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FOCUS - MAY 2015 63 Hats Off To Harry One of my most favou- rite aspects of travelling is nding unexpected hid- den gems in unique and exotic locales. One such nd was on a recent trip to Venice where I stumbled upon an establishment called Harrys Bar which was certainly not an Italian sounding place. Intrigued by this anomaly I decided to venture forth and entered what appeared to be a transition back to the 1930s. It was certainly a bar somewhat upscale but with a uniquely different atmosphere from any other drinking establishment in this famous Italian city. I ordered one of their original martinis which is served in a small glass without a stem. Their dry martinis are very dry apparently with the ratio of 10 parts gin to 1 part vermouth. The place is also the home of the famous Bellini cocktail which is known for its pinkish colour it reminded the bartender of a toga worn by a saint in a painting by Bellini. The drink and consequently the bar became a famous year-round haunt of Ernest Hemmingway. I also discovered that Harrys Bar is where the rst Carpaccio was created. This delicious dish of thinly sliced raw meat sh or vegetables has become a generic term used by many restaurants and chefs around the world. So why is a place in Venice called Harrys Bar especially since it is run by Vene- tians. The answer is quite interesting and certainly not what I expected. It seems a bartender named Giuseppe Cipriani worked in the Hotel Europa where a very rich Bostonian named Harry pickering was a frequent patron. Sud- denly without notice Harry stopped visiting the hotel and when Giuseppe nally saw him and asked him why Harry explained that he was broke because his family found out his drinking habits and cut him off nancially. The two had grown to be good friends and Ciprian who was saving to open his own bar decided to take 10000 lire about 5000 and give it to Harry. Harry was very grateful and said he would repay him. Time passed and two years later pickering returned to the hotel bar ordered a drink and gave Cipriani 50000 lire in return. Stunned and dumbfounded the Ital- ian bartender looked at the money and then at Harry. Mr. Cipriani thank you Harry said. Heres the money. And to show you my appreciation heres 40000 more enough to open a bar. We will call it Harrys Bar. And later that year in 1931 Giuseppe Cipriani opened a bar in St. Marks square and true to his word named it Harrys Bar. The haunt has become very famous over the years with the likes of Charlie Chap- The famous window of Venices well-know Harrys Bar Please turn to page 64