Italy - Cipriani Drinks

“Giuseppe,” Giulietta said “I’ve found Harry’s Bar”. Fifteen feet by thirty, it was the cordage warehouse. I liked it at once because it was at the end of a dead-end street. At that time there was no bridge connecting the street to Piazza San Marco. The customers would have to come there on purpose, and couldn’t just stop in as they were passing by. I wanted a simple, elegant place with two essential features: the customer must not feel oppressed by the décor and there had to be light. In creating what was to become known as the Bellini cocktail in 1948, Giuseppe Cipriani was once again inspired by a painter, the fifteenth century Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini. Peaches were in abundance throughout Italy from June through September, and he had a predilection for the white ones. So much so, in fact, that he kept wondering whether there was a way to transform this magic fragrance into a drink he could offer at Harry’s Bar.