Harry's Bar

Giuseppe Cipriani was the father of Enrico Cipriani.

He was a head barman at Harry's Bar, okay? And he decided to, you know, barmen have always experimented and stuff and so on.

He created this drink made with, originally it was Prosecco and the pulp of white peaches, okay? He called it Bellini because the pink color of the drink reminded him of the dress of an angel in a painting of Bellini.

And it was a seasoned drink that you're supposed to be drinking only when you have peaches.

Okay.

And then once Harry's Bar opened their place also, I think it's in New York, yeah? Yeah.

It became also, you know, they started to introduce it there as well.

Somebody got involved that he was exporting the peaches in between the two, you know, between Italy and America.

The funny thing is that there was a great deal of fascination with the writer's life, right? And Hemingway gave the impression that the writer's life was like paradise.

You know, you got up in the morning, you wrote, and then you went duck shooting and drinking at Harry's bar, had dinner at Gritti.

So there was a level of luxury that was very appealing.

But not just that.

So it was a very different experience for her.

So after the shoot, they go back to Venice.

And then at that point, Hemingway begins his sort of pressing courtship with her, taking her out to Harry's bar, taking her out to dinner at Gritti.

And people around him saying, maybe you shouldn't be doing this, or the family sort of worrying a little bit about their daughter's reputation.

How can I make something grounded? How can I flip something that is grounded, that is simple, and make it look like suddenly unique and different? I think that's the real challenge.

You know, b- one of the biggest ins- inspiration for Bar Leone was the Harry's Bar.

The Harry's Bar, when, when it opened, was an innovator, and it is still an innovator.

Because what they managed to do there was [lips smack] celebrate simplicity and managed to distill the idea of whatever they are doing to the core, and then suddenly you have almost like a, the, the pure idea of a cocktail or a serve of a plateware of...

So I think Harry's Bar, for me, is still, even though now is a hyper touristy place, but I think the Harry's Bar is a great example of a place that has been running for, for centuries, not centuries, but for many years, and, and it's still probably [lips smack] a blueprint for things to come.

How can you be the best bar in the world, uh, and be simple at the same time?

Because, uh, people didn't expect that, you know? [laughs] Because people, I think, uh, because it brought a bre- a breath of fresh air probably.

Loved it.

And also Harry's Bar is where the...

Oh, what's it called when it's peach juice and champagne? What's that called?

Bellini?

My brain, perimenopause.

Sorry, everybody.

So Harry's Bar was famous in Venice.

We went there.