Clarissa's amazing cakes

We celebrated the arrival of March in company of our friend ItalianKiwi and for the occasion we picked what might just be one of the best possible places for cakes in Turin: Clarissa!!

As you can see on their menu they serve their own bicerin, savory specialties, as well as sweet ones, plus whipped cream

Clarissa is an elegant coffee shop under the Piazza Vittorio porticoes, almost near the river bank. During the summer months, the coffee shop extends its tables on the piazza (the largest one in Europe!), but during the cold ones, you can enjoy the elegance of its interiors: crystal chandeliers, mirrors, wooden tables and marble. There are two floors and the lower one has pictures of amazing cakes on the walls but... the pictures aren't enough, you need to see and try the real ones.

So hard to resist to this window!!

stylish PiazzaVittorio in Turin offers wide spaces to enjoy a coffee or a cold drink out in the sun

Both lucky shoppers and those people who enjoyed a simple window shopping session in near Via Po get magnetized like kids by Clarissa's window. With its display of 12 cakes and pies, this window magically invites you to get in and take your time. Alone or with your friends, under the rain or the sun, a young kid or an elderly lady, you'll find your table and nice list of teas, coffees and even an velvety hot chocolate.

The cakes are all so enticing that picking one is usually very hard, not mention the sandwiches and quiches you can order too; but let's be  honest: why would you want to order savory, even at lunchtime, when you can start such a delicious trip?

Strawberry and custard crostata

Luscious torronata - torrone mean nougat in Italian, just imagine the texture!

So you take you place, you listen to the recitation of the cake list, you have a look at the tea list too and finally, you make your mind up! At least that's how it was for us, on a warm Saturday afternoon at the end of this endless winter, when craving for the spring pushed us to try a chocolate strawberry and whipped cream cake, holding each other hands, as we were walking down the tasty path.

A group of friends sitting at the table next to ours was floating of the ninth cloud of a meringata and watered down by a French press coffee. A woman in her mid seventies didn't seem to be bothered by her loneliness while savoring each single bite of her montebianco cake. After holding his son to show him the cake display, a father was dragged inside by his five year old son ready for his week-end share of sweetness. Even a bulldog pulled in his owners who only wanted a tiny espresso cup.

the whipped cream dollop is always soo good:P

Yes, Clarissa is a human and pet friendly place, where you'll always find the slice of cake you needed to make up for the stress and the hardship of your daily life. The personnel is always very nice and welcoming and doesn't mind giving you a rerun of the cake recitation when you just can't make your mind up; and, cats would get in too if dogs hadn't already politely followed their two legged relatives.

vegetarian quiche

In Clarissa, time always flies by, and when we left it was dark, the moon was almost full and we all enjoyed Turin by night. Mark Clarissa down for when you come over, because it is a place worth a visit and it's conveniently located near the Mole Antonelliana where there is the National Cinema Museum.