Due mondi

Italian mood, Charleston address.

Why a caffè from a Ligurian harbor town ended up in the Lowcountry, and why that is less strange than it sounds.

The connection

Charleston already has an Italian sister.

In 1977 the Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti founded a festival in Charleston as the American twin of the one he ran in Spoleto, in Umbria. He chose the city for its old streets, its churches and theaters, and a size you can cross on foot.

Spoleto later became Charleston's sister city. The link was real long before anyone invented a caffè to sit inside it.

Illustration of Tino crouched with a wrench beside the red number 62 scooter outside the closed caffè door
What the two places share

The same paint chart, an ocean apart.

  • Pastel on the water

    Rainbow Row and a Ligurian harbor could share a paint chart.

  • The piazza

    Charlestonians call a side porch a piazza. The Italian word was already local.

  • Iron and shutters

    Cobblestones, steeples, iron balconies and window boxes: a port city on either side.

  • The pace

    Days shaped by the heat, long lunches, an evening walk. Bella vita needs no translation here.

Stockists and markets

No shelves yet.

When a Charleston shop carries the bags, it goes on this page, with the market days beside it. Until then the only counter is online, and it is always open.

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