The Bagel Factory

I think I've found the perfect place, near home, to spend my last bohemian month in Italy, before leaving. I found the perfect place to play the role of the creative writer, assuming the correct "aura" and "charisma" one should show to be respected and consequently well payed.

Forgive me for this, but today I'll definitely give publicity to a shop in Corso XXII Marzo, American Style, called "The Bagel Factory".
I had no clear idea of what a Bagel is, until this shop opened near my gym. I saw the restyling procedure lasting enough to be sure they totally reconverted the old "pizza da asporto" into a valuable location.
Today I found the courage to enter and I had a very good impression. It was because I found a place quite common abroad, but not so diffused in Italy (I don't know what about Rome, but in Milan this formula is quite unusual).

The Bagel Factory is a place where you can have the traditional American Bagel (maybe you can confirm me they are traditional, I cannot check). They also serve hot teas, american coffees, ice creams and yoghurts, salads… everything is healthy and organic. They focus all on the quality of the "raw materials", and I think this is a winning choice in moments of economical crisis.

The shop is structured on two levels. The lower is the selling area. The upper is a mezzanine where counters follows the limits of the floor, with chairs all along them. You can see the street in front of you.
Of course it's a simple scheme, nothing special, but maybe I was attracted by the fact it was quite empty (it's new and I went there in an unusual time - not for breakfast or lunch or dinner) clear and clean.

The style wants to recall something old and traditional, maybe even more European than American, but it doesn't matter: you can breath tradition and cleanliness. The walls are covered with ceramic tiles and the floors have a texture of little tesserae, white and black. The black ones should form something with a hole, like the bagel is. Pretty smart, I would say.

I'm perfectly conscious all the rest of the world is full of places like this, but for the Milanese standards is something new. It's not our classic "bar", nor a restaurant. It's a place, with free wi-fi, where you can go there and spent time in a creative way, maybe drinking a great black tea (vanilla flavored) 100% organic, as I did writing on my I-pad.

TodayI felt citizen of the world for almost 30 minutes…
Maybe we Milan is not that old as I could fear!


(the Architect's choice: metallic grid to better see the street and to bet your heels - as I did)



[please notice and remember:]

*Italy has no Starbucks at all.

*We have a lot of Mc Donald's - recently converted in Mc Cafè - and some Burger Kings.

*The 2012 is the 10° anniversary from MY last "Mc Lunch" and it was a salad. If you need a review on Mc Donald's, ask someone else!]