Café de Paris destroyed by suspected arson after legally taken from Mafia owners

café de paris, inspiration for la dolce vita, is destroyed by alleged arson after being legally seized from its mafia owners

a fire broke out on tuesday in the historic bar on via veneto in rome
believed to be related to the eviction of your new administration
bar was the inspiration behind federico fellini’s classic la dolce vita
cafe de paris in rome was bought by the mafia in 2005

by hannah roberts

published: | updated:

the iconic cafe de paris in rome, the inspiration behind federico fellini’s classic la dolce vita, has been destroyed in a suspected arson attack.

During the heady days of La Dolce Vita in the 1960s, Cafe de Paris was a favorite bar of the rich and famous with patrons like Sofia Loren and Frank Sinatra.

The fire at Rome’s historic Via Veneto bar is believed to be linked to the eviction of its new management on the morning of the fire.

Flame broke out in the basement next to an employee locker room around 1 a.m. m. on Tuesday. no one was injured.

aldo berti, manager of the bar since 2009, said: ‘a can of gasoline was found near the start of the fire.

‘Shortly thereafter we received an eviction notice. now all staff will lose their jobs.

cafe de paris, one of the places that gave the world the word paparazzi, fell into decline along with the rest of rome’s famous via veneto in 2009 when police discovered it was a mafia money laundering front and confiscated it before it was entrusted to a legal guardian.

the bar on one of the most expensive streets in rome had been bought in 2005 for 250,000 euros in cash in the name of a penniless hairdresser named damiano villari, although at the time it was worth around 6 million euros.

in fact, the famous sidewalk cafe and restaurant had been bought by the cosoleto clan of the ‘drangheta organized crime group from southern calabria in 2005 and had been used, along with other bars and restaurants in rome and milan, to launder drugs. money.

Four years ago marked a renaissance when, in association with one of Italy’s leading anti-mafia groups, libera, cafe de paris began serving wines, pastas and other food produced on land confiscated from the mafia throughout southern italy.

father luigi ciotti, the head of libera said at the time: ‘everyone should know that cafe de paris is now free from the presence of the mafia. an establishment that once enriched the clans of the ‘drangheta has returned to being a legal business.’

‘This is a concrete sign of a daily fight (against organized crime) that is gradually bearing fruit. we need people to know that this establishment is now ‘clean’. it’s the beginning of a new chapter.’

The ndrangheta are the richest and most feared criminal organization in the country and are responsible for importing 80 percent of Europe’s cocaine.

much of their profits are laundered through legitimate businesses.

Seven out of ten of the restaurants, pizzerias and cafes in the historic center of Rome are believed to be in the hands of organized crime, according to the municipality.

figures from the luiss university in rome place the turnover of mafia groups from their operations in rome at more than a billion euros a year.

The classic 1960 fellini film, starring Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg and Anouk Aimee, was considered scandalous at the time of its release, but is fairly tame by today’s standards.

In seven loosely connected episodes, Mastroianni, playing reporter Marcello, covers the escapades of residual gentry, nouveau riche, starlets and parasites from the Via Veneto-set cafe as he struggles to find meaning in his own life.

/p>

marcello narrates the events with a photographer whose last name is paparazzo: the name fellini gave him is now in dictionaries in almost all languages and means aggressive street photographers.

In her iconic scene, Sylvia, a stunning fluorescent blonde diva played by Ekberg, lures Marcello for a sensual midnight stroll in the chilly waters of Rome’s Trevi Fountain.