Caffè Mulassano Torino

Overview

Caffè Mulassano on Turin's Piazza Castello is one of the most complete Art Nouveau café interiors in Italy. Designed by Antonio Vandone di Cortemilia and opened in 1907, it occupies a compact corner space beneath the Palazzo Chiablese arcades, its interior a jewel box of onyx bar, coffered wood-and-leather ceiling, Liberty stained glass, and floor-to-ceiling mirrors. It claims cultural heritage of a culinary kind as well: the tramezzino — the crustless triangular sandwich now ubiquitous across Italy — was invented here in 1925. Recognised as a locale storico d'Italia, Mulassano is still managed by the founding family.

Architecture

Antonio Vandone di Cortemilia fitted an extraordinary Liberty interior into a corner unit barely ten metres wide. The street façade, framed by the Baroque arcades of the Piazza Castello, is distinguished by an elaborate wrought-iron canopy and a curved glass shopfront. Inside, a barrel-vaulted coffered ceiling of inlaid wood and tooled leather panels covers the central space, a technique rare in Italian café design. The onyx bar top, the arabesque wrought-iron coat hooks, the Liberty stained-glass panels above the mirrors, and the encaustic floor tiles form a coherent decorative programme that has survived intact for over a century.

History

The café was founded in 1907 by the Mulassano family, who hired Vandone di Cortemilia to fit out their new premises in the most fashionable style of the day. It quickly became a rendezvous for Turin intellectuals, journalists, and the political class who gathered in the arcades around the Piazza Castello. In 1925 the café's new managers, Angela Demichelis Nebiolo and her husband Onorino, created the first tramezzino, trimming the crusts from triangular sandwiches and serving them with the café's celebrated cocktails. The name itself was popularised by Gabriele D'Annunzio, and the formula was imitated across Italy until the tramezzino became a national institution.

Interior

The Mulassano interior is remarkable for its compression of decorative richness into a small space. The coffered wood-and-leather ceiling is the central element: each coffer is framed in carved dark wood and lined with embossed and gilded leather in a pattern that recalls both Ottoman and Liberty precedents. The onyx bar counter — a single slab of deep green veined stone — runs along one wall beneath an elaborately framed mirror. Liberty stained-glass panels in botanical motifs filter the afternoon light. Coat hooks in wrought-iron arabesque, tiny marble-top tables, and the original mosaic floor complete a space that has been virtually unchanged since 1907.

Visiting

Caffè Mulassano is open Tuesday through Sunday for breakfast, lunch, and aperitivo. It is closed on Monday. The tramezzino is the essential order — dozens of varieties are prepared fresh daily. A coffee at the bar standing is the Torinese way. The space is small; peak hours can be crowded.

Getting There

Address: Piazza Castello 15, 10123 Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Metro line 1 serves Porta Nuova and Porta Susa, each about fifteen minutes on foot; the tram lines 4, 9, and 13 stop on Piazza Castello directly. The café sits under the arcades facing the Palazzo Reale.

In the Area

The Piazza Castello is the ceremonial heart of Turin. The Palazzo Reale, the Armeria Reale, and the Galleria Sabauda are immediately adjacent. The Mole Antonelliana — emblem of the city — is a ten-minute walk east. The Egyptian Museum, one of the finest outside Cairo, is five minutes south on Via Accademia delle Scienze.