Arrigo Cipriani can get annoyed about a lot of things at the moment, for example the government in Rome, the European Union, the Italian media landscape or the inspectors of the “Michelin Guide”. In a tailored suit, the 88-year-old innkeeper welcomes you to his office in Venice, two floors above his mythical “Harry’s Bar”.
It is the first day after almost two and a half months of virus-related lockdowns that the bars in Italy are allowed to welcome guests again. The doyen of Italian restaurateurs looks through his office window at the Canale della Giudecca, which, due to the lack of tourists, is as quiet and unnavigated as it has ever been.
The whole of Venice is unrecognizable these days. Like most bars in the lagoon city, Cipriani’s businesses are still closed. A few days earlier, the feisty restaurateur was quoted in the media as saying that Harry’s Bar, one of the most famous and historic bars in the world and a symbol of the city, would no longer open at all.
WORLD: Mr. Cipriani, with your announcement that you would close your restaurant permanently, you caused worldwide horror. Are you aware of this?
Arrigo Cipriani: Total nonsense, I never said that. That grew out of the crap of dubious journalists. Rather, I said that “under these circumstances” I would no longer unlock. So with those distance and administration rules that were announced by the government in advance. But two days ago, new rules were published, and suddenly they only required a distance of one meter between the guests instead of two. And the tables no longer have to be four meters apart, as was planned. That all sounds a lot more reasonable, we can probably live with that.
WORLD: So when will you unlock again?
Cipriani: “Harry’s Dolci” (the slightly cheaper offshoot of “Harry’s Bar” on the island of Giudecca, editor’s note) will open in June, “Harry’s Bar” then in August.
WORLD: Why so late?
Cipriani: Because there won’t be any tourists until then and we live mainly from foreign guests. We cannot survive economically with the few natives who still exist here.
WORLD: “Harry’s Bar” is one of the most famous bars in the world, it’s usually very difficult to get a table here. How big is the financial damage for you?
Cipriani: It’s huge. Every month that “Harry’s Bar” remains closed means a loss of sales of one million euros. The government keeps promising help, but we haven’t received anything yet. Our employees have been on short-time work for weeks, but they only paid them their salaries two days ago. These people in Rome are utterly clueless and utterly inept. And the same in Brussels. You can write that, I would tell them that to their faces.
WORLD: What do you expect from politics?
Cipriani: That they support us, that they help us as quickly and unbureaucratically as possible. All of Italy needs help. We are facing a tourist-free season, how are we going to survive? And if Europe doesn’t help us, how is the European Union supposed to survive? Europe is nothing without Italy. You won’t find a cultural diversity, a cultural wealth like here with us anywhere else in the world. We have to make that clear to our European partners instead of acting like beggars in front of them.
WORLD: Venice has had the worst possible press lately: greed, mass tourism, floods, completely excessive restaurant prices and also cruise ships in the lagoon, which endanger the city and the environment. Do you see an opportunity for a new beginning in this crisis?
Cipriani: It absolutely needs it. The most important thing is to repopulate the city. 30 years ago we were 150,000 inhabitants, of which only 40,000 are left. And I’m the youngest among them. A number of companies have moved away in recent years, and with them the families of the employees. A city consists of stones and people, here only the stones have remained. To attract people, you need action. For example, we have a wonderful university here, but hardly any students can afford an apartment because they all serve as beds
WORLD: That all sounds like a long-term project.
Cipriani: I won’t experience that again myself. But that doesn’t matter either. The man who laid the first stone for the Doge’s Palace knew that he would never see the palace finished. He laid the stone anyway, leaving his soul behind. Venice is full of such souls.
WORLD: “Harry’s Bar” is also known for them, namely for the many celebrities and artists who came and went here in the 90 years of its existence and who filled the bar with soul. Will that even be possible with the new hygiene regulations?
Cipriani: We’re just trying to find out. 75 people work in “Harry’s Bar” in an area of ??70 square meters. You can imagine that it won’t be easy. Many believe that the important thing is the food. But my idea of ??a restaurant is primarily the reception, the care of the guests, the culture of service. The shape, height and placement of the tables has to be right, the tablecloths have to be made of linen, and the lighting has to be right. To host is first and foremost to love.
WORLD: Do you miss this approach in Italy today?
Cipriani: Absolutely. And this local guide from the French tire manufacturer is to blame. He has Italian gastronomy on his conscience. Today’s Italian cuisine is just a failed copy of the French. All these celebrity chefs are nothing more than narcissistic roosters. This is already evident from this tiresome “tasting menu” that you have to order everywhere nowadays without the option to choose. The hospitality industry is primarily about freedom, namely the freedom of the guest!
WORLD: So you think little of innovation in the kitchen?
Cipriani: I wouldn’t put it that way. Italian cuisine is at home in the well-kept trattoria, where traditional dishes are prepared with passion and using high-quality ingredients. Maintaining tradition means innovation. A good cook is also an excellent craftsman. For me there are restaurateurs and chefs. And the latter have to stay in the kitchen.
WORLD: But dishes were also created in “Harry’s Bar”. The most famous example is certainly the carpaccio. That’s innovation, isn’t it?
Cipriani: If you like, you can call it innovation. The fact is that my father originally prepared the dish for the Contessa Amalia Nani Mocenigo, who could not eat boiled meat. And because there was an exhibition by the Renaissance painter Carpaccio, who used a very intense red, he called it Carpaccio. But that has nothing at all to do with these dishes, which are all about appearance and are only there for the chef to show off.
WORLD: I heard that your son had contracted the corona virus. Aren’t you afraid of getting infected too?
Cipriani: Luckily my son is fine again. And I’m 88, what should I be afraid of? Before death? It’s already behind me anyway. Because death is nothing other than the sum of what we wanted to do in life and didn’t do.
WORLD: When do you estimate the economic situation of your company will have recovered?
Cipriani: I think it will take a full year. Then the virus will be gone. But Venice will still be in its place, waiting to be admired in its uniqueness.
