Turin - Aperitivo Della Casa

Spurred on by the success at Caffe Mulassano, where they described their specially made product as their “aperitivo della casa”, I decided that would be a useful phrase to try out in some of Turin’s other historic caffes. At a minimum it would result in their own choice of cocktail - possibly even something they’d invented - or better still might unearth some more specially made products like at Mulassano.

If I’m honest this was not a particularly fruitful gambit in terms of discovering any great drinks, but if nothing else it was a useful pretext for touring a few caffes, and sampling the various aperitivo buffet offerings - that constituted dinner this evening.

First, was Caffe San Carlo. I’d been here on my first visit to Turin, and had been really impressed with the rather opulent interior, especially as we’d just had an espresso at the bar, costing a measly 1 Euro.

Owing to a bit of a communication issue, I was initially served their non-alcoholic aperitivo della casa which was essentially a mixture of fruit juices, and, it no longer being breakfast time, of little interest to me. So I then ordered the one with alcohol. This was a concoction of Campari, orange juice, gin and a “fruits of the forest” flavoured vodka, the latter ingredient looking particularly dubious to me. I asked him if the cocktail had a name, and I think he said a Riviera. I can’t find any recipe for a Riviera cocktail online, so perhaps I misunderstood. It was… OK I guess. The addition of fruit juice is never a good sign, and flavoured vodka? Shudder.

Next, also on the Piazza San Carlo, I tried Caffe Torino a go, largely because the big illuminated Martini sign outside gave me some hope that there might be a bit more of a vermouth presence here (I saw no trace of it at Caffe San Carlo). 

Their aperitivo della casa involved Martini Bianco and prosecco and probably another ingredient I missed, rather grumpily flung together by the surly barman, and served in a Martini glass with a maraschino cherry. It was, again, OK I guess - at least it had some vermouth in it, even though Martini Bianco is a bit hard to get excited about. I asked him if it had a name, he said no. The snacks were a little better here, various small fried things, potato croquettes and so forth.

Finally, because I’d read somewhere a mention of their aperitivo della casa, I tried Caffe Roberto. Here the buffet was a rather susbstantial affair - what they call apericena, a portmeanteau of aperitivo and cena, the Italian word for dinner. I.e. you can pretty much eat a whole meal here. The drink, on the other hand, was the worst of a bad bunch, and reminded me of the bad old days of cocktails, which were essentially an exercise in appealing to people who don’t really like the taste of alcohol, through reckless application of fruit juice.

So, that had not worked particularly well. Afterwards I returned to Mulassano to lift my spirits. At least one caffe in Turin is how I’d hoped and imagined they all would be.