Harry's Bar in Venice Is Not Permanently Closed After All
Over the weekend, reports surfaced that gave lovers of Venice more than the usual cause for concern. Per a May 13 story in Venezia Today, Harry's Bar, the world famous watering hole that has attracted the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Ernest Hemingway, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Truman Capote, would not be reopening in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
"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 if they stay this way, we won’t be opening – not on Monday, not ever," the bar's owner Arrigo Cipriani told the paper, per the Evening Standard.
However, a spokesperson for the Cipriani hospitality group, which operates Harry's Bar as well as dozens of other restaurants, bars, events spaces, hotels, and residences across the globe, told Town & Country that this information "is not accurate." They added, "Harry’s Bar in Venice is closed at the moment, not permanently closed."
Originally opened by Arrigo's father, Giuseppe Cipriani Sr., in 1931, the bar quickly garnered a glowing reputation and a who's who of celebrity clientele. Having supposedly invented both carpaccio and the peach-and-champagne cocktail the bellini, Harry's has, in its nearly 90-year history, made an indelible mark on the global food and beverage scene, with offshoots in New York, Las Vegas, Moscow, and Abu Dhabi. It was even made a national landmark by the Italian Ministry for Cultural Affairs in 2001. Like many other Italian businesses, Harry's was forced to shut down operations in early March when the COVID-19 pandemic began to take a devastating toll on the country.
As for when Harry's Bar will be reopening in Venice, it's not yet clear, but many bars and restaurants across the country are opening today as Italy begins to lift its restrictions on business operations under the pandemic.
You Might Also Like
