What’s your story?
It all started almost by chance and thanks to the experiences I had in Milan and Melbourne, which made me develop my project: “Nowhere”. My girlfriend Francesca Cavazza and I started this project together, as she is the interior designer and sometimes chef at Nowhere!
I studied languages and cultures for tourism in Milan, but I’m also into music, cinema, coffee and food. After graduating, I decided to work in a bakery to learn about all the secrets of pastry-making. Later on, I moved to Melbourne where I worked in a pizzeria and in an Australian coffee shop. During this time, I realised that I wanted to have my own space, a place that was more than just about food and coffee, a place that had to be “lived”.
Tell me about Nowhere
Nowhere is not a coffee shop nor a bakery. It is a mix of both, a contamination of cultures, which makes this place with no roots so special. We aim to be a meeting point for people and cultures to ultimately build a community. The menu is a mix of recipes I took from my experiences around the world, from my family repertoire and from clients who often make me try new foods. For example, the smashed avocado toast is to offer you a taste of Australia, the Spanish tapas is a concept I wanted to recreate as they embody food sharing (and experience sharing, too) and lastly, the pate’ is the dish that my dad used to make me.
Why opening a coffee shop during a pandemic?
My girlfriend and I started this project in 2019 and we were planning on opening in March/April 2020, however due to the pandemic we had to wait until July. Having to delay our opening was definitely stressful, but it gave us the possibility to do a lot of research to select the best products we would sell, such as Marco Colzani’s jams, Anciua anchovies from Sestri Levante, natural wines, craft beers from CRAK brewery.
Moreover, as Milan has been very quiet and without tourists in the past few months, we had the chance to build strong relationships with local clients, who became not only loyal customers but also friends and source of inspiration for products and recipes.
How do you select coffee?
I was introduced to the world of specialty coffee by my friend Luciano, who worked at Cafezal, a specialty coffee shop and roastery in Milan. He’s the one who taught me the art of making coffee. Our idea is to be supplied primarily by two roasteries at a time: an Italian one to support our country and an international one to discover young-innovative coffee roasteries. The latter is always changing as we want our customers to try new coffee. For instance, in the past we had Friedhats from Amsterdam, Right Side from Barcelona and currently we sell Manhattan from Rotterdam.
Who is your audience?
Our aim is to be a coffee shop not only for the coffee geeks but also for people who are just curious to learn more about coffee and what is behind a certain product. We offer a 365 degree experience through the food, coffee and various products that we sell. We decided on this specific location as we are close to a university, and we wanted to be a meeting point for students and for tourists as well. Our clientele is between 20 and 50 years old, as older generations are harder to “convert” to specialty coffee. We found that they tend to perceive their traditional commodity coffe as superior and don’t want to give up on adding sugar to it. Foreigners living in Milan and other people with international experiences are the ones that truly understand our mission and support us the most.
What are the biggest challenges you face in your business?
Understanding the person in front of you is fundamental to decide how to approach them and explain a certain product to them. The way they talk to me, the time at which they come in and the amount of time they dedicate to drink coffee allow me to understand it. I always try to create a friendly environment and to be as kind as possible, and I expect the same on the other side, that’s just the way I am!
Having to deal with rude people is one of the things I hate the most. Being kind and open-minded are two of the main characteristics of our approach. We want to be as inclusive as possible as we don’t expect our clients to know everything about specialty coffee, instead we enjoy educating them about what they are drinking to taste coffee consciously.
Which projects do you have in mind for the future?
I believe there is little cooperation between coffee shops in Milan, as it is a very niche market with events that are only self-referential and are not open for the wider community. My aim is to create a community and cooperate with other businesses to organise events about coffee but also with flea markets, food and music, to approach a wider audience. I would really like to host small concerts at Nowhere together with a film club, made specifically for university students.
Finally, in a few months I will open my own roastery, together with my friend Luciano Bramante and Federico Griffa. We will start a crowdfunding to support this very exciting project!
What are your favourite places for coffee in Milan?
My favourite places in Milan to enjoy specialty coffee are Cafezal, an independent coffee roastery, Orso Nero, Onest, which has a great selection of natural wines as well; and Tipografia Alimentare, a bistrot and food hub located in the Naviglio Martesana, a perfect location for weekend walks along the Naviglio. Lastly, Terroir, a gourmet boutique which has one of the richest selections of specialty coffee in the city.