When I went to visit my friends Laurie and Blair in the summer of 2015 in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, we visited Vignola, a medieval town with a 15th century fortress. It was a hot day and after climbing up the stairs to the fortress, we were ready for a cold drink. We stopped in a nearby pasticerria and decided an ice coffee, cold caffeine, would hit the spot. The Italian version of ice coffee in Italy is a shakerato,is more like a frappe than just coffee with ice in it. We watched the bartender with fascination as he poured coffee into a metal glass lined with ice cubes. He then proceeded to put another metal glass on top, and vigorously shook it about a minute or two. Afterwards, he poured it into a martini glass, the most elegant iced coffee I’ve ever seen. It was a memorable and refreshing treat.
Eataly, the hugely successful Italian grocery and gourmet store, just opened a location in Paris off the rue des Archives in the Marais near Hotel de Ville. It’s similar to the one in New York, with a grocery section, café, restaurant and other food stalls but on a smaller scale. There’s a Lavazza coffee bar on one side, which I frequent, since I like Italian coffee better than French coffee. Last week while I was at Eataly having my usual espresso, a bargain at 1€ if you have it at the counter, I noticed shakerato on the menu. I was so excited about my new find, I made a shakerato date with Vincent my partner.
A few days later we walked over to Eatlaly for our afternoon indulgence and even though it was pleasant outside, we decided to luxuriate in the air conditioning inside. We ordered our shakeratos and watched while the bartender smiled as he furiously shook the two metal glasses.
He poured them into the elegant martini glasses and I took a photo. We clinked our glasses and in unison said “Santé”, while we cooled off with the strong, effecting coffee.
Shakerato will now be my summer go-to drink, so if you want to find me, just go to the coffee bar at Eataly.
Click here to read my story about my first shakerato in Italy.
Eataly Paris Marais
37 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie, 75004
Metro: Hotel de Ville
Open daily
https://www.eataly.net/fr_fr/magasins/paris-marais/
Shaken NOT stirred, please!
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Paris video about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
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Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
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