In much of Italy and particularly in the socio-cultural hub of Florence, where the post-industrial espresso industry is so firmly institutionalized and café bar culture is so deeply entrenched, any serious attempt to introduce new ways of thinking about coffee must be viewed as something of a challenge.
Three-time Italian barista champion Francesco Sanapo opened the upscale, barista-craft-focused Ditta Artigianale on Via dei Neri in central Florence in 2013. I happened upon the bar that September 2014, and even then it was so unlike the hundreds of other surrounding café bars that it raised a number of questions, one of the most interesting being, “Can this exist here?”