The Florentine art of setting the table

Italy is one of the homelands of good cooking: both the choices of Parma as location for the European Food Safety Authority  and of Milan for the Expo 2015 dedicated to food are precise demonstrations of that. It comes natural, while thinking about good cookery, to think about Italian products and, among the others, about the Tuscan ones (wine, olive oil, cheeses, prosciutto, cakes and many other dishes). Here is a question for you: is it important to us to present all these wonderful products in a becoming way? And the answer definitively is: “yes”. During the centuries local artisans have been taking care about how to elegantly set  the table and, few days ago, I have personally tested the skill of few modern creators, artisans artists and designers, having their stores in Florence . Would you like to follow me?

My tour starts in via de’ Rondinelli, continues in piazza Antinori and, through via de’ Tornabuoni, ends in via di Porta Rossa.

My first stop is at the flagship store of an historical brand of Florence, the Richard Ginori, established in 1735 by the marquis Carlo Ginori as Manifattura di Doccia and renamed in 1896 Richard Ginori as a consequence of the buy-out by the businessman Augusto Richard from Milan. The brand has a long- lasting, complicate,  and sometimes economically unhappy history. Anyway in 2013 it has been bought out by the Gucci group. As a consequence of that the store in via de’ Rondinelli 17r has been completely renewed and refurbished: in the modern store they have re-created the different rooms of a house. You will find the kitchen, the dining and the living rooms, a winter garden equipped of porcelain cups, plates, vases, bottles, pitchers, jugs, bowls, … If I had to choose, I might have some difficulties: anyway I really love the so-called “Italian Orient” collection: they make me think about the 18^th century productions renewed using very charming colours. I have to mention even the collections designed by Giò Ponti: the vases and plates decorated with women, architectures and mythological figures or with the chains. To visit this store really allows to enjoy the history of a brand, which from the 18^th century to nowadays makes our tables looking  beautiful with sober or coloured objects, always keeping them refined and elegant.

In the next days I’ll tell the rest of my tour!