As though we needed yet another reason to adore Prada, we have a rather compelling one in Marchesi 1824.
The highlight of our recent meanders in Milan indisputably constellated around the hours blissfully well-spent ensconced within the fashion house’ movie-set Milanese café. Really, if Wes Anderson ever designed a bakery, there’s no doubt that it would like something like this.
As it’s name suggests, the historic café was first opened close to 200 years ago in 1824. While bought over by the Prada Group in 2014, it remains a family-run pastry shop at heart, guided by founder Angelo Marchesi’s grandson (also named Angelo!). Prada’s involvement has of course, meant a fittingly-fashionable facelift for the pasticceria.
Today, the original outpost in Milan’s Via Santa Maria alla Porta is supplemented by achingly-stylish cafés in the haute boulevard, Via Monte Napoleone; and of course, above Prada’s boutique in the iconic Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II (Milan’s oldest shopping mall!).
We can’t help but visit the latter twice in less than two days – drawn back as much by the #AccidentallyWesAnderson aesthetics (saturated in minty hues), as the densely-decadent Italian-style hot chocolate paired with the signature Torta Aurora – an impossibly-light milky sponge cake layered with fresh cream.
A visual feast for both your eyes and your thirty-two sweet teeth, the cafés are also fabled for their colourful line-up of cakes and dragées (glossy, candied sweets), sourdough panettone and intensely-rich chocolate spreads (made with Piedmont hazelnuts no less, for an elevated take on Nutella). The highly-desirable wrapping has us elbowing the well-heeled crowds at the counter, to ensure we leave armed with piles of gifts for our friends and family back home!
Needless to say, you can only imagine our delight to see Marchesi now open in our charming neighbourhood in London, its inimitable interiors and irresistible treats now easily accessible on a fittingly-historic corner of Mount Street in Mayfair. In true Milanese fashion, you can also expect the café to double as a modish choice for aperitivo hour, with summer-drenched Camparis conjured up by their debonair baristas-cum-bartenders. Needless to say, #Marchesi1824London is set to be the new darling on the Insta-scene and for the city’s chic set!
Marchesi 1824, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 20121 Milano MI, Italy | Marchesi 1824, 117 Mount Street, London