Tag: Florence

There are two versions of Florence in my mind: the loveliness of the historical view of the city as seen in films like A Portrait of a Lady and the hip modern-day Mecca of style.

I explore the latter in my diary entry Date Night in Florence Italy, though I don’t move my point of view completely into the present, as the couple on a fictive date is Michelangelo and Vittoria Colonna. The riff was inspired by images I saw of La Ménagère, which is much more than just a restaurant: it’s an enclave of intertwined coffee bar, florist, boutique, eatery and bar nestled into a centuries-old building that held, until recently, a housewares store of the same name since 1896. The transformed mise-en-scène was envisioned by Luca and Marco Baldini, the former the architect and the latter the designer—the brothers principals of the q-bic architectural and design studio.

Instead of slathering the walls in this gathering spot with layers of slick materials that would hide a mountain of medieval wear and tear, the brothers made the surprising move of taking it all off, removing tile to let the plaster and stone beneath provide the interiors with a textural authenticity. The spaces are lit by whimsical lighting by Karman. This is the hip side of Florence, and I do have other diary entries featuring the Florence of the past so I hope you’ll stop by to experience more.