The Wall Street Journal recently published a very amusing article about the recent proliferation of cafes in the Milan stores of top clothing designers. Apparently, there are now cafes in the flagships of Robert Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Bulgari and Trossardi. Since Boston (justly or not) is not yet known as a destination for food or style, we don’t get to say this too often, but heck yeah! We’ve already been there and done that. The Armani Cafe may be departed, but it opened a good decade ago.
Hometown pride aside, there’s a lot to like in the WSJ article. Did you know that Milan’s Armani cafe is a branch of famed sushi restaurant Nobu? Fancy, right? Apparently, however, “prices follow no known logic; a bottle of water was €5, while a salmon roll was €6.” Unfortunate!
Other excellent revelations include the fact that Just Cavalli Cafe is immaculately designed but uses paper napkins, Dolce & Gabbana Gold features giant portions, and, with the exception of Bulgari Restaurant, all of the cafes are much less proportionately expensive than the clothing stores housing them. It’s great reading and it makes us want to go to Milan right this second. Sigh.
Milan Fashion Icons as Restaurateurs [Wall Street Journal]
Nobu [MenuPages]
Nobu [Official Site]
[Photo: Julia Holden]
