With
the passage of time, we change our perceptions of things and beliefs as
well as customs and habits. Consciously or unconsciously,
systematically or hazardously. For better and for worse. With everyday
things one takes for granted, and others even more trivial that one
never ever bothers to give a second thought of. Coffee for instance. Or
the so denominated 'Menu of the day' in a restaurant.
Today nothing could seem more innocent than taking a cup of coffee, at any hour and at any place. But when the first establishments started to offer coffee in Barcelona, in fact the very first one opened it's doors for the public in 1750, by an Italian, Caponato, it was seen as something transgressive, almost sinful. Perhaps in part due to the 'clever' advertising of the beneficial properties of coffee, that's energising, stimulating and, aphrodisiac!
This first cafe was situated in the now very famous Rambla, right in the centre of the city. It took half a century before the number of cafes in Barcelona to have increased to 22, but was still seen and thought of as somewhat 'naughty' or rather daring for people to go to a cafe and drank this strange dark and bitter liquid. It had to be special or peculiar that even Anderson wrote about them.
Soon after there were cafes with singers and later other performers, so going to a cafe was not just for the coffee but to be entertained at the same time. This atmosphere attracted the prostitution, delinquency and epic brawls, while those advertised as Cafe Concerts became social meeting points for the professional class, writers, poets, journalist, reporters, and business people.
As to the restaurants, the first ones appeared in 1777. Carlos Schenone, a chef from Genoa was the first that had implanted a then novelty, the menu of the day, originally concocted to use up the left-overs from the day before!
Current Mood: 
Accomplished
Accomplished
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