La Pavoni is an Italian company that makes espresso machines and coffee equipment. It was started in 1905 and is best known for its home-use direct-lever models, especially the Europiccola (1961-) and Professional (1974-).

In 2005, during the company's 100th anniversary, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) displayed the 1974 La Pavoni Professional model in its “Architecture and Design: Inaugural Installation” exhibition, along with the Chemex coffeemaker designed by Peter Schlumbohm. People have called La Pavoni "the queen of espresso machines." In 2019, La Pavoni was bought by Smeg and is now part of the Smeg Group.

History

In 1901, Luigi Bezzera invented and got a patent for several improvements to the first steam-powered espresso machine, which was created by Angelo Moriondo in 1884. Bezzera’s first patent was sent in on December 19, 1901. It was called "Innovations in the machinery to prepare and immediately serve coffee beverage" and was approved as Patent No. 153/94, 61707 on June 5, 1902. In 1903, this patent was bought by Desiderio Pavoni. He started a company called La Pavoni and began making the machine in large numbers. He produced one machine each day in a small workshop in Via Parini, Milan. Pavoni’s first machine, the Ideale, was similar to Bezzera’s Gigante.

In 1961, the same year Faema released the E61, La Pavoni introduced the Europiccola. This was a small, direct-lever home espresso machine with a 49mm group, a 50mm piston cylinder, and a single 800ml boiler. The first version did not have a sight glass to check the water level in the boiler. This feature was added in the 1962 model. The Europiccola was shown at the Strasbourg Trade Fair in 1961 and became the company’s most popular model. It is estimated to have sold about 500,000 machines by 2005.

La Pavoni also made Europiccolas that were sold as the first Olympia Cremina home espresso machines. This continued until 1967, when Olympia started making the machines themselves.

In 1974, La Pavoni introduced their Professional model. This machine had a boiler twice as large as the Europiccola, with a 1600ml capacity. It also included a pressurestat and a pressure gauge on top of the sight glass, allowing users to check both the water level and pressure in the boiler easily.

Cultural historian Nina Börnsen wrote in her book on Italian design that the popularity of La Pavoni, especially the Europiccola and Professional models, was important in the history of design.

Starting in 1996, La Pavoni briefly made the Gaggia Factory models G015 and G016. These models were similar to the La Pavoni Europiccola and Professional. They had a unique conical boiler cap, which made them known as the "Tin Man" machines.

From 1997, La Pavoni began using more plastic parts in their machines, including a plastic boiler cap and a Teflon piston.

In 2001, La Pavoni made several changes to the Europiccola and Professional models. These included a new group with a slightly larger 51mm group head and a larger 60mm piston cylinder. These changes made the machines look different. The new models also had a Teflon piston sleeve and a nylon group head insert. These later models were called the "Millennium" or "post-millennium" models. Machines made before 2001 with the original 49mm group are now called "pre-millennium" models. Because of these changes, many parts and tools, such as portafilters, filter baskets, and tampers, cannot be used with both pre-millennium and post-millennium machines.

In popular culture

James Hoffmann notes that La Pavoni and its Europiccola model became very famous in 1973 after appearing in a James Bond movie. However, the quality of the espresso shown being made by Roger Moore might not be the best. In the scene, Bond pours milk from a mug into his thin, pale coffee, then uses both the steam pipe and the relief valve pipe of the Europiccola machine. This causes the liquid to bubble and spill before he hands the cup to M, who looks confused and asks, "Is that all it does?"

In Anthony Minghella’s 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley, a chrome La Pavoni Professional machine is shown in a scene where Tom Ripley notices it as part of Dickie Greenleaf’s stylish lifestyle in the fictional Italian town of Mongibello. Dickie is seen making espresso in a close-up shot and says, "Now you’ll find out why Miss Sherwood always comes for breakfast, Tom. It’s not love; it’s my coffee machine." The film is set in the 1950s, but the La Pavoni Professional was not available until 1974, making its appearance an error in time period.

In Ron Howard’s 1996 film Ransom, a brass Europiccola machine is shown in the kitchen of Tom Mullen’s expensive penthouse, which has a view of Central Park near the Guggenheim Museum.

In the 2002 film About a Boy, wealthy character Will Freeman (played by Hugh Grant) mentions that home espresso makers are part of his "Island Living" lifestyle. He is shown using a chrome Europiccola machine from before the year 2000 in a way similar to how Bond uses his machine in the James Bond film.