Venice: The secret of luxury

In the latest episode of this web series on Venice, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Patrizio Roversi meets and interviews Arrigo Cipriani, owner of the famed Harry’s Bar.

The story is widely known: in 1930, his father Giuseppe kindly donated money to an impoverished American visitor called Harry, who went on to create a fortune and repay the loan with interest. Giuseppe develops his small bar in Piazza San Marco and renames it Harry’s Bar, giving rise to his son, Arrigo!

Since then, Harry’s Bar has become a world-famous culinary and wine company, having invented the Bellini and the Carpaccio, among other things. Cipriani, on the other hand, remains in Venice, where he grows artichokes on the island of Torcello and ships them to premium restaurants throughout the world.

Even an artichoke can become a luxury object, because luxury, according to Cipriani, lies in the essence of things, in the intellect placed into them by people who created them.