For three generations the Cerutti family has been working with great success in the coffee, bar and restaurant business. At the beginning of the century, grandmother and grandfather Cerutti owned a restaurant on the Lago Maggiore in Italy where one could enjoy homemade cooking. The youngest of their four children was dreaming of a career as a hotelier. Thanks to a friend of his father’s who was working as a chef at the 5 star hotel “Les Iles Borromées” In Stresa/Lago Maggiore - a famous vacation resort, this dream came true. Enrico Cerutti began his apprenticeship in this hotel, the pearl of Lago Maggiore. As the border of Switzerland was nearby, Enrico Cerruti decided to continue his career in Switzerland. As part of his training he worked in the most important Swiss gastronomic centres (St Moritz, Arosa and Lugano) and abroad (Monza, famous for its F1 motor-racing track and also in New York). In the 1950s he got married and opened a restaurant/bar ‘Il Principe’, ‘The Prince’ in Saronno, near Milan (where the liqueur Amaretto di Saronno and biscuits Amaretti di Saronno are produced). The restaurant was managed with great success until the 1960s. At this point the trend of meeting in bars and talking around a cup of coffee was emerging. This is why coffee and coffee machines developed quickly. Thanks to his experience in the hotel sector Enrico Cerutti realised that something was missing in the hotelleria: the ability to enjoy real Italian espresso with the right coffee machine. This gap was filled by “Il Caffé” (espresso coffee and coffee machines). Thanks to the trust his customers
