In Las Vegas, a city awash in boba-matcha-milk tea collisions, the bicerin offers a pour apart. Not just because of its ingredients — chocolate, espresso and cream served in distinct layers, akin to a pousse-café — but also because of its origins.
Bicerin (bee-chair-EEN) is a historic hot drink native to Torino (Turin), the capital of the Piedmont region of Italy. Bicerin takes its name from the word for “little glass” in the Piedmontese dialect. The drink has been served since the 18th century at Torino’s famed Caffè Al Bicerin, which claims to have created the beverage. Today, bicerin is a symbol of Torino itself and the surrounding region.
In Vegas, bicerin is offered at a handful of spots on the Strip. Away from the resort corridor, Torino Cafè showcases the drink. The Henderson café, an Italian specialty coffee house and bakery, presents a tale of two Roccos: It was opened in May by Rocco Suriano, a Torino native, and Rocco Marsiglia, who is from Calabria. The friends and business partners met while working at Giada in what was then The Cromwell, now The Vanderpump Hotel.
“In the mornings, we would often meet to talk about the day, and we kept running into the same problem: Where do we go for a really good espresso without having to go to the Strip or to a fine dining restaurant?” Suriano recalled. “Torino Cafè really started from something very simple: two Italians in Las Vegas looking for a good morning espresso.”
Hospitable youth
Suriano hails from a family that owned a restaurant (later a gelato and pastry shop) in Torino. He grew up washing dishes and making gelato. In his mid-20s, he came to the U.S., where his professional experience has ranged from being a partner in a San Francisco restaurant to helping launch spots in Texas to working for Bastianich-Batali hospitality group in Vegas.
Marsiglia has also worked in hospitality since his youth. He attended an albighiero, the Italian version of a vocational school that includes culinary and hospitality training. His global CV includes stints in Australia and the United Kingdom.
At Torino Cafè — the restaurant uses a variant of “caffè,” the more common Italian spelling — divide the labor based on their professional histories, Suriano said.
“That difference in our backgrounds has naturally shaped what each of us brings to Torino Cafè. I focus heavily on the coffee program, the bicerin and the sweeter side of the concept, while Rocco’s passion is food, and he leads the savory side, particularly our panini.”
Signature drink
Bicerin, of course, leads off the menu, the Torino Cafè version layering dark chocolate, double espresso, whipped cream and a cocoa powder finish.
“Torino has a very old café and chocolate culture, and bicerin is one of the city’s historic drinks,” Suriano said. “The bicerin is probably the drink that tells the Torino story best.”
Beverages also include “drinks built around flavors that are closely associated with the Italian experience,” Suriano said, like pistachio and Nutella espressos, cappuccinos and lattes. Straight-ahead classics like Americanos, cappuccinos, espressos (including doppio double shots) and lattes also make a menu appearance.
Panini and ‘pinches’
On the food side, “panini are a very important part of Torino Cafè,” Suriano said, noting quality focaccia and carefully sourced Italian ingredients. Among the panini: a mortadella version, an Italia (mozzarella fior di latte, tomato, pesto), a cotto e formaggio (ham, Swiss, cetriolini gherkins, mayonnaise), and a porchetta (roasted pork, provolone, caramelized onions, spicy giardiniera pickles, arugula).
“We wanted them to be something people would come specifically to us for,” Suriano said of the sandwiches. “Our Italian mortadella and porchetta panini, in particular, have become some of the items guests come back for.”
Plin “pinched” breads robing various fillings (plin means “pinched” in the Piedmontese dialect), salads, bowls (yogurt, açai, focaccia and Nutella), and Italian baked goods like cornetti (plain and filled crescents), saccottino cioccolato (chocolate-filled pastries), and girelle pastry pinwheels with cinnamon or berries help round out the menu.
The right feeling
Although Torino Cafè was born out of the search for food and drink its transplanted Italian owners could call their own, the café is about much more than the menu, Suriano said.
“We wanted to re-create the feeling of an Italian caffè, a little loud, family-oriented, welcoming and personal. A place where someone can stop for a quick espresso, but also a place where people stay, talk and get to know us.
“One of the nicest things we hear is from guests who have traveled to Italy, or Italians who have lived here for many years, who tell us that walking into Torino Cafè brings back memories. That probably means more to us than anything else.”
Torino Cafè is at 10604 S. Eastern Ave., Suite A, Henderson. Visit torinocafelv.com.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.
Dining and Cooking