CONSTANT TRAVELER: Espressmaente illy Opens in Vegas To Offer Coffee Lovers the Real Thing

Sleek, stylish, and so Italian, Espressamente illy has opened in The Grand Canal Shoppes at the Palazzo in The Venetian Hotel Casino Resort in Las Vegas, and that's the best news this Constant Traveler has experienced in Las Vegas in a long time.

Traveling almost 200,000 miles per year to the TODAY Show, The View, speaking engagements, foods shows, and trade conventions is part of the life of a consumer advocate, and I love it. But, finding a great cup of coffee everywhere is often quite a challenge. Surprisingly, in this town of hundreds of fabulous restaurants, great coffee has so far eluded the city of neon, but no more.

Espressamente illy is a welcome respite for the coffee lover. I had both a plain cup of coffee and a small espresso and each were brewed and served to perfection, rich, aromatic, full flavored and very, very satisfying. The service, as you would expect was very Italian, and unlike Starbucks or other U.S. based coffee joints there wasn’t the screaming of a pseudo-hip beverage name to give the impression that the person making your coffee actually has any coffee credentials. illy prides itself on the coffee and the presentation, forget about those paper cups with your name scrawled on the side. Your coffee is served in a real china cup and presented to you as if it was the world’s most precious gem.

While my cups of coffee were just two of the more than six million cups of illy coffee served each day in 50,000 restaurants in 140 countries, they were obvious examples why the finest chefs and most respected restaurateurs serve only illy. In fact, when we redid the studio at TODAY and built our upstairs kitchen, my first job was to call illy and order an espresso machine so we could be sure our visiting celebrity chefs would feel comfortable and satisfied with the same coffee they serve themselves.

I had heard about the illy cafes for years from my cousin Magge who lives in Milan; in fact her husband Sergio was born and raised in Trieste, the home of illy. The inaugural U.S. Espressamente illy was designed by renowned Italian architect Luca Trazzi who with Claudio Silvestri designed the coffee shops worldwide. The Las Vegas store, the very first one to be built in the U.S., brings the total to 150 coffee bars in 23 countries since 2003 and aims to add 50 more by the end of 2008. The illy signature brilliant red colors the walls, graced with lively art, striking black and chrome tables and chairs, and the pristine display cases of foods and desserts one can order with your coffee.

The U.S. entry into the coffee shop world is a joint venture with Illycaffe and Earning Curve LLC, owned by Stefano Ripamonti and his sons Simone and Anthony and their Food and Beverage Director, Vladimiro Longo. Ripamonti served the company as CEO of illy North America from 1989 to 1997.

"I love illy's passion for quality as well as its drive to bring a truly sensual and stimulating experience to coffee drinkers throughout the world," said Ripamonti.