This tiny Café first saw the light of day in 1763. Indeed, in the last year the ‘acquacedratario’ Dentis opened his small shop right in front of the entrance to the Santuario of the Consolata. It was a dark place furnished simply with wooden tables and benches. We can try and imagine Mr. Dentis serving not only citrus juice, lemonade and other soft drinks, but also other mysterious and exotic goods: coffee, tea, chocolate…peculiar words, new flavours, surprising smells.
Scarcely conceived, yet to be christened…it would take a few years before being named after its most famous creation.
THE 800s CHANGE EVERYTHING
The locale changes face at the dawn of the 1800s. The entire building is renovated and the Caffè Al Bicerin takes on its character which it has lovingly preserved to this very day.  Notice the external wrought-iron frame, the advertising panels on the sides of the building, the small pillars and the capitals in cast-iron. However, these are not the only alterations. The interior walls have been embellished with woodwork adorned with mirrors and the plain tables are now elegant little marbled-topped tables. The counter is still there as solid and dependable as ever. Behind this, you can see the jars of sweets, 40 varieties…a joy to behold!
It really makes your heart flutter when you see a place exactly as it must have appeared to all the great women of that period.
There were a host of reasons for the success of the locale, not least of which was the invention of the delicious beverage “bavareisa”, a very fashionable drink served in large glasses and consisting of coffee, chocolate, milk and syrup.
The tradition for this new drink ‘bicerin’ meant that the three ingredients were served separately. Initially, there were three variations of the same theme: ‘pur e fiur’ (today’s cappuccino), ‘pur e barba’ (coffee and chocolate) ‘n poc ‘d tut’ (a little of everything), with a mixture of all three ingredients. This last formula became the most successful and was the most commonly used.
Concocted within the warm walls of this little Café, this drink slowly but surely spread to other locales in the city, becoming one of its symbols. It is served in small glasses (bicerin as it happens) without handles.
The history of chocolate- Chocolate in Turin – The Bicerin
Circa 1700 – the most common breakfast for the ‘torinesi’ (people of Turin) is the ‘bavareisa’, a drink made from coffee, chocolate and milk, served in a glass. A century later and thanks to this container, a small glass with a metal base and handle will become known as ‘bicerin’. Always served very hot in a glass container, the ingredients of the ‘bicerin’ are presented in three different ways.
‘Pur e Fiur’ (coffee and milk), ‘Pur e barba’ (coffee and chocolate), and finally ‘Un pù ‘d Tut’, a mixture of all three which is still the most commonly drunk today.
http://www.chococlub.com/consorzio/storia32.htm
But if the Caffè Al Bicerin was soon to become very fashionable, this was not only due to the great care in its attention to detail. One reason was its location, extremely fortunate in that it was right in front of the Santuario of the Consolata, a place loved by worshippers, and looking onto the piazza of the locale.  The history of the Caffè Al Bicerin was inextricably interwoven with the life of the Consolata. In fact, this new drink was the ideal boost for those who, having fasted for communion, were looking for something to provide them with energy having scarcely stepped out of the church.
Equally, it was highly coveted in the period of fasting for lent, as hot chocolate was not considered to be ‘food’ and therefore could be consumed openly even by the most devout followers of the faith.
ORDINARY PEOPLE AND ARISTOCRATS TOGETHER
The lady, the servant, the lord and the coachman …women in black with their hair ruffled, their hands hardened through work, side by side with pale-skinned ladies who are lavishly dressed. All crowded together awaited the coveted delicacy. There are already so many characteristics that create the extraordinary history of the Caffè Al Bicerin: the microscopic size of the locale, which has meant its various rooms couldn’t be extended (as has been the case with other cafès in Turin), and the fact it has drawn people together from a range of social classes.
But evidently the bicerin, hot chocolate and zabaioni (a dessert of egg beaten with sugar) were so good that the nobility deemed it acceptable to rub shoulders with the masses.  And the most humble people, so as not to give up a few simple pleasures in their hard lives, overcame the embarrassment of their social standing.
It was obvious that the cost of the ‘bicerin’ would have to be kept down so that even the less well-to-do could afford themselves this luxury from time to time. The price of 3 soldi, which was 15 cents of lira, remained the same from the mid-1800s until 5th December 1913, when it was raised to 20 cents. You could say the Bicerin became the first truly democratic public locale.
Once it was the number one consumption of all the people of Turin writes Nino Bazzetta of Vemenia in his book, ‘Historical Italian Cafès since 1939’. “The servants drank it furiously, between jobs, and the ladies (…)
(Cesarino Sandassi – Il giornale del Piemonte)
The bicerin became a national drink for a small nation loved equally by coachmen and bon viveurs, by seamstresses and by ladies.
(Tuttocittà 1990)
Here is born one of the most famous drinks in Turin, the ‘bicerin’ to be precise, a delicacy for all social classes.
(Il sole 24 ore)
The bicchierino (little glass) (a mixture of chocolate, milk and coffee) is the chosen morning drink for: ministers, magistrates, professors, shopkeepers, office boys, basket makers, stall holders men and women, farmers etc…all willingly spend their three soldi to revive themselves.
(‘Torino e i suoi dintorni’ by Stefani-Mondo)
For only twenty cents you have the classic bicchierino which makes for a nutritious snack.
(‘Torino e i torinesi’by Alberto Viriglio, Viglongo Editore).
Cafès were once the exclusive domain of men: men who met to drink, smoke and talk. ‘Respectable’ women weren’t able to frequent such places. This was also something in which the Bicerin soon proved itself to be quite unique. It was opened by a man, but the running of the place soon passed over to women.
The fact that it was run by women meant it was suitable for women to frequent. Not only this. They also blessed the locale with certain good manners and refinement still present today.  From 1910 to 1975, it was run by Mrs. Ida Cavalli, with the help of her sister and daughter Olga into whose hands it passed when her mother retired. The Cavallis were much loved in the city, even becoming an institution. Mostly because it was run more as a home than a business, all the penniless intellectuals fraternized the place, seeking comfort from the rigours of the cold in their favoutite Café-many of them becoming prominent figures. Just as well, Ida and Olga Cavalli gave them a warm place where they were able to exchange ideas.
 From its opening towards the end of the 18th Century (the simple honey-coloured interior dates back to 1830) the locale has always been run by women and for a long time was one of the few places women could be seen in public. Here they dunked their butter biscuits in their ‘bicerin’ to break the fast after taking mass in the church of the ‘Consolata’ just in front.
(Report by Corby Krummer- La Stampa)
For 65 years, between 1910 and 1975, the ‘Al Bicerin’ was owned by the two Cavalli sisters, still remembered by a lot of Torinesi as custodians of their shrine. It was they who held the formula that was passed down to the new owner by the daughter Olga. This drink mixes chocolate-flavoured cream and coffee-flavoured chocolate in magical measures giving exceptional results and concealing all the flavours of Turin.
(Giorgio Calcagno – La Stampa)
Turin’s Cafés were once a male preserve, meeting places for merchants and the literati. Bicerin was different: open since 1763, it has always been owned and run by women. In time, it became fashionable for women to take their coffee there after receiving communion at the Santuario of the Consolata across the piazza.
(Kieran Cooke – The Financial Times)
We said it was difficult to reach the counter or approach the composed faces of the women who took our orders, served us almost calmly with that captivating and courteous smile that says: ‘Welcome to Turin’, a reception that is astonishing both to our foreign guests and to the ‘Torinesi’ who have come out for a pleasant stroll in order to discover the oldest streets in the city.
(Renzo Rossotti – Il giornale del Piemonte)
Even today, if you cast your eyes over the corner table beside the window and below the clock, it seems as if you can see the Count of Cavour in person. Newspaper in hand, sipping a bicerin and every so often lowering his glasses to glance over at the entrance to the Consolata. He’s waiting for the Royal Family to come out so he can accompany them on their journey home. The statesman responsible for the unification of Italy, probably thought long and hard about the implications of the ‘Risorgimento’ between these walls.
These have been so many important figures, who have crossed the threshold of the ‘Al Bicerin’ … from its conception the famous have often honoured it with their presence.
Perhaps Alexandre Dumas the father (who speaks of the bicerin in a letter, as one of the things he wouldn’t like to see Turin lose) often bumped into Silvio Pellico, given that they frequented it in the same years.
 In his memoirs, Giacomo Puccini recounts how every so often he would go for a walk to the ‘Al Bicerin’-he lived a stone’s throw away in Via S. Agostino in an artist’s garret which he acknowledged as the inspiration for La Bohème. Perhaps the score of his ‘grand oeuvre’ was composed on these very tables.
 Friedrich Nietzsche, also liked a glass of bicerin. On his first encounter with it, he was struck by its temperature and apparently exclaimed “ Scorching hot, but it’s delicious!”.
 Queen Maria Josè and Umberto II came here before going into exile: to bid a sad but nevertheless sweet farewell to the historic capital… and to the kingdom.
The list is endless…
You could meet Macario having a hot bicerin, in the company of a beautiful actress and other actors, perhaps even Carlo Campanini just back from another Totò film. Wanda Osiris, a devoted regular at the Consolata, would often come from the spot-lights of the stage to the warm lights of the Bicerin.
 This is also a place loved by writers – hardly surprising since its compact atmosphere helps you to concentrate and reflect. In fact, the great Guido Gozzano was among one of its best customers. Italo Calvino and Mario Soldati, the latter being an important director of films and TV.
There have been so many famous faces, italian and foreign, from the world of stage and screen, politics and culture visiting the place regularly… we wish to respect their privacy and peace of mind by not naming them here, as they sit at our tables in the hope of experiencing this sweet moment.
(…) passionate people sat at their tables, men like Silvio Pellico was a stone’s throw from Piazza della Consolata, in Palazzo Barolo. Or inspired artists like Giacomo Puccini who leant on these seats his quill in hand ready to score the music while polluting the locale smoking so many cigarettes according to the chronicles of the time.
(Casarino Sandassi – Il giornale del Piemonte)
Many important musicians, politicians and writers met here over the years. But it was more than a meeting place, it was a place to keep warm because so many of them were poor intellectuals living in very cold homes.
It’s hard to believe the café hosted key intellectuals, who were responsible for some of Italy’s most historic events.
(Jo McKenna – Italy Down Under- The National Magazine of Italian Australian affairs and culture)
The 50s brought a gust of joy and abandon in the form of stars who became regulars of the locale. Macario and all the actors and singers in repertory also came to the ‘Al Bicerin’.
The undisputed queen is still Wanda Osiris , who supplemented her faith (she attended mass at the Consolata) with a full breakfast of hot chocolate and home-made cakes.
( Silvia Greco – La Stampa)
But fashion blows hot and cold…all that’s needed is a gust in the wrong direction to dampen the enthusiasm and put memory to sleep. With the passage of time, it was left only for the Caffè Al Bicerin to maintain the traditions of this historic drink, and it’s thanks to the efforts of the owners that the original recipe has been handed down. Because of this, it is still possible to savour this delicacy unchanged by time.
 Nevertheless, for some years now there has been a true “ upsurge of passion”…once again everyone’s talking about the bicerin …and from there…it will be titillating the taste buds of everyone with a sweet-tooth. They are not only interested in preserving the delights of the past, researching new recipes, choosing prime and expensive materials and produce, but they also care about the satisfaction of the excellent clientele all attended to by Maritè Costa, the owner of this temple of taste for the last 20 years. The nine varieties of ‘zabaione’, the Rubino cocktail, the high quality chocolate, both to drink and eat…all prove that Caffè Al Bicerin is not resting on its laurels but moving with the times.
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