today and is unique, because it is the one and only restaurant with a view onto St. Marks Square...
Ristorante Gran Caffe Quadri Piazza San Marco 120 30124 Venezia Tel.: +39 - 41 - 52 22 105 www.quadrivenice.com |
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