***FOR THE ISSUE OF MAY 15***

Florence is blooming at this time of the year, and visitors can experience a special view of the city from the Collegio alla Querce hotel or enjoy Tuscan traditional food at the Irene restaurant overlooking the crowded Piazza della Repubblica.

Here’s a list of some of the new hot spots in the city:

Collegio alla Querce, Auberge Resorts Collection

Auberge Resorts Collection has opened its latest destination in Italy located a few steps away from the city center of Florence: Collegio alla Querce, Auberge Resorts Collection. Drawing its name from the oaks which surround it, the 16th-century building was previously a private, all-boys school for the Florentine elite since 1868. 

According to the vision of the owner Analjit Singh, also owner and founder of hospitality firm Leeu Collection, after a conservative restoration, the property is now a hotel with 49 rooms, 28 suites and six grand suites. Guests can relax in the hotel spa, Aelia and spend time in the recently opened 35 meters swimming pool.

The entire renovation project was entrusted to the Spanish architectural studio Esteva i Esteva, the interior design was curated by the Florentine studio ArchFlorence, and the landscape gardener Francesca Watson designed the outdoor spaces. 

The food offering is led by Nicola Zamperetti, who was named executive chef of the two restaurants, La Gamella and Il Conservatorio and also of Café Focolare and Bar Bertelli. 

Collegio alla Querce, Auberge Resorts Collection
Via delle Forbici, 21B – 50133 
Tel. 05-54-04-9000
aubergeresorts.com

Jil Sander 

Luxury brand Jil Sander has landed in luxury shopping street Via de’ Tornabuoni with its first store in Florence, spanning 1,350 square feet. The entrance is carved out of stone and the floors and walls are made from a silver-blue travertine. 

Based on the design developed by the architecture firm Casper Mueller Kneer (CMK) for the brand’s flagship in London and in Tokyo’s Ginza district, the space features monochrome blocks of marble, brass architectural elements and timber pieces.

Tables and seats were sourced from recycled plastic from compact disc cases while the ceiling is made of wooden components and stone moldings. The store carries the women’s and men’s runway and pre-collections, ready-to-wear, shoes, handbags and accessories. 

Jil Sander 
Via de’ Tornabuoni, 47R/49R – 50123 
Tel. 05-52-05-2798
jilsander.com

Hermès 

Recently Hermès has expanded and relocated its historic store from Piazza Antinori to Via degli Strozzi, 16. The new flagship covers about 10,800 square feet over two floors and it’s set inside a Renaissance building, carefully restored in order to maintain its classic Florentine features. Parisian architecture agency RDAI was in charge of the store design. 

The main room features the signature Faubourg pattern and carries the women’s and men’s silk collections and jewelry. Menswear and the home line are also displayed on the first floor along with perfumes and beauty products. An elliptical curved marble staircase leads to the second floor where under a copper lacquered ceiling there are the women’s footwear, women’s ready-to-wear and a private salon, in addition to jewelry, watches and leather goods. 

The store displays a selection of artworks from the Émile Hermès collection, images of natural landscapes from the Hermès collection of contemporary photographs, and an Etruscan and a Luristan vase from the eighth century B.C. Adorning the leather goods area there’s the Paperole, a specially commissioned wood panel by Anglo-Japanese artist Christian Hidaka, a 21st-century interpretation of a carriage with a coachman at the reins with his horses. The window displays were entrusted to Italian designer Andrea Mancuso who portrayed a horse and a carriage — all references to the brand’s equestrian imagery.

Hermès
Via degli Strozzi, 16 – 50123
Tel. 05-52-38-1004
hermes.com

‘Tracey Emin. Sex and Solitude’ Exhibition 

Until July 20, Palazzo Strozzi is hosting the first institutional solo exhibition of the British artist Tracey Emin in Italy. The show is dubbed “Tracey Emin. Sex and Solitude” and was curated by Arturo Galansino, director general of Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi. 

It features over 60 of the artist’s works including paintings, drawings, film, photography, embroidery, appliqué, sculptures, and neon installations. Visitors are welcomed by a site-specific work created for the show: a large neon sign in vivid blue on the facade of Palazzo Strozzi with the visual declaration “Sex and Solitude.” It introduces the different themes of the show which are body, sexuality, solitude and vulnerability and that are explored through Emin’s works.

Each room displays a main artwork that represents a stage in the artist’s life — for example, the “Exorcism of the last painting I ever made” explores a traumatic period for Emin in the early 1990s, marked by an abortion. 

Gucci, the main sponsor of the exhibition along with Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, dedicated a special screening to Emin’s video art as part of the “Controluce. Stories of Beauty” project.

Palazzo Strozzi 
Piazza degli Strozzi – 50123
Tel. 05-52-64-5155
palazzostrozzi.org

‘Caravaggio e il Novecento. Roberto Longhi, Anna Banti’ Exhibition 

Until July 20, Fondazione CR Firenze presents at Villa Bardini “Caravaggio e il Novecento [Twentieth Century]. Roberto Longhi, Anna Banti” exhibition. Curated by Cristina Acidini and Claudio Paolini, it’s in collaboration with the Fondazione Roberto Longhi which promotes the development of art history studies.

The exhibition unfolds 12 sections and showcases more than 40 works including paintings, drawings, watercolors, original photographs and archival documents which testify the couple’s relationships with poet Giuseppe Ungaretti, writers Giorgio Bassani and Vasco Pratolini and more. Among the masterpieces featured, there are Caravaggio’s “Ragazzo morso da un ramarro [Boy Bitten by a Lizard]” painting, Jusepe de Ribera’s “Apostles” and 10 paintings by the Bolognese artist Giorgio Morandi.

Another section is dedicated to Banti, a writer, translator and art historian, celebrated by a selection of the large number of drawings that Longhi made of her and by a series of photographs portraying them in the rooms of Villa Il Tasso.

Villa Bardini
Costa S. Giorgio, 2 – 50125
Tel. 05-52-00-66233
villabardini.it

Irene Restaurant and Bar Artemisia at Hotel Savoy

Hotel Savoy celebrates its 25th anniversary with the opening of two new spaces on Piazza della Repubblica: the Irene restaurant and the Artemisia bar. The former recently underwent a major renovation of the interior spaces and its outdoor veranda. The new design pays homage to Lady Irene Forte, mother of the owner Sir Rocco Forte.

The culinary offering stays true to the Tuscan tradition and guests are welcomed into an intimate dining area with walnut panelling and black-and-white marble floors, accented with red details. Fabrics in the upholstering are by Loro Piana, the bespoke seating is by Cinelli, and the chandeliers are from the Venetian tradition. The kitchen is led by chef Fulvio Pierangelini. 

Bar Artemisia pays homage to artist Artemisia Gentileschi who inspired the space’s design where the bar counter stands out, crafted from the same rich wood as the entrance doorway. Furniture and materials were chosen by Olga Polizzi, head of design at Rocco Forte Hotels, and the lighting was conceived by the design studio C14. 

Created by Salvatore Calabrese and Federico Pavan, head of mixology at Rocco Forte Hotels, the drinks menu offers a reinterpretation of the traditional Florentine aperitivo, with cocktails and a curated range of local wines complemented by Tuscan-inspired dishes crafted by celebrated chef Pierangelini. 

Hotel Savoy 
Piazza della Repubblica, 7 – 50123 
Tel. 05-52-73-5891
roccofortehotels.com

Onde Restaurant and Bar Berni at Four Seasons Hotel Firenze

The Four Seasons hotel has introduced two new destinations: the Onde restaurant and the Berni bar. The fish restaurant is led by the executive chef Paolo Lavezzini who, together with his sous chef Giacomo Cavicchi, the restaurant manager Roberto Pennacchiotti and the food and beverage director Alessio Anedda, wanted their guests to experience conviviality.

The food offer includes crudités, oysters, plates from the traditional cuisine and a large selection of Champagnes and white wines. 

The bar, named after Bernardo Del Nero, is the new all-day dining and vermouth bar of the hotel. The bar manager Antonello Palermo and his team have created a selection of cocktails entirely based on vermouth, dedicated to the seven islands of the Tuscan Archipelago. 

Four Seasons Hotel Firenze
Via Gino Capponi, 46 – 50121 
Tel. 05-52-62-6450
fourseasons.com