Gucci to Open Café, Cocktail Bar in Florence
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MILAN — Gucci is planting another flag in its Florence hometown.
The luxury brand will open a new locale in the next few weeks, located on the central Piazza della Signoria. Gucci’s new all-day café and cocktail bar Giardino 25 will be the latest addition to Gucci Garden, the multidisciplinary space designed by creative director Alessandro Michele.
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Giardino is the Italian word for garden, in a link to the existing Gucci Garden, which is located a few steps away, and 25 is a number dear to Michele that is often seen in his designs.
Gucci Giardino 25 will be helmed by the Umbria, Italy-born Martina Bonci, whose passion for mixology began in her grandmother’s kitchen, further developing her expertise across the country with creativity and high-quality ingredients.
Food will be served throughout the day, from breakfast at 8 a.m. to dinner and light snacks until 1 a.m., by reservation only.
The unit is also inspired by the location’s previous longtime tenant — a florist — and emphasizes the codes of Gucci and of Florence, as well as the scents and colors of a flower shop.
The venue blends the atmosphere of a traditional Tuscan bottega and a sophisticated French bistro, with exposed wooden beams on the ceiling and seats in bespoke boiserie, reminiscent of the late 18th century.
The space is marked by carved capitals on columns and mustard yellow panels, framing the embossed mirrored tiles behind the counter. The seating areas welcome up to 14 guests in precious leather-upholstered peacock blue sofas and chairs. In a reversal of perspectives, eight-pointed stars are inlaid in oak parquet flooring.
Courtesy of Gucci
The shiny marble surfaces of the bar counter and tables reflect the technical lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling.
The all-day menu will offer seasonal and Tuscan specialties prepared by an on-site kitchen. Local pastries and dishes from Japan and Mexico will be available for breakfast, as well as a variety of blended teas and coffees throughout the day.
In May, Michele completely transformed the Gucci Garden in the year of the brand’s centenary to reproduce 15 of the most innovative and groundbreaking communication campaigns he created throughout his six-year tenure.
Gucci Garden, located in the medieval Palazzo della Mercanzia in Florence dating back to 1337, a few steps away from the Uffizi Gallery on Piazza della Signoria, was inaugurated in 2018, when Michele overhauled the label’s museum that had opened in 2011 under his predecessor Frida Giannini, to make it more in sync with his own aesthetics. Over the years, the venue has staged several exhibitions, illustrating the evolution of the designer’s narrative in relation to the brand’s archives or dedicated to the exploration of masculinity.
Courtesy of Gucci
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