Eating at the coaching inn. The Italian Central Alps in the 19th and 20th centuries

This piece reconstructs the evolution of hospitality services on the Alpine passes between Valtellina (Lombardy, Italy) and Grisons (Switzerland) in the 19th and 20th centuries when this area was one of the nodes of the communication network between Italy and Northern Europe. At the time, the modes of transport would require accommodation, food, and the space for coaches and horses provided by coaching inns. From the mid-19th century, a change in trade routes, railway development, and motorization gradually led the coaching inns to review their offer. In some cases, they seized the opportunity of a growing tourism development. However, in other cases, they experienced a slow decline. Some inns became roadside restaurants; some others found a place in the local tourist system as luxury hotels or as hiking and skiing resorts. The evolution of transport and tourism shaped the gastronomic offers of these inns too. In the early 19th century, local inns were mainly meant to ‘host the traveller’ with simple dishes based on the seasonal availability of local products. When local tourism demand increased significantly, the coaching inns cuisine started reflecting fashions and trends of different periods: French haute cuisine, then dishes found across Italy, and, lastly, local traditional recipes.