Bicerin at Caffè Al Bicerin
Since 1763 this tiny, wood-panelled café beside the church of the Consolata has been serving the bicerin — a strict three-layer composition of espresso, drinking chocolate, and whole-cream froth that is never stirred. Alexandre Dumas wrote about it, Cavour drank it daily, and it remains one of the most specific and delicious things you can put in your mouth in Italy.
What to Order and How to Drink It
The bicerin arrives in a small cylindrical glass so you can admire the stripes before drinking. The protocol is to sip through all three layers simultaneously, letting the bitter espresso, sweet chocolate, and cold cream hit at once. Resist the urge to mix it — the café staff will notice and quietly judge you.
Pair it with a hazelnut-paste-filled chocolate from the small counter display. Turin is the birthplace of gianduja (the hazelnut-chocolate blend that eventually became Nutella), and the chocolates here are a direct line to that history.
The Neighbourhood Around the Consolata
The café sits in the Quadrilatero Romano, Turin's oldest quarter, where Roman-era street lines survive under medieval arcades and artisan workshops. Spend an hour wandering Via della Consolata and the surrounding lanes — you'll find natural wine bars, vintage print shops, and a covered market selling local cheeses that most tourists never discover.
The Santuario della Consolata directly opposite is worth a five-minute detour: the interior is a baroque explosion of silver ex-votos and painted ceilings that feels more Naples than Piedmont.
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