Prada Group Buys, Revamps Historic Cafè in Forte dei Marmi, Tuscany – WWD

FORTE DEI MARMI, Italy – When Prada Group acquired the historic Caffè Principe right here in November 2022, locals’ first thought was {that a} new Marchesi 1824 patisserie was coming to city.

However because the landmark location is to reopen after a six-month renovation course of on Sunday, guests received’t discover the signature eau de nil paint that defines the Marchesi 1824 cafès in Milan, nor its elegant banner. The style firm determined to honor the legacy of the hotspot, conserving its authentic identify in addition to restoring its distinctive navy colour that now covers a part of the inside and all product packaging.

The result’s a novel case within the group’s hospitality tasks, because it blends the venue’s authentic id with the Marchesi 1824 and Prada ones. To make sure, the culinary providing is identical as all of the Marchesi 1824 cafès – picture-perfect pastries, containers of candies and tiny salty appetizers included – whereas the brand new interiors nod to archives of the Prada model. A womenswear Prada retailer is adjoining to the cafè and a menswear unit is a stone’s throw away.

Positioned strategically at one nook of the central Piazza Garibaldi sq., Caffè Principe has at all times represented a key spot within the social lifetime of the Italian luxurious resort vacation spot. Opened on the finish of the ‘30s by the Florentine household Galli and altering homeowners all through the years, its recognition boomed within the ‘50s and ‘60s, when it turned an everyday assembly level with reside music for each Italians and vacationers.

Monetary phrases of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, however the cafè formally turned a Marchesi 1824 property from June 1.

The placement has been revamped with the aim of respecting its id and honoring its Dolce Vita heyday. The casual resort vibe of the brand new inside idea was developed with Florence-based architect Michele Bönan, who has labored on tasks together with Resort Portrait and Resort Continentale in Florence; Resort J.Okay. Place in Rome and Capri; Resort Marquise in Paris; the Casa Tua eating places in Aspen and Miami, and several other Cipriani eating places internationally, to call a number of.

“I’ve been coming to Forte dei Marmi since I used to be born,” mentioned Bönan throughout a preview, including he has a household home right here.

The architect recalled that when Prada Group chairman and govt director Patrizio Bertelli stopped by his studio and the four-hour-long chat the 2 had earlier than they visited Caffè Principe. “We bought right here, a cafè I do know very properly however that I’ve at all times seen in a wierd manner as a result of it was lived extra in its outside half somewhat than inside. So we thought, ‘Why don’t we open the indoor with outside?’” mentioned Bönan. 

The aim was to create a seamless continuation between the 2 areas. Inside, white paneling on the partitions and wooden flooring body an area punctuated by palms, wicker armchairs, graphic carpets in daring inexperienced and tangerine colours and design parts supposed to evoke furnishings of the ‘50s, as seen in lamps and chairs. 

“By means of historic pictures we tried to recuperate the feel and appear of an period we needed to think about, however by no means in a nostalgic manner,” mentioned the architect. “Plus we primarily based the interiors on some parts we discovered right here,” he added, pointing for instance to the rediscovery of the unique look of the balustrade above the principle corridor.

Different parts had been replicated from the ‘60s or from Bertelli’s personal design items, corresponding to a sequence of armchairs. “Many issues are new however they seem like they’ve at all times been right here. That’s the true magnificence: when you may’t see the intervention,” mentioned Bönan. 

To present “a glimpse of Prada’s presence in a tender and chic manner,” the architect requested the corporate to entry its textile archives, too, deciding on a green-and-white sample to make use of on the venue’s curtains, bar counter and wood room dividers.

Additional dotting the area, which may accommodate round 170 folks between indoors and outdoor, are classic furnishings and colourful Ginori vases. “However a key a part of the architectural challenge is the service. Service is structure, as a result of an insufficient one diminishes the fantastic thing about anyplace,” famous Bönan.

Mixing former members and 20 new hires, the employees at present contains about 24 folks, however the firm goals so as to add a handful extra workers within the coming months. All of them have been in Milan for coaching classes on each product and repair, together with the three new pastry cooks who had a six-month-training within the metropolis underneath the steering of Diego Crosara, Marchesi 1824’s pastry creator director.

As for his or her uniforms, these have been designed by Miuccia Prada and embody a crisp white shirt with the cafè’s italics emblem embroidered on the entrance, navy denims and white sneakers for males or espadrilles for girls. Bartenders put on a white bowling shirt with navy piping. 

Carrying a complete black look throughout a preview, Caffè Principe’s director Valentino Casamenti underscored the challenges in hiring new personnel usually and “the double problem for us as we’re reopening with the excessive season already in full pressure.”

As for Casamenti, he hails from the world of luxurious lodges, such because the native Grand Resort Imperiale. 

“Clearly I had skilled the meals and beverage a part of the enterprise, however from a lodge perspective. I had a maître or a restaurant supervisor as a part of my staff, however I hadn’t touched this facet firsthand,” mentioned Casamenti. “However to be sincere, the idea of hospitality has modified over time, now it’s broader. It takes place in all places: in a lodge, a bar, a pastry store or a luxurious boutique… So this expertise would be the identical by way of reception and empathy, the one distinction is that it requires a selected data of a distinct product.”

Specifically, the salty menu will provide a number of Marchesi 1824’s carte, specializing in summer time go-to decisions like small sandwiches and Caprese salads. Different staples of the delicacies, such because the very Milanese “riso al salto,” are anticipated to be built-in sooner or later, when a fully-equipped kitchen shall be added to the cafè. 

Within the meantime, the one new entry within the menu is the Focaccia di Recco scorching focaccia with cheese, launched upon the want of Bertelli’s and imported immediately from the namesake city in Italy’s Liguria area, mentioned Casamenti. 

Marchesi 1824’s forte, the candy providing, is aligned with all of the model’s cafès. “The philosophy is to have a quintessentially Italian product and take it in all elements of the world,” confirmed Crosara, who joined the firm in 2018.

Prada Group bought a majority stake in Pasticceria Marchesi in 2014 and added two cafés – one on Via Monte Napoleone and one in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – to the unique location in Milan’s through Santa Maria alla Porta. A fourth location opened in London’s Mount Street in 2019.

“The thought is to supply a reinterpretation of traditional patisserie,” continued Crosara, who pointed to solely three variations within the menu. These embody the addition of a fried donut; the reintroduction of the “Torta di Riso” cake, an historic Marchesi 1824 recipe supplied previously within the pastry’s seminal location and now out there solely at Caffè Principe, and a wider number of ice cream flavors in comparison with the 4 to 6 out there in Milan.

Requested in regards to the signature panettone, the jewel within the crown of the patisserie, Casamenti cracked fun and ensured that “we’re making all preparations to carry that one right here, too.” 

Caffè Principe shall be open day-after-day from 7.30 a.m. to 1 a.m., serving from breakfast and lunch to aperitifs and after-dinner drinks. To this finish, the cocktail providing has been expanded so as to add the Principe Cocktail, “which was created a number of years in the past for a Prada after-show occasion and has been authorised by Mrs. Prada.” A free tackle the French 75 recipe, the blue-hued cocktail blends Grey Goose vodka with Butterfly Pea tea, lemon juice, sugar and is topped with Blanc de Blanc Champagne and violet aroma.

The corporate’s future purpose is to maintain Caffè Principe open all-year-long, unveil its rooftop terrace that has already been revamped, and implement catering tasks, in a nod to the frequent in-store occasions hosted by the posh shops within the space, together with these in Prada Group’s portfolio, just like the Miu Miu and Automobile Shoe items.