On May 13, 1931, Giuseppe Cipriani opened Harry's Bar in Venice. Over the years, Harry's Bar has become the place where writers, painters, artists, aristocrats, kings, and queens would meet. Among them were: Barbara Hutton, Katherine Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Giancarlo Menotti, Peggy Guggenheim, Orson Welles, Frank Lloyd Wright, Joe DiMaggio, Truman Capote, and Ernest Hemingway. The keys to the success of this small bar were: service, freedom, and lack of imposition.
Throughout its 93-year history, Harry's Bar has witnessed the 20th century in Venice. Its importance was also recognized by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, which declared it a national reference point in 2001. No other public place in Italy had received the same award in the same century.