Born from the restoration of the mid-20th century industrial buildings of La Marzocco, the Accademia del Caffè Espresso of Pian di San Bartolo in Fiesole, with its museum, bar restaurant and laboratories, is a magical experiential journey into the extraordinary universe of coffee, from bean to cup.
Located just outside Florence, the historic and prestigious Florentine company La Marzocco, leader in the production of coffee machines with exceptional design and performance, in 2021 created a thematic cultural hub in its historic production spaces, a place where you can let yourself be conquered by fascinating and complex story of our “daily espresso”.
Not only a training center of excellence, where enthusiasts from all over the world come to learn, but also home to transversal courses, from roasting to ceramics to latte art, as well as a large library and a highly original museum that is truly worth a visit. The same factory also houses the Officine Fratelli Bambi, the historic nucleus from which La Marzocco was born in 1927, where extraordinary custom-made coffee machines are designed and handcrafted.
You can transmit a technique, but passion develops only with dedication, love, pride and respect for your work.
(Piero Bambi)
The bright and welcoming environment is the result of a beautiful restoration of the old factory of La Marzocco, company headquarters from 1961 to 2009, until it got moved to the large factories in Scarperia. The project was created by architect Stefano Zagni, Brand Manager of Accademia, who was able to optimize the former site by creating different spaces, from the offices to the bar-restaurant reserved for guests, without losing the charming industrial mood of an open space loft.
The beating heart of the Academy is the scenic tropical greenhouse created together with the Florentine company PNAT, where it is possible to admire the coffee plants in all their splendor. The “air factory”, as the name reveals, not only has an aesthetic and educational function, but, thanks to the innovative botanical filtration system that characterizes it, also purifies the air in the rooms.
On the right, there are spaces dedicated to transversal activities such as the materials’ library, the ceramic lab, the roasting lab or the one dedicated to espresso where tastings and latte art workshops also take place to learn how to make the most artistic cappuccinos ever.
Overlooking the greenhouse, the Academy’s bar-restaurant is the perfect refreshment point to savor various types of coffee and particular blends in the beautiful cups made by Nora Smahelova, Coffee Training Manager and ceramic artist. Here there is also a fun experiential table where you can touch the coffee beans in the various production phases, from harvesting to roasting, while sipping an excellent espresso.
The restaurant, reserved for guests of the Academy, offers typically Tuscan dishes made of seasonal ingredients that are processed in the open kitchen located near the showroom dedicated to the prestigious home lines of La Marzocco.
And, to end on a high note, discover the history of espresso coffee and the company in their surprising museum, full of objects and educational stations. A fun succession of information and suggestions that will envelop you just like the aroma of an excellent espresso coffee.
The Museum of Espresso
From its entrance, the Academy museum welcomes guests with an amazing coup de théâtre: an extraordinary kinetic work created ad hoc by the Anglo-Swiss artist Charles Morgan for La Marzocco, which transports the visitor into a Wonderland of sounds and colours. From here, with a leap in time, you find yourself inside a bar from the 1960s, meticulously reconstructed where, among vintage objects and stylish furnishings, an original coffee machine is also exhibited.
In the main room, a timeline of the company’s history accompanies an exhibition of the brand’s most iconic historic machines, as well as the first La Marzocco van used in the Sixties as a pioneering “traveling showroom” to promote its coffee machines in the city.
And to conclude the journey, the museum also offers an international room “to meet” different coffee producers, from India to Ethiopia to Brazil, where you can discover the characteristics and differences of the various terroirs and the processing phases of the bean, to learn all the secrets of perfect coffee.
The Secret
Inside the museum you can also admire the first coffee machine produced in 1927 by Fratelli Bambi, founders of the company, and called Fiorenza in honor of the city of Florence. An extraordinary original artisan artefact that was found by chance by a La Marzocco employee in the window of a bar in the center of Florence.
Useful Info
Accademia del Caffè Espresso
Via Bolognese 68
Pian di San Bartolo
50014 Fiesole, Firenze
Tel. +39 055 0987301
For infos on initiatives and upcoming workshops: https://accademiaespresso.com/