CHICAGO –John Hancock Observatory, one of Chicago’s most visited attractions, is proud to announce the opening of the world’s newest – and highest – Espression by Lavazza café. Featuring award-winning, casually-elegant European style, the unique concept café is unlike anything else the city has to offer. The new concept café is part of a larger refurbishment, including a new multimedia Sky Tour in six languages, a dedicated concierge desk, imaginative History Avenue, kids zone, and more.

‘The new café marks the next step in enhancing the guest experience at the Observatory,’ said Daniel Thomas, general manager, John Hancock Observatory. ‘Espression combines the finest Italian food, beverages, and desserts, with the best views of Chicago to provide an experience like no other in the city.’

Lavazza, Italy’s leading coffee company, created the Espression concept under the tag line ‘ Espress Yourself‘, and features world‐class Italian espresso and culinary specialties created by celebrity chefs. Coffee choices range from the much anticipated espresso, mochas, and lattes to the completely unexpected Éspesso™, the coffee you can eat, and Espessone, the delicious light mousse to try with the perfect espresso.

‘We are thrilled that Lavazza’s unique concept compliments this iconic venue’, said Joerg Oberschmied, chief operating officer, Lavazza Premium Espresso. ‘With its breathtaking view and innovative coffee creations it is a memorable experience for visitors from all over the world.’

World-renowned chefs Ferran Adrià and Moreno Cedroni incorporated two key ingredients in each item on the menu – innovation and research – with regularly changing and freshly prepared breakfast items, sandwiches, salads, pastries and artisan-made gelato. Contemporary Italian influence runs throughout this modern, inviting space, where guests can plan the day’s activities while enjoying a cappuccino or even host a child’s birthday party.

In addition to its delicious drinks and cuisine, Lavazza’s attention to innovative design extends to the annual branded calendars the company produces featuring images from notable artists - 2009’s artist is famed photographer, Annie Leibovitz.

Lavazza, Italy’s leading coffee company was founded by Luigi Lavazza in 1895 where he first invented the concept of the blend, the complex art of mixing coffee from different origins to obtain a harmonious and delicious flavored espresso. Today, Lavazza still operates as a family business that values innovation and quality while respecting its Italian tradition. In 2008, the company was awarded a Corporate Green Globe Award, given to businesses that demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to furthering sustainability, by the Rainforest Alliance.

About John Hancock Observatory
Located inside the iconic John Hancock Center, John Hancock Observatory is open every day from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and, at 875 North Michigan Avenue, stands in the heart of the Magnificent Mile next to hundreds of shops, restaurants, attractions and entertainment venues. Highlights include spectacular 360° views spanning 80 miles and four states and the city’s only open-air Sky Walk, all accessed by the fastest elevators in the country. John Hancock Center and John Hancock Observatory are owned and operated by affiliates of Golub & Company.

About Espression by Lavazza
The new café concept Espression — refers to espresso, the signature Lavazza product, and to the company’s tag line ‘Espress Yourself’ — was awarded the 2008 Grand Award for Restaurant Design at the A.R.E. Design Awards. The casually-elegant European-style coffee shops serve exceptional coffee beverages as well as a wide range of delicious, freshly prepared breakfast items, sandwiches, salads, pastries and gelato. Many of the breads, cookies and breakfast items are baked on‐site daily. The signature Éspesso™, the coffee you can eat, was named among Time Magazine’s best inventions of 2006. The décor is contemporary-chic and the walls have artwork from the annual Lavazza calendars.

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For their part, countries in the southern hemisphere have outstanding scientists who do not always obtain the visibility and hence the resources for conducting research in their country.

The landmark for 700 scientists from developing countries is in Trieste, a city recognized globally as the “city of science”: the TWAS – the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, supports the scientists’ research and offers opportunities for exchange, study and documentation.

illycaffè, TWAS, the Trieste City Council and the International Foundation for Scientific Progress and Freedom have instituted the Trieste Science Prize.

Each year, two prizes of $50,000 are awarded in rotation among the various fields of science:
2005 Biological sciences / Physics and astrophysics
2006 Mathematics / Medical sciences
2007 Chemical sciences / Agricultural sciences
2008 Earth, Space, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences / Engineering

Each prize is awarded by a jury of internationally renowned researchers chaired by the TWAS President. Jury members are not eligible for the award. Candidates must be nationals of developing countries, working and living in the Southern hemisphere who have achieved scientific results of outstanding international merit carried out at institutions in developing countries. Scientists who have received the Nobel Prize, the Tokyo/Kyoto Prize, the Crafoord Prize or the Abel Prize will not be eligible.

The winners of the first edition were the Brazilian biologist, Sergio Henrique Ferreira, who laid the foundation for the treatment of hypertension and the Indian physicist, T. V. Ramakrishnan, author of studies and breakthroughs in quantifying the conditions for the transformation of liquids into solids.

In 2006, the prize in the category of medical sciences was shared by biophysicist Chen Ding-Shinn, who played a leading role in uncovering the factors responsible for the transmission of the hepatitis B virus from mothers to infants and Chinese biologist Rao Zihe, for his contributions to structural biology and his studies of viruses responsible for human diseases. The prize in the category of mathematics was awarded to Brazilian mathematician Jacob Palis, for enhancing our understanding of population growth patterns, global climate change and even fluctuations in the stock market and to the Indian C.S. Seshadri, the creator of the Standard Monomial Theory.

The 2008 edition of this important international award has been won by the Brazilian astrophysicist Beatriz Barbuy for her important scientific contribution to her field of inquiry, the chemical composition of stars, and by Indian engineer Roddam Narasimha, an independent researcher who has considerably increased our understanding of fluid mechanics.
Source: www.illy.com

Drink a coffee and read Jorge Amado: “… in every real Brazilian man flows a blood rich in African, European, Indios and half-caste ferments; this is what makes Brazil so magically overflowing with light and shade, so fragile, so cheerful, so violent and yet so impossible to forget….”
And is this not just the right alchemy for a good coffee?

Coffee from Guatemala, a country with a low but excellent quality production, is very sweet, of average acidity and with an intense aroma ranging from chocolaty to flowery. It is the ideal complement for espresso blends and a favorite component for filter coffee blends.

African countries have a limited production, but very good quality. Kenya, with its mild, steady climate, produces acid, aromatic coffee, particularly suited to filter coffee, whereas Ethiopia produces the best washed Arabica: extremely flowery with notes of caramel.

Coffee from India has a full body, a note of positive bitterness and a spicy aroma. Coffees from El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and Honduras are sweet with more acidic notes and the typical characteristics of the “sweet and light” coffees from Central America. Asia is where the most Robusta is produced, with Vietnam and Indonesia heading the list.

On sight, a Certified Espresso Italiano has a hazel-brown to dark - brown foam – characterised by tawny reflexes – with a very fine texture (absence of large mesh and larger or smaller bubbles). The nose reveals an intense scent with notes of flowers, fruits, toasted bread and chocolate. All of these sensations are felt also after swallowing the coffee in the long lasting aroma that remains for several seconds, sometimes even for minutes. Its taste in round, substantial and velvet-like. Sour and bitter tastes are well balanced and neither one prevails over the other. There is no, or a barely perceptible, astringent taste.