In Florence’s Piazza della Signoria, Gucci will open Giardino 25, the House’s new all-day café and cocktail bar and the latest addition to Gucci Garden, the multidisciplinary collaborative and creative space designed by Creative Director Alessandro Michele that was inaugurated in January 2018.
The name, Gucci Giardino 25, speaks to its connection with Gucci Garden (giardino is the Italian word for garden) and includes a number that is meaningful to Alessandro Michele and often seen in his creations. Taking inspiration from one of the location’s previous tenants, a historical florist, the venue is characterized by a sense of wonder and harmonious contrasts, playing with the codes of the House and its Florentine surroundings, while drawing from the colors, scents and exuberance of a flower shop.
Once over the threshold, visitors find themselves in a cozy yet uncanny den-like space that connects the dots between a traditional Tuscan shopand a refined French bistro, suggesting dialogues that transcend space and time. The exposed wooden beams on the ceiling warm up the atmosphere, while sitting side by side with the bespoke boiserie, recalling the styles of the late 18th century. The space is marked by carved capitals atop columns and mustard yellow panels, framing the embossed mirrored tiles behind the counter or the intimate sitting areas, which welcome up to sixteen guests in its luxurious, leather-upholstered peacock blue sofas and chairs. In a reversal of perspectives, eight-pointed stars are inlaid in oak parquet flooring. The shiny marble surfaces of the bar counter and tables reflect the technical lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling.
Giardino 25’s dual identity as a place to enjoy intimate daytime interludes and livelier after-hours happenings is reflected in its all-day menu, whose assorted offerings are prepared by an on-site kitchen that reverently embraces seasonality while drawing creativity from the Tuscan countryside. Breakfast will present traditional local pastries alongside creations from Japan and Mexico for a modern and international selection while light dishes are available for both lunch and dinner. The menu is rounded out by Afternoon Tea while a particular homage is paid to the culture of coffee through a careful curation of specialty blends, which can be enjoyed in the form of an espresso at the bar or at a more leisurely pace in one of the space’s sitting areas.
At the helm is the Umbria-born Martina Bonci, whose passion for mixology began in her great grandmother’s kitchen with furtive sips of wine and was shaped by diverse experiences throughout Italy. Martina brings a distinctive line-up of balanced, colorful cocktails including the ‘Mémoire di Negroni’ – a tribute to the more than century-old Italian Negroni, said to have originated in Florence – characterized by creative inventiveness and high-quality ingredients, reflecting the core values of the House. Martina infuses the same level of dedication into her ideation of non-alcoholic cocktails, guided by her desire to offer a consistently imaginative experience across the entire drinks offering, as seen in the ‘1921,’ a tribute to the founding year of Gucci and characterized by earthy flavors.
