“We’ve always served it,” comments Silvana Vivoli one Wednesday afternoon as one person after another walks out of the historic locale. “Now we serve 350 of them a day but there’s a photo of my mum taken in the 1970s in front of a sign saying, Spuma 100 lire, Gran Caffè 1000 lire…To think that the parchment lining the saucer didn’t have the 055 (prefix for Florence) – it didn’t exist back then! What’s most important is that it’s good for business and for the people who work for us. That’s what makes me proud.”
Here you can taste coffee with Vivoli’s exquisite cream gelato is spread into a pre-chilled cappuccino cup, leaving a square in the centre. Placed under the nozzle of the coffee machine, espresso flows directly into the gap before the barista pops the cup atop a saucer lined with a distinctive white doily styled with blue writing stating the bar’s name and phone number