Swing a door, narrow between a white wall and a small court, and find yourself catapulted into another world…
Live a spell at Blanc
It happens to the Blanc Cafe & Living Store in the historic center of Gallipoli, (to learn more about the town, read our post: https://www.cittameridiane.it/en/in-gallipoli-to-get-lost/) a place that is both cosmopolitan and intimate. A place where ancient and modern blend, where fashion and music, art and food, lifestyle and design come together in a refined path and with a new concept of style between the ancient walls of an oil reserve of the ‘700.
A place that changes face in the day, from concept stores to cocktail bars for aperitifs to lounge bars in the afternoons. A place open from May to September, which changes skin during the season, hosting music evenings, presenting books and fun and sophisticated parties at the same time.
Entering you can opt to stop right at the long counter bar while sipping a drink or for a coffee break. Or browse through the exclusive clothing items, antique furniture, ceramics from skilled craftsmen from Apulia, design and vintage objects, artwork, bijoux and furnishing accessories.And there is also a third possibility, which does not exclude the first two, indeed integrates and completes it. And that’s what we chose. After strolling under the vaults “a crociera” of the exhibition space, curling between the shelves and giving us some shopping among the proposed wonders, we headed for the secret garden full of plants, chairs and tables on a romantic terrace which is accessed through a few steps.
Here we were surrounded by an oriental atmosphere that refers to the enchanting climate of cities such as Marrakech. The warm, but not hot air of the dusk, where a slight darkness has taken the place of the fiery sunset over the sea, makes us company until a beautiful night falls under the bright starry sky.
Appoint yourself in a corner lit by the tremulous and romantic candle light we begin our tasting of some of the culinary delights of the Blanc Cafe & Living Store with a lightweight vegetarian couscous jumbled with peppers, peas, aubergines and zucchini, that even more creates us the illusion of being catapulted in a corner of North Africa.
While we sipping a glass of fresh rose wine of Salento, we appreciate sandwich clubs with tuna and salmon served with fries and the delightful blend of burratina, purple Gallipoli shrimp and lime.
Time passes and completely forgets everything that is beyond the high wall that once encircled the hanging garden of a convent: the traffic of the sparkling engines that seem to be sucked in by the narrow lanes, the sounds of Gallipoli’s movida, the voices between the houses, the churches and the squatting plazas of enchanted tourists.
It seems to live a sort of spell, caressed by the warm wind and pampered by Stefania, Leonardo and their cheerful and helpful team, in a place where Gallipoli reveals itself in all its pure beauty.
Blanc Cafe & Living Store
Via XXIV Maggio, 19 Centro Storico
Gallipoli – Lecce
+39 0833 263499 – blanc.gallipoli@gmail.com
