FLORENCE, Italy – “Ditta Artigianale”, the microroastery and coffee bar dedicated to the conscious consumption of coffee, directed by multiawarded italian barista champion Francesco Sanapo (in the picture) in collaboration with Daniele Palladini, doubles in Florence.
The new space will debuted Thursday 3rd of March at 6.30 pm in the central via dello Sprone 5r under the name of Ditta Artigianale Oltrarno.
It will be located on the typical florentine Rive Gauche, between piazza Pitti, the Santa Trinita bridge, Santo Spirito and piazza della Passera, in a building designed in the 50’s by Giovanni Michelucci, one of the biggest italian architects of the XX century.
Just like the previous bar, which opened in 2014 in via dei Neri 32r and quickly became an obligatory stop for an international and eterogeneous audience hungry for taste, it will revolve around its caffetteria service, thanks to the specialty coffee menu, chosen from small local producers around the globe, freshly roasted and served.
Ditta Artigianale Oltrarno will also be a full fledged restaurant thanks to the cooking skills of chef Arturo Dori, sommelier and gourmet extraordinaire, who will serve different delights made of seasonal ingredients for lunch and dinner.
A mediterranean cooking – and clearly tuscan as well, but not only – mixed with other kinds of ethnic food, for a fusion effect. In the evening, beginning at 6pm, Ditta Artigianale will become a gin bar, with a selection of over 150 labels coming from all over the world and a list of cocktails created for the occasion.
The total surface, around 220 square meters, has been designed, just like the original Ditta Artigianale, by the Q-bic architecture studio of brothers Luca and Marco Baldini who took inspiration from the 50’s and Michelucci’s very own rationalist architecture, famous for the designs of the florentine train station Santa Maria Novella and the church at Autostrada del Sole.
The store is allocated on two floors: With two different souls, communicating with each other: it’s a place with elegant tones, with a rigorous esthetic where wood, marble, concrete, typical elements of the postwar era are dominant.
The first floor is mostly dedicated to the caffetteria itself, with a cocktail area and the gin bar, a place designed for a quick stop.
The counter (low and narrow, for a closer contact with the clients) will be responsible – by going through the different levels which divide the space – to join together the different souls of Ditta Artigianale.
At the upper floor, instead, there will be a relax area, with tables where it will be possible to eat in total tranquillity.
The remaining areas are the kitchen and the entrance, which is connected with a spiral staircase to the upper floor.
All of the furniture, some of which have been designed specifically for the place by the two architects while others are made of salvaged materials, like the Frattini chairs, respect philologically the original language of the spot, regarding the materials, the colours and the shape.
From the original project, the big windows have been saved which were preexistent and are very bright. At the entrance, a console, probably realized by Michelucci himself, will be the dj booth for the music evenings. For the summer, the adjacent suqare will be furnished with dehors.
The kitchen
Chef Arturo Dori will propose elaborated dishes like entrees, main courses, gourmet sandwiches, cakes and a wide selection of half orders.
These will have a reduced size and a cheap cost in order to let the clients enjoy as many as possible for an affordable price.
Among the many specialties, you will find “Crusted Caprino with honey tapenade” and “Puntarelle with anchovies” as well as “chicken’s livers terrine, bread brioche and vin santo jelly”.
The menu will mix typical tuscan tastes like sausages and beans with colombian empanadas.
There will also be a smaller menu for the gourmet sandwiches like Club Sandwich or Lobster roll, beside a vegan sandwiched created by Dori made of black cabbage pesto, burrata lucana, marinated dried tomatoes and pine nuts as well as the “Lamburger” an hamburger made of lamb meat, fresh goat cheese and harissa.
The pastry will be realized in collaboration with Vanilla Cake, just like in the first Ditta Artigianale.
Breakfast will be split in italian (with french croissants and various sweets and cakes typical of our tradition) and international with express food for both sweet and sour (french toast, pancakes, scrambled eggs and the “top of the line” croque monsieur and croque madame)
Coffee, tea, cocktail
Francesco Sanapo will be joined in the coffee area by Francesco Masciullo who got on the podium (third place) at the latest Italian Barista Championship who took place last January in Rimini.
Among the coffees served at Ditta Artigianale Oltrarno, there will be very rare botanical varieties, “Geisha” from Panama, “Finca Las Nubes” from Colombia and “Finca Catalan” from the company Las Mercedes of Guatemala.
These are particularly aromatic coffees, the Colombian with a jasmine smell and pleasant citrus notes, Guatemala instead has an aroma of almonds, caramel and chocolate.
Coffee will be served with various methods, from espresso to the “brew bar” to obtain infusions following a slow “philosophy” of life, like V60, Syphon, Aeropress, Cold brew, and the brand new “Steampunk”, which uses an innovative technique, very showy and extremely versatile.
A novelty of this year will be the selection of teas ad infusions handled by Monica Meschini (tea cupper and taster) in collaboration with Tea Institute.
Among these, there will be some really precious essences, like the japanese green tea “Shizuoka Igyokuro” and the white tea “Fujian white monkey” which will be served with both the Steampunk method and the traditional one.
The cocktail area and American Bar will be taken care of by two famous bartenders like Kareem Bennett and Natalia Mazzilli, who will interpret classic drinks in a modern way, following the “mixology” philosophy, with fancy cocktails.
A very important part of Ditta Artigianale is still the Gin bar, (available fot tasting also the italian gin like Vallombrosa which is made by the monks who live in the place of the same name on the tuscan Appennino).
There’s also room for a selection of vodka, rhum, whisky, tequila and mezcal, a mexican spirit mad out of agaves.
Among the cocktails on the menu there will be creations like “Ditta Artigianale Spritz”, prepared with a “Slow gin”, made by an infusion of wild plums, sweet and with a violet colour, with prosecco, a touch of soda and a basil leaf and then the “Negroni Ditta Artigianale” with gin, campari bitter, high quality vermouth, sour oranges jam and ginger.
There will be also a list of red and white wines, and some sparkling ones, according to the menu.
Francesco Sanapo says: “I can finally see a growing interest in the customers to discover new tastes of coffee, to try to experience the caffetteria in a different way, not only as an “instant pleasure”.
I think that, in general, there’s more curiosity: customers who come here want to know the single details, the origin, the story of the farmer, the aromas of the beverages they consume.
They also want to choose how to enjoy their coffee, not only in the espresso method, but with the different types of filter coffee.
From the very beginning, here at Ditta Artigianale, we tried to give the best answers because our first goal is to let people understand what’s behind their beloved cup.
Regarding the recent news of an italian opening by Starbucks, I think that it’ s a positive fact, it’s something new and the world of the italian caffetteria needs novelties, to develop and move forward.
Starbucks communicates a lot on coffee and this will help us spreading the knowledge, moving to a consciousness of what we consume, a goal that we started and that we keep on doing everyday”.
Ditta Artigianale Oltrarno will be opened everyday, monday to sunday at the following hours: 8-24.
For infos and reservations www.dittaartigianale.it
