The Gucci aesthetic served up on the table Interview with Karime Lopez, Chef of the restaurant Gucci Osteria

On 9 January 2018, when the cooker at Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura was lit for the first time, she was ruling it, Karime Lopez, born in 1982, the first Mexican woman chef to receive a Michelin star. If on the catwalk the maximalist and dreamlike aesthetic of the historic Italian brand is transposed through the lens of Creative Director Alessandro Michele, after meeting chef Karime Lopez, it was evident that the same magic that characterises Gucci's aesthetic has been translated into the kitchen, where each member of the team wears a pair of black runners designed by Alessandro Michele and shares his same inclusive, curious and passionate philosophy.

The Osteria's menu is not simply a mix of methods and ingredients, but a veritable tapestry of the Chef's culinary adventures and those of her staff, a mix that has earned the chef, the crew and the Osteria in Florence their first Michelin star in 2020. A success that also passes through the city chosen to host the restaurant, described by Lopez as "a Renaissance city" where «everyone has come to exchange products, languages and ideas and that's what we want to do in the restaurant». That's why at Gucci Osteria you won't find a particular tone or ingredient, but an ever-evolving menu that explores all the senses, using only what's available, in season and at the peak of maturity. Prior to Covid, the kitchen even had a local binder looking for local wild ingredients to use for the week, giving the team the opportunity to improvise, always pushing their own creativity while working within the confines of what's available. Sustainability and creativity are important themes for the restaurant, but so is luxury: «The exclusivity is in the way the raw material is treated, prepared and brought to the peak of freshness. The concept we came up with is "Travel with us around the world" and was born from this need for human contact, from the idea of reawakening ancient memories. We were closed for two years. We know that after all this there is a need for human contact. We wanted each dish to be a different memory, and of course one of those memories that I want people to leave with is Mexico because it's in my heart.»