Caffe Trieste

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Caffé Trieste is a coffeehouse in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, located at the corner of Vallejo Street and Grant Avenue. The caffe became popular among the many young Beat writers and artists who lived in North Beach in the 1950s and 60s.

The caffe was founded in 1956 by Giovanni Giotta (or "Papa Gianni" as he came to be known), originally hailing from the small fishing town of Rovigno, Croatia. In the early 1950's, Giotta immigrated with his family to America, settling in San Francisco. Remembering the espresso houses of Trieste, Italy, Giotta opened Caffe Trieste—said to be the first espresso house on the west coast—in San Francisco's North Beach, where it quickly became popular among the neighborhood's primarily Italian residents. "It was all Italian people," Giotta said, "But I got the American people to like cappuccino." ^[1]

Following Allen Ginsberg's reading of 'Howl' at the Six Gallery in 1955, which began the Beat literary movement in San Francisco, the caffe became a meeting-place for such writers as Jack Kerouac, Bob Kaufman, Gregory Corso, Michael McClure and Kenneth Rexroth, among others. ^[2]

The caffe has been featured in several movies, and was where Francis Ford Coppola wrote much of the script for The Godfather. It remains a favorite destination for writers, artists, hipsters, neighborhood residents and tourists.

Caffe Trieste celebrated its 50th anniversary in April of 2006. ^[3]

[edit] References

^ "50 Years of Art and Coffee" by Cecilia M. Vega, San Francisco Chronicle, April 1, 2006 [1]
^ Mick Sinclair, San Francisco: A Cultural and Literary History (Signal Books, 2004), page 176
^ "50 Years of Art and Coffee"