 It's cocktail hour in Rome's posh shopping district, but women at one trendy bar are trying a new kind of aperitif: perfume.
"This is a fresh mix of mint, lemon and basil," the barmaid explains as a well-heeled client sniffs at the perfume sample offered in a kind of champagne glass. Welcome to "L'Olfattorio," Rome's one-of-a-kind perfume bar a couple of blocks from the fashionable Spanish Steps, where women and men test scents for free. The bar boasts a wide range of perfumes, especially from small, exclusive French perfumeries like L'Artisan Parfumeur, and more than 200 essences or raw ingredients used in free perfume "tasting" courses. "We're trying to promote a kind of perfume culture that is founded more on smells than on brand names and marketing," the barmaid, Stefania Zuccotti explains. Perfumes are displayed on steel shelves according to the kind of scent, be it fruity or flowery or like wood or leather. There is one small catch. The bar, created by perfume importer Cithera, only displays the perfumes. Barflies drunk on the heavenly scents are sent away with a list of the stores at which they can buy them. (Agencies) | 在意大利羅馬繁華的購物街，當大多數人聚在酒吧享受雞尾酒的時候，在一間新潮的酒吧里，女士們品味的卻是另一道"開胃酒"：香水。 一位酒吧侍女正向一位衣著豪華的女顧客介紹裝在香檳酒杯里的樣品："這是薄荷、檸檬和羅勒的混合香"。 歡迎來到"L'Olfattorio"，羅馬獨一無二的香水吧。它距離西班牙廣場僅有幾個街區，在這個獨特的香水吧里，人們可以免費感受各種各樣的香水味道。  香水吧的特色是應有盡有的各類香水，尤其是象阿仙蒂之香那些小型的、獨一無二的法國香料作坊。并提供200多種香精或香精原料供客人免費品味。
酒吧侍者斯特凡尼亞·祖科蒂介紹說："我們所追求的是一種建立在氣味本身基礎上的香水文化，而不考慮香水的牌子或銷售等。" 在這間香水吧里，香水陳列在鐵架上，根據味道的種類而分開，如果味、花味、木質甚至皮革味道等。 當然，這個香水吧也是有那么一點點小圈套的。 它的創立者是香水進口商西塔羅。他在這里僅僅陳列所有的香水。而那些陶醉于免費的美妙味道，樂不思蜀的"泡吧者"則會被禮貌地請走，同時得到的還有一張能夠買到這些香水的商店名稱清單。 Well-heeled: 有錢人
One of a kind: 獨一無二
A small catch: 一個小圈套 （中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2002-11-08 01:00
