COFFEE NATION

Although Starbucks stole the limelight with its first Italian outpost in Milan—a 2,300-square-meter store and roastery inside a grandiose palazzo— local coffee giant Lavazza arguably made a bigger splash this summer by unveiling an ultramodern museum at its new US$140-million headquarters in nearby Turin. Museo Lavazza ( museo.lavazza.com) tempts espresso lovers with a series of interactive galleries, detailing every stage of the production process via immersive multimedia installations—like a simulated coffee plantation—while looking back on the company’s growth from its humble beginnings in 1895, when it was founded by Luigi Lavazza as a small grocery store in central Turin. Naturally, a coffee tasting awaits at the very end, where visitors can pair a classic brew with an experimental creation by Lavazza’s training school.