Italy has always held a special allure for me. So, when the opportunity came to return — this time for the 50 Best Restaurant Awards in northern Italy’s Turin — I couldn’t say no. What made this trip especially memorable was the chance to experience the country’s rich culture with intention. Over the course of four weeks, I rediscovered Italy not just as a travelled, but as a devoted diner — and nowhere did its artistry shine brighter than at two standout destinations: the avant-garde Locale Firenze in Florence and the timelessly elegant Oro at Belmond Hotel Cipriani in Venice.
Locale Firenze: A Bold Take on Tradition
Walking to Concini Palace, the 16th-century home of renowned restaurant and bar Locale Firenze, the tone is firmly set for the evening as we pass attractive locals in beautiful bars enjoying after-work drinks. The area is hip, contemporary, and trendy.
Arriving at Locale Firenze’s bar – ranked 36 in the World’s 50 Best Bars in 2024 – its juxtaposition of an ornate tableau of history with modernist mixology techniques and a future-thinking menu, is sublime.
Choosing from a shortlist of 11 signature cocktails comes down to a simple matter of taste, as they are all distinctive. Grappa tends to be too strong for me, so I follow mixologist Allessadro Mengoni’s recommendation, choosing to start with the Foglia — a gin, hemp, mint, basil, and lemon cocktail. My espresso-loving husband goes for the conspicuously named Coffee Tonic, a rum-based cocktail with coffee kombucha.
Cocktails, Cellars, and Culinary Theatre
After welcome drinks at the lively bar, we are seated in the cellar, which is said to have been built in the 1200s. “Unless there are any specific dishes you’d like to try, our desire is to take you on a tasting journey,” explains our waiter, Nicola, “Chef Simone Capponnetto has selected a few to enjoy with a wine pairing.”
Every dish has been painstakingly perfected. The fusillone pasta dish looks like a Jackson Pollock painting, but each mouthful proves that the different sauces have been arranged on the plate with intention. The textures and flavours of saffron, cuttlefish, and herb jus fuse elegantly.
Trilogia D’uovo is the highlight of the evening. Every element exists in perfect harmony, from the caviar that softens the palate in anticipation of the crostini’s crunch, to the smooth richness of an egg yolk sitting atop a tart sauce that cuts through an otherwise generous mouth coating. Cured fish and smoked cream also make the perfect pair on a charred crisp.
Dining here is an eclectic and exciting experience, a symphony of flavours that honours history in the most inventive and contemporary ways.
Oro at Hotel Cipriani: Understated Luxury on a Plate
By stark contrast, the one Michelin-starred restaurant, Oro, is the epitome of traditional Italian dining in a luxurious setting. Sharing Venice’s legendary Hotel Cipriani with three other restaurants, it stands out because it tackles complex concepts with simple executions. This leaves very little room for fault.
Conducting meticulous culinary art from national staples and personal experience, Chef Vania Ghedini and Chef Massimo Bottura achieve this by starting at the source.
A Tasting Menu That Tells a Story
Our meal started with what appeared to be an antipasto of fish carpaccio. The burst of refreshing and herbaceous flavours proved, however, that it was anything but.
We then moved on to the tortellini, which is at the heart of the seven-course tasting menu. Every mouthful of pasta yields after a little resistance to mussels, soft shell crab, and scampi.
This is followed by a golden-fried oyster on an egg, bacon, and Parmesan foam that has a thick squid-ink foundation.
Ending on a Sweet Note
A delicate tiramisu caps our meal. Two cocoa-dusted, wafer-thin crescents filled with mascarpone cheese and a coffee-flavoured Italian custard flank a gold-leafed cylinder of the same in the middle.
Simple, striking, and almost too beautiful to eat. Almost.
