World-renowned Tuscan company Officine Gullo has opened a showroom and events space with a wow factor in central Florence.
Situated in a former chapel adjacent to Ognissanti Church, the family-run luxury kitchen design firm celebrates its Florentine roots and the birth of the modern kitchen with the new opening near the Arno River. Stepping through the floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors brings a hushed wow to your lips on viewing the contemporary stainless steel kitchen, as if in silent prayer, before the deconsecrated altar. Officine Gullo House is a breathtaking location, which marries together state-of-the-art kitchen design and the millennia-old history of the Renaissance city, its inherent craftsmanship and fundamentals of the art of cuisine. Refurbished by Milan-based architectural firm SuperSpatial, the sensitive and astute renovation blends the Renaissance and modernity, respecting holiness and injecting the singular space with new life.
Guests are welcomed to the striking space with a potted history of the earliest modern kitchens under Medici rule, while enjoying welcome drinks from leading Tuscan wineries. A secret door and private passageway provides exclusive after-hours access to the Church of San Salvatore di Ognissanti and its masterpieces by Botticelli, Giotto and Ghirlandaio, as well as the funerary monuments of Botticelli, Amerigo Vespucci and Carolina Bonaparte Murat, Napoleon’s sister. On their return to Officine Gullo House, dinner served at the chef’s table, in full sight of the open-plan kitchen, where top cooks prepare culinary delights in a beguiling blend of fine food and conviviality. That’s not all: up on the contemporary mezzanine lounge of mirrored walls, tactile wood and a backlit bar counter, after-dinner cocktails are concocted by the resident mixologist, perhaps paired with some live opera or jazz performances made sublime by the natural 14th-century acoustics.
Watch this space (or just book it directly): Officine Gullo House is set to become the place to party for small groups this autumn and beyond.
About Officine Gullo House
Borgo Ognissanti 32, Florence
For details and bookings: experience@officinegullo.com
