The Streets of Milan

Crazy to imagine that I was thinking more than twice about heading to Milan this year but by the time I actually made it on the plane, by the hairs of my chiny chin chin by the way, I started to get really excited about my upcoming adventure at HOST & Out of the Box.


The day after I arrived, I headed straight to the local Salumeria to grab a baguette, some prosciutto and a few slices of aged provolone with a nice cappuccino, from the cafe next door, just as I hopped on the Milan Metro that would take me to the first of my excursions, HOST.

HOST was hugely amazing. The Italians certainly know how to throw a convention for sure! No expense was spared on the exhibit booths especially in the coffee bar area featuring all the major players in the coffee equipment industry. I also had a chance to represent, with Magister, their
current/new line of products. Introducing the Stilo. It's Magister's newest equipment line

offering customers a selection of body colors to choose from. Watch out for this in the new year from Primo! My personal favorite? Of course, the Primo red!

Other cool stuff that fascinated me was the Franke equipment that was just crazy innovative with the cold foam. Too early for the US market but that has got to be the most cutting edge engineering of its kind. Not to mention the sleek euro looks too! I am definitely a fan of the Franke.

With those 2 exhibits alone, it was mission accomplished at HOST. Everything else was captured with ooo's and ahhh's as I passed through the aisle's on the lookout for new & exciting products.

Saving the best for last, of course, nothing else could've topped the trip any better than 'Out of the Box'; La Marzocco's rebel exhibit/experience from HOST. By far, from the moment I started my adventure to get there, thank goodness for smartphones, it was truly worth the effort. I don't know if it was also because I was sitting next to hardcore La Marzocco enthusiasts (wow, she had a big tatoo of the La Marzocco insignia smack dab on the center of her chest!) or if it was because I felt I was in a who's who of the espresso equipment industry! Likely that and more. It was certainly a global representation of La Marzocco's footprint worldwide hearing from the Netherlands distributor on customer profiles all the way down to one of our own, a highlight done on Peet's Coffee & Tea. The exhibit was full of surprises as well as featured the unveiling of the Strada with it's electronic paddle control.


Okay, but even on top of all that, for me at least, one of the more highlighted moments was that same evening from 'Out of the Box' where I was meandering the museum of espresso machines on display upstairs. I happen to catch a glimpse of what I thought was a familiar face. Soon as I double slinged my neck to place the face, a hand extended out to greet me. "Hi, I'm Terry Ziniewicz" from EspressoParts.com. After several years of doing business and seeing his company transform into what it is today, it was certainly noteworthy to meet such a passionate entrepreneur as he. We chatted for a bit and I'd have to say, he's a pretty cool guy.

Getting back to the aged provolone cheese; note to self, don't leave aged provolone in your hotel room even if in frig. Your room will smell like sewage!

Until next time, Ciao Milan....