Tobia is a young boy from a wealthy family who is fascinated with the Caffe Quattro Palme, a small, beautifully appointed cafe which caters to a small but loyal clientele of aging individualists. Tobia senses there's something special about the place, and he spends much of his time there, getting to know Giuseppe, the head waiter. A decade later, Tobia still hangs out at the cafe, and he's made the acquaintance of another regular, a lovely young woman named Annetta. But with the passage of time, the cafe's old regulars have begun to drift away, and a crowd of young bohemians and vagrants begins to take over, changing the character of the place.