Harry's Bar in Venice to close doors as owner compares lockdown rules to those of concentration camps

1/6

A world-famous bar in Venice that once mixed drinks for the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway has announced it may have poured its last drop, and will not be reopening after lockdown – as its owner raged against the Italian government.

As reported in Venezia Today, Harry’s Bar will stay closed as lockdown eases in Italy, with bars and restaurants allowed to reopen from May 18. The bar was forced to shut at the beginning of March as the country scrambled to deal with the devastating impact of Coronavirus.

Owner Arrigo Cipriani told the paper: “I’m not opening on Monday, with those guidelines it is going to be impossible. These are silly conditions written by people without ideas and they stay this way, we won’t be opening – not on Monday, not ever.”

Cipriani, whose father opened the bar in 1931, continued: “Italian hospitality means welcoming, and good food. It needs love, freedom, and these [conditions] are things of concentration camps.

“These men in Rome worry about our health but they don’t worry about what will come next: starvation, because with these guidelines, people will starve.”

Cipriani went on to say: “There should be four metres square around customers, and I’m going to have to ask them for written permission to know which kind of relationship there is between them. It’s crazy. About the booking, they say it’s preferable to book – but is it an obligation or not? I fear no-one is going to show up. The world has stopped.”

The outspoken Cipriani took over the bar from his father in 1950, which was by then one of the most famous in the world, having been name-checked in Evelyn Waugh's 1947 novel Brideshead Revisited. In its heyday, it drew stars including Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock and Truman Capote, and is said to have invented both the Bellini cocktail and carpaccio, a way of preparing meat and fish. In 2001, Harry's was named a national landmark by the Italian Ministry for Cultural Affairs.

That history now looks to come to a close, as Cipriani mooted retirement – or at least a move.

“I haven’t counted how many people could fit here, but I know I would have to fire at least 50 of my 75 employees if I wanted to open this way – I’m 88 years old, I can always retire at this point.

“Harry’s Bar stays closed, and that means I’m going to open in Ibiza: the Spanish government has already put some money down to open”.

Italy had originally announced June 1 as the date for bars and restaurants to reopen, before bringing the date forward this week.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT