Cafe Natale

Cafe Natale, “cafe Christmas” in Italian, is one of the best cafes in the city and has a certain “blink and you miss it” quality that comes from being hidden away on a side street a block from the city center. Like many Italian establishments, Cafe Natale is family owned and operated, and once they’ve seen your face two or three times, you and your order won’t be forgotten.

As always, I’m brought a chocolate cornetto and a cappuccino (yes, this daily routine is causing a weight increase) and it’s always delivered to my table with a smile just as warm and inviting as the cornetto I bite into seconds later. For my money, it’s the best cornetto in the city (at 80 cents to a euro or more at most establishments, it’s also the cheapest). Unlike in some other cafes, the pastries here as always fresh and thanks to the heated pastry case, never need to be warmed in the microwave. The chocolate in my cornetto is similarly fresh, actual dark chocolate rather than some alternate sugary confection that some cafes use in their “chocolate” pastries. The pastries maintain a perfect golden brown sheen, never over or under baked, and biting into one is a truly rapturous experience. The cappuccinos here similarly evoke similar feelings of bliss and over the dozen or so I’ve had at Natale none have failed to measure up to my expectations. It might not be the very best cappuccino in the city (that would be Cafe Roma) but it is a very close second, and, coupled with the excellent pastries, well worth a stopover.

In the end though it is the attitude of this cafe that really makes it worth recommending. This is the type of place where every individual bellows out a heart “Bonjourno” upon entering, not just to the family running things behind and in front of the counter, but to the patrons as well. Which is why in the end, despite its decidedly un-christmasy, un-Italian orange decor, Cafe Christmas is a merry place to spend the start of your day, and the most authentically Italian one as well.

Address Via Rattazzi n. 13 Public transport N/A: It’s small town in Italy – you can walk.

Opening times As this is Italy, my putting up the hours would be pointless. Opening and closing times are completely up to the whim of the owner. Being closed on Tuesday is something you can take to the bank… though preferably not an Italian one.

Cost € Telephone 080 930 3045 Website  N/A