Caffé Latte invented in Berkeley?

[alan]

The Mediterraneum, a great old coffee house in Berkeley I've been
going to off and on since the early 60s, is now boasting that they had
"invented" the Latte:
" While Seattle may have made this drink famous, it was invented here
at the Caffe Mediterraneum in the late 1950’s. Lino Meiorin, one of
the owners, was the first Italian-trained barista in the Bay Area.
Customers were not used to the strong flavor of a traditional Italian
cappuccino and would ask Lino for more milk. Speaking in Italian, he
would tell the barista to put more latte (milk) in their cup. Finally
he thought of putting a larger drink on the menu with the same amount
of espresso but more steamed milk, and calling it a caffe latte. At
first it was served in a bowl but soon they switched to a pint beer
glass. Today lattes are often served in a wide mouth cup in order to
show off hearts, rosettas and other latte art designs."
(http://www.caffemed.com/about_us). Is this possibly accurate? I'd
always been under the impression that the term "caffé latte" had been
used in Italy well before the 50s . . . does anyone know for sure?
Thanks . . .

[AyTee]

All of the references that came up when I googled "caffe latte
invention" claim it is an American invention, at least in its present
form -- espresso and too much steamed milk. I was surprised, because I
had always thought it was a traditional Italian breakfast drink.

Andy

[Bob Norton]

Could easily be true. Glad to know the 'Med' is still in business.

[Steve]

I suppose that they could claim it's their invention on a
technicality.
Latte Macchiato differs only in the the order of construction.

Arguably, Alan could invent the alaniccino by simply adding the
espresso after the steamed milk and arrive at the same level of
inventiveness. <shrug>

On Aug 28, 3:55 pm, alan <in_flagra...@hotmail.com> wrote:

[Donald Schoenholt]

CAFFE LATTE
In Italy a latte is a warmed milk, served to invalids and young
children. A caffe latte is a beverage of warmed milk with a shot of
espresso. In France a similar beverage is café au lait. In Spain,
and Spanish speaking communities in the Americas it is café con
leche. It took a trip across an ocean, and a continent for the modern
(highly aerated) café latte to emerge on the west coast of the US.

I visited Caffe Mediterraneum , off the Berkley campus in the early
eighties, with Pete McLaughlin, a local green coffee importer in
Emeryville (Royal Coffee). We sat with the owner of the café and
enjoyed a coffee. I do not remember if there were any exotic espresso
beverages offered. The claim for Caffe Mediterraneum as the place
where the modern caffe latte was first made is made eloquently stated
at: http://open.salon.com/blog/piero_the_food_thief/2009/08/13/the_godfather_the_secret_history_of_the_caffe_latte

The caffe latte is a traditional morning beverage in Italy, and there
are some baristi who will still give an American an unkind smirk when
they order a latte in the afternoon.

Starbucks popularized the beverage in the US, and for a long time the
Starbucks recipe was the standard recipe for US coffee bars, but with
Starbucks’ move to super-automatic espresso machines independent
café’s and coffee bars are now reinventing the American café latte to
their own taste.

-Donald Schoenholt

P.S. It has taken me a while to find this new place for serious, and
collegial coffee talk on Google groups. I’m glad to see that some old
friends are here as well. -DNS

[North Sullivan]

Nice to see the posting by DNS. My wife was attending grad school at
Berkeley in 1983, and her drink at that time was a cafe au lait at Cafe
Roma, which she recalls was on Bancroft. I remember both au laits and
lattes being available at Cafe Roma when I lived there from 1985-86. I
was still drinking black coffee and had no interest in espresso at that
time.

North Sullivan

On Thu, 2010-09-09 at 22:38 -0700, Donald Schoenholt wrote:
> CAFFE LATTE
> In Italy a latte is a warmed milk, served to invalids and young
> children. A caffe latte is a beverage of warmed milk with a shot of
> espresso. In France a similar beverage is café au lait. In Spain,
> and Spanish speaking communities in the Americas it is café con
> leche. It took a trip across an ocean, and a continent for the modern
> (highly aerated) café latte to emerge on the west coast of the US.

(snip)

[Steve]

It's very nice to see you here, Donald.

So, my question to you is "the chicken or the egg". Do you think that
the caffe latte was invented before the latte macchiato?
Or perhaps more to the point, do you think they are the same drink, in
essence?

Trivial, but fun anyway.