Walk into the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle these days and the first thing that grabs your attention is the aroma. No, not of coffee roasting but of hot bread and scrumptious pastries, baked daily on the premises in three huge ovens.
On Nov. 7, Starbucks opened a high-end partnership that pairs authentic bakery and food items drawn from the personal recipe trove of Milanese artisan baker Rocco Princi with the rare, small-lot coffees for which Starbucks Reserve Roastery is known.
Light and buttery brioche, focaccia, pizza, flaky cornetti, crostata alle fragole. More than 100 menu items are offered daily, rotating from breakfast to lunch to aperitivo to dinner. As with any traditional bakery, bread and pastries are available throughout the day.
The Starbucks-Princi partnership is a first in many ways. It is Starbucks’ first attempt in its 45-year history to provide items baked fresh on-site. And it is Princi’s first venture on this side of the Atlantic, but it will not be his last. Princi will be the exclusive food purveyor at other Starbucks Reserve Roasteries as they are built. The next location will be Shanghai which opens Dec. 6, followed by Milan, New York, Tokyo and Chicago over the next two years.
Many of the ingredients are imported from Italy. A host or commessa, the preferred Starbucks term, greets customers and is on hand to answer questions or help customers decide what they want for lunch or to eat as a snack. Everything from the food served to the layout of the new space is meant to emulate the experience of an authentic Italian neighborhood coffee bar.
A team of experienced chefs and master bakers, many trained in Italy, begin baking at 3 a.m. every morning. There is no menu board. Instead, customers are encouraged to ask the bakers, chefs and commessas questions about the baked goods and food items, ensuring a more personalized, and in some cases more educational, culinary experience.
Princi has been in business for more than three decades. Born in Calabria, he began as a baker’s apprentice and opened his first store at the age of 21 in the Villa San Giovanni. With the motto “hot bread all day,” his bread was a huge hit and he soon outgrew the space.
In 1986, he moved to Milan where he opened the first of seven shops. The master baker currently owns six stores in Milan and one in London’s Soho neighborhood. Each location is designed with the oven as its centerpiece, bringing the theatre of baking to life. Also central to the process is using simple yet time-proven artisanal techniques and exceptional ingredients.
“Rocco Princi is an artisan who, at an early age, discovered a love of bread making and through determination as well as an obsession for finding the perfect ingredients, has created an Italian food experience that I think is unparalleled,” said Howard Schultz, Starbucks executive chairman. “His passion for authentic food and respect for Milanese culture come through in everything he does, and I think our customers are going to fall in love with Princi.”
Partnering with a Milanese baker should come as no surprise for anyone familiar with Starbucks history. In 1983, two years after joining Starbucks as director of retail operations and marketing, Schultz travelled to Milan where he was bowled over by the popularity of the city’s numerous espresso bars. He returned to the Northwest, convinced he could create a similar culture in Seattle.
It took a year for Starbucks management to get on board. But in 1984, the owners finally agreed to test a coffeehouse concept at the existing store in Pike Place Market. That site is still going strong today and has become a popular tourist mecca. It has since been joined by the company’s other 25,734 retail locations that have opened around the globe in the past 33 years.
In a similarly determined fashion, Schultz spent five years convincing Princi to team up. The company’s Reserve Roastery appears to be the perfect proving ground. The Roastery is a huge step up from the standard Starbucks café and is known for its exclusive, one-of-a kind, small-lot coffees that create a truly unique experience for coffee aficionados.
During his appearance in November to open the Princi location, Rocco Princi had nothing but praise for the Seattle coffee company and its chief executive. “Today, I am realizing a dream that I have had since I was a young man, and I am grateful to Howard for his vision to bring Princi to the world,” he said. “Having worked side by side with the team that Starbucks has assembled, I have seen first-hand their talent as well as the attention they have given to ensuring that the fresh, authentic, handcrafted ingredients that define the Princi experience are being honored. I am excited and humbled that the people of Seattle will now be able to experience our food.”
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