[addtoany]

I just returned from a world’s fair in Milan, Italy. The fair, Expo 2015, is devoted to the subject of “Feeding the Planet.” Milan has long been an inspiration on its own. For example, it is the place that inspired Howard Schultz to turn Starbucks from a coffee purveyor to a seller of lattes to the world after he visited their cafes back in 1983.

It’s easy to see why a trip could be so inspiring: Milan has an intense coffee culture on, well, not steroids, but on really excellent caffeine. The whole cafe vibe is very different than the Schultz incarnations. People at Italian espresso bars order and stand to drink small drams of potent espresso, for the most part. Outdoor cafes are for sitting, sipping and talking. You don’t see people bent over their laptops. A cafe is not a home office away from home.

I checked to see if Schultz has tried to conquer Milan, but the coffee company’s website indicated the closest Starbucks was 300 miles away in Switzerland.

Interestingly enough, other large American companies that sell fast food and sugary drinks were very much in evidence at the world’s fair and beyond. I was struck that the McDonald’s at the Expo—a controversial presence among global slow food advocates—offered an upscale version of its McCafe. Look at the pastries and baked goods in this picture. Do you know of any American McDonald’s that offers that kind of fare? Or any Starbucks? Italians love a good brioche with their coffee.

Echoes of Seattle are found elsewhere at the fair. The USA Pavilion sponsors a food court called Food Truck Nation and has brought in a number of RV-sized vehicles from which Expo visitors can buy burgers, BBQ and beer—including Red Hook, though judging from the fare a Rainier or PBR might be more appropriate.

The funny thing is, food trucks are the antithesis of corporate foodism, run as they are often by maverick entrepreneurs. But Food Truck Nation seems to emphasize the wrong stuff: the trucks look alike, they’re plastered with little logos that connect food trucks to highway signs as if you patronize them while hauling down some freeway. They serve Pepsi and Lay’s potato chips. It seems like it really misses the point of the diversity and variety of street food. It’s not the way Seattle does food trucks. What could be more American than a taco bus? Maybe that would be too confusing for an international audience that associates the USA with the Happy Meal.

The was disconnect was made clearer at The Netherlands Pavilion, where the Dutch have set up their own food truck food court. It was Holland’s version of Fremont funky. The offerings were eclectic, the mobile vehicles smaller—less RV and more gypsy wagon. The place actually felt like the food truck scene as you find it here in Seattle—less an outgrowth of highways and more a fixture of vibrant, urban street settings.

While in Milan, I had a daily breakfast cappuccino and returning home I decided to see how Starbucks compared. I went to the one in my neighborhood, known for being near Schultz’s home, and noticed that cappuccino wasn’t even listed on the drink menu. I was assured by the barista that they still made the drink, ordered one, and immediately regretted it. My palate was still tuned to Milan tastes. Keeping it off the menu is a good idea.

Schultz took the idea of the coffee bar and turned it into a unique thing that works all over the world. Except in Italy, the place that gave him the idea. I can now see why.