‘Almost all roads lead to Rome. But all the roads in Rome, absolutely all of them, lead to the Piazza di Spagna. To the Spanish Steps. To the fountain of Bernini. Actually of the Berninis (father and son). And therefore to Babington’s. Think about it.’ Thus wrote Beniamino Placido in his preface to Babington’s: 100 years of history published to celebrate the centenary of the Tea Rooms in 1993. And in 1893 two young women – Isabel Cargill (whose father founded the city of Dunedin in New Zealand) and Anna Maria Babington (descended from the Anthony Babington who was hanged for plotting against Queen Elizabeth I) – arrived in Rome with their one hundred pounds and their intention of making a respectable living in the Eternal City. What better idea than to provide the flourishing English community with somewhere to take tea – only found in chemists – and read the newspapers? Babington’s Tea Rooms opened in Via Due Macelli and was an immediate success – so much so that the following year Babington’s moved to the prestigious site at the foot of the Spanish Steps, the original stables of the 18th century palazzo designed by Francesco de Sanctis, architect of the Spanish Steps and the Casina Rossa. The new Tea Rooms were furnished in the latest fashion and became, according to the English language Roman Herald a favoured meeting place ‘where ladies or gentlemen, hard at work sightseeing could go to refresh themselves with a comforting cup of tea’.
