Latest news with #BarCentrale
Indian Express
22-04-2025
- Indian Express
Still stirring at 100: Meet Italy's oldest barista Anna Possi
In a world where most people dream of retiring early, Italy's oldest barista is still brewing coffee — and love — at 100. Meet Anna Possi, fondly known as Nonna Anna, who has been running her beloved Bar Centrale in the quaint village of Nebbiuno since 1958. Officially retired at 60, she never truly hung up her apron. 'But why should I stop? My bar is so much more than work for me. It's my life,' she told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, as reported by South China Morning Post. From opening the café at 7 am sharp every day — including Sundays and public holidays — to chopping her own firewood for the stove, Nonna Anna does it all. Her last holiday? A trip to Paris in the 1950s. 'People want to drink their coffee at Christmas too,' she shrugs. Despite receiving a modest pension of 590 euros, she says, 'I don't need much. The important thing is that I'm around people. Then I feel good.' A sign outside her café now reads proudly: La barista più longeva d'Italia — the oldest barista in Italy. And yes, she's still serving espresso with a side of joy. On a crisp morning in Nebbiuno, Italy, the scent of espresso wafted through Bar Centrale as its centenarian owner, Anna Possi, celebrated her 100th (X) Over the decades, Nonna Anna has witnessed how the rhythm of café life has changed. 'People used to sit here, talk and play cards. Today, they all just look at their mobile phones,' she observes, reminiscing about livelier, more social times. When things quiet down, she picks up her knitting needles — never one to stay idle. Even after six decades behind the counter, Anna still prefers doing most of the work herself, from morning till night. And her secret? Staying active, staying useful, and staying close to the community she loves.
NDTV
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
This 100-Year-Old Woman Is Italy's Oldest Barista, Opens Cafe 365 Days A Year
Anna Possi, who lives in the beautiful village Nebbiuno, is Italy's oldest barista, working at her cafe bar every day, even at the age of 100. Anna, also popular as Grandma Anna or Nonna Anna, officially retired at 60 back in 1984. "But why should I stop? My bar is so much more than work for me. It's my life," she told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, reported South China Morning Post. While she receives a pension of 590 euros and does not earn much money, she continues to work at the cafe for the joy of it. "But I don't need much. The important thing is that I'm around people. Then I feel good," she says. Nonna Anna has been opening her Bar Centrale daily at 7 am since 1958, which is more than six decades. She closes the cafe at seven in the evening in winter and at nine in summer. The cafe is open 365 days a year. Nonna Anna can be found making coffee even on Sundays and public holidays. "People want to drink their coffee at Christmas too," she says. She does not close the cafe for any personal breaks or holidays. Her last holiday was eight days in Paris in the 1950s. Even at the cafe, she does most of the work alone from morning to night. At the age of 100, she even chops wood for the small stove herself. Noticing the change in people and cafe culture over time, she shares, "People used to sit here, talk and play cards. Today, they all just look at their mobile phones." When there is nothing to do, she gets busy with her knitting. In November 2024, Nonna Anna celebrated her 100th birthday. Celebrating this milestone, a sign at the cafe reads 'La barista piu longeva d'Italia' or 'the oldest barista in Italy'. Did you find Nonna Anna's story inspiring? Click here to learn about this famous restaurant run by grandmothers from around the world.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Italy's oldest barista Nonna Anna is still going at 100
Grandma Anna is up and at it again, just like every morning, day after day, week after week - for 65 years. At 100, Grandma Anna or Nonna Anna as Anna Possi is known in this picturesque village above Lake Maggiore, is Italy's oldest barista. For more than six decades - since 1958 to be exact - Nonna Anna has been opening her Bar Centrale at 7 am. It closes at seven in the evening in the winter and at nine in summer - 365 days a year. In November, Nonna Anna celebrated a century of living - and there's a sign on her cafe to prove it: La barista più longeva d'Italia or the oldest barista in Italy, to remind guests of her achievement. But despite all the pride, there is a problem: Italy's café bars, many of which are family-run, are running out of new blood. There are 132,000 cafés between South Tyrol and Sicily, compared to 20,000 more 10 years ago, according to the latest figures from the National Hotel and Catering Association Fipe. The reasons for the decline are almost the same everywhere: working days of 12 to 14 hours, low wages, high rents and now even higher commodity prices for coffee. Being a barista is not an attractive job alternative for young people, the trade group says. Yet café bars are an integral part of everyday life in Italy. A caffè, what is known in many other parts of the world as an espresso, or a cappuccino in the morning, often with a cornetto pastry, another cup or two at lunchtime and then an aperitivo in the evening is the everyday routine for many Italians. Whether you're in a big city or a small village, you see each other and talk about this and that, about football more so than politics. Open all year round - even at Christmas This is also the case with Nonna Anna, who is of course an institution in Nebbiuno. She officially retired at 60 back in 1984. "But why should I stop? My bar is so much more than work for me. It's my life," she says. She is even at the machine on Sundays and public holidays. "People want to drink their coffee at Christmas too." Her last holiday was in the 1950s - eight days in Paris. Possi was born a few kilometres away, in Vezzo, also above the lake. Once she had finished school and World War II was over, she worked in a restaurant on Lake Geneva for a few years. It was there that she met her husband René, a Swiss national. Together they bought the bar in the centre of the village of Nebbiuno. But René has now been dead for half a century after a heart attack. "Today, everyone just looks at their mobile phones" Sometimes her daughter Cristina, 61, who works diagonally opposite in the town hall, helps out. She also lives directly above the bar, in the flat next door. Possi's son lives 75 kilometres away in Milan and her two granddaughters are already out of the house. So even at the age of 100, she does most of the work alone from morning to night. She even chops the wood for the small stove herself. Nonna Anna doesn't earn much money. A caffè costs €1.20 ($1.30), a cappuccino €1.50. If there are no tourists, she has no more than €40 in her till on some evenings. She receives a pension of €590. "But I don't need much. The important thing is that I'm around people. Then I feel good." But: "People used to sit here, talk and play cards. Today, they all just look at their mobile phones," she says. When there's nothing to do, she takes out her knitting. No glasses - and half a tablet a day And her health? "My head is still going strong and so are my bones," says Nonna Anna. The last time she saw a doctor was two and a half years ago, she claims. Her daughter Cristina says it was more like five. She doesn't need glasses, but she does need a hearing aid though she says it never works. And, as far as medication is concerned, she only takes a single tablet a day, for high blood pressure. "But I only ever take half a tablet. You don't have to believe everything the doctor says." Italy's oldest barista no longer has any big plans. "I used to want to go to Paris again. But that's probably not going to happen," she says. "It doesn't matter: the French don't know coffee anyway," she adds mischievously. Daughter doesn't want to take over She has no illusions about what will happen to the Bar Centrale. "When I'm gone, my bar will be gone too." For a while, she hoped that Christiana might take over, but her daughter is not planning to do so. Nonna Anna shrugs her shoulders and takes out her knitting again.
South China Morning Post
15-03-2025
- South China Morning Post
Cappuccino in the afternoon? Italy's oldest barista on why breaking big coffee taboo is OK
Italians are well known for frowning at tourists and their ill-timed coffee requests – but not Italy's oldest barista, Anna Possi. Advertisement The 100-year-old, who has been running a cafe above Lake Maggiore in northern Italy for more than half a century, has no objection to the controversial cappuccino after noon – traditionally a no-go in Italy. 'Who am I to tell my guests when to drink which coffee?' Possi says. 'Everyone can do as they please.' The question of whether a cappuccino – an espresso in a larger cup with frothed milk – can still be drunk after noon is one of the big issues in the coffee world. Anna Possi outside Bar Centrale in Nebbiuno, northern Italy. Photo: courtesy of Anna Possi An afternoon latte, cappuccino or flat white is common in many countries, but in Italy, where there are more than 130,000 coffee bars, coffee with milk after midday is frowned upon in many parts.
