Unbeknowst to me at the time, the restaurant where Ulrich Zuenelli, managing director of A. Loacker AG/Spa, and I were breaking bread, was home to many a clandestine meeting during World War II.Only the most powerful and well-connected knew the password, "Vogele," to gain entry to secret meetings during the conflict.

And while neither Zuenelli or I had need of a password to gain entry to this historic restaurant in Bolzano, Italy — now appropriately named Vogele — the information exchanged during the interview was as valuable as any passed on in the 1940s.