As in a game of matryoshkas, one gem hides the other. The biggest one is the 19th-century Palazzo Paoletti between Via Calimala, Via dei Cavalieri and Via dei Lamberti, a stone's throw from Piazza della Signoria, right in the heart of Florence's historic centre: until 2021 it housed a Zara department store, then the effect of lockdowns prompted the clothing multinational to close its doors. The Florentine Cecchi family, active for two decades in the real estate brokerage business, seized this opportunity, immediately taking over the building and converting it, after major works completed in record time, into a structure dedicated to high-end hospitality, a boutique hotel with five floors, 23 spacious rooms and 16 suites/apartments, all furnished in Art Deco style contaminated by contemporary design elements. A gem of beauty.
The five Cecchi brothers (with the girlfriend of one of them)
What did they name the new structure?
La Gemma, but as an acronym for the new Cecchi generation at the helm of the project, consisting of the young siblings Ginevra, Edoardo, Massimiliano, Maria Sole and Andrea, who succeeded their father Luca who passed away in 2020.
Images of La Gemma in Florence
To unearth a further gem in
La Gemma, it is necessary to go up to the first floor: there you will find
Luca's, the gastronomic restaurant - dedicated to Luca Cecchi - that general manager Laura Stopani wanted to entrust to a strong name in international fine dining, which she had met when, between 2013 and 2017, she was director of another luxury hotel,
Borgo Santo Pietro di Chiusdino, in the province of Siena. Few remember this, but a decade ago, leading the kitchen of the magnificent relais in the Senese region where
Ariel Hagen's star now shines, was the Italo-Argentine
Paulo Airaudo. He was then not even 30 years old. Meanwhile, he has become a sort of King Midas of the restaurant business, an endless series of establishments around the world between the San Sebastian head office, with
Amelia, two stars expected to becoming three, plus
Da Filippo, La Bottega di Filippo, 1985 Cantina Argentina, The Blind Pig, El Bar de Villa Favorita and the recently taken over traditional Basque tavern
Irai. And then there’s one-starred
Aleia in Barcelona,
Noi, Haku and again
Amelia and
Da Filippo in Hong Kong,
Anima in Bogotà, not to mention London's
Da Terra, two macarons, opened with Brazilian Rafael Cagali, who in turn has Italian, Veronese origins.
WORTH THE TRIP – An outstanding dish, worth the trip alone: homemade cappelletto stuffed with pigeon, thyme butter sauce. Simplicity, absolute flavour
In short: Stopani had already tried to 'bring'
Airaudo back to Italy four years ago, it seemed all set for his landing in Ostuni, at the boutique hotel
Paragon 700, scheduled to debut in spring 2020, then Covid arrived to mess up the plans. Now she’s made it, at
La Gemma
The resident chefs at Luca's are Olivia Cappelletti and Tommaso Querini. They manage a great kitchen, while in the dining room we enjoyed the courteous professionalism of Nemad 'Nicola' Ametovic, a Florentine of Serbian origin
In Florence, the chef makes use of two valuable residents,
Tommaso Querini and
Olivia Cappelletti; he reinterprets his dishes by adapting them to the Tuscan context; but overall he proposes himself, the style that characterises him. There is something in Airaudo's cooking that recalls that of the
Cereas. Certainly, the Italo-Argentine rambles more than his brothers from Bergamo, he plays between the South American matrix, the Italian inspiration that is in his DNA, the fascination for the Orient and the Spanish lesson.
Breakfast at La Gemma is of great gastronomic quality, well done
But there are common polar stars: enjoyment as a viaticum for the gastronomic experience; the idea that when dining opulence is not a minus almost to be hidden, to be ashamed of, but a privilege that is well paid for by the diner, and therefore does not lend itself to being restricted between ideological stakes; the conviction that a restaurant is first and foremost a business, which must function instead of chasing fashionable chimeras.
Homemade fresh pasta tagliolini with Carnia butter sauce with anchovies, lemon and caviar, one of Airaudo's classics
The
Cerea family does all this somewhat under the radar, without proclamations;
Airaudo states this proudly, he is not one for diplomacy. His phrase should be carved in stone, so that no one forgets it: '
Fine dining is changing and evolving, and we all have to understand that. People want happy places where they can enjoy themselves and spend pleasant hours'.
This Risotto with pumpkin, 'nduja oil, nasturtium dressing, lemon, nasturtium leaves and lobster is very, very interesting. The sweetness of the pumpkin and lobster are in contrast with the spiciness and smokiness of the 'nduja. Delicious
Monkfish, white turnip, telline (seafood), beetroot, bagna cauda, trout roe, another wonderful dish, like cappelletti. You can really tell there’s been 72 hours of maturation. But it has a flaw: it is borderline savoury
Pigeon breast, onion puree, maitake mushroom, duck fat and Colonnata lard, toasted onion petal with spring onion oil. Delicious. Pre-dessert and dessert (Goat cheese flan, plums, oat waffles and honey and Jerusalem artichoke puree, pistachio crumble, white chocolate ice cream, almond air, crispy Jerusalem artichoke skin, both very good)
This also applies to
Luca's inside
La Gemma.
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
