The Venetian Harry’s Bar is certainly among the most famous bars in the world, created in 1931 by Giuseppe Cipriani. The story for which it bears this name is peculiar. It began about a century ago, when Giuseppe Cipriani was a barman at the Hotel Europa, at that time among the most elegant and important hotels in the city. Among the bar’s customers was American student Harry Pickering, who came to Venice with an aunt to treat the alcoholism the young man was suffering from. After a furious argument, the aunt left, leaving her nephew in town with little money. Cipriani took pity on this young man and lent him as much as 10,000 lire, at the time a very large sum, certain of not having them back. Instead, Harry went back to America, healed his problems and returned to Venice. In gratitude, he not only returned the 10,000 lire to Cipriani but gave him another 30,000 so that he could open a bar of his own. On May 13, 1931, this bar of only 45 square meters opened on Calle Vallaresso, which Cipriani named HARRY’S BAR precisely in gratitude of Harry Pickering. Although enlarged, it still maintains its headquarters in calle Vallaresso and is managed with great skill by Giuseppe’s son Arrigo Cipriani.
The guest book includes: Arturo Toscanini, Truman Capote, Charlie Chaplin, Peggy Guggenheim, Georges Braque, Alfred Hitchcock, Barbara Hutton, Aristotle Onassis, Orson Welles, and many others. Between 1949 and 1950 Ernest Hemingway was a regular guest and it seems that among its tables he wrote one of his important works such as “Across the River and into the Trees” where indeed he often mentions Harry’s Bar.
Created by Giuseppe Cipriani and initially served to Harry’s Bar clientele, two original recipes have achieved international notoriety: the Bellini cocktail and the carpaccio.
Since 2001 Harry’s Bar has been “National Heritage of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs“, an excellence of which Venice is obviously proud.
Website: www.cipriani.com
Location: Calle Vallaresso, Venice
