Italian luxury brand Gucci has expanded their sensory offering following the opening of their Florence-based restaurant Gucci Osteria earlier this year.
The haute couture meets haute cuisine presents a Gucci take on high-end Italian dishes served by 3-Michelin-star chef Massimo Bottura of the famed Osteria Francescana restaurant in Modena.
Sited behind the walls of the 14th century Palazzo della Mercanzia, Gucci Osteria invites up to 50 guests to indulge in the likes of Parmigiano Reggiano tortellini, Peruvian-inspired tostadas, pork belly buns and mushroom risotto for €20 to €30 euros per dish, while overlooking the Piazza della Signoria.
Gucci Osteria is an element of Gucci Garden, a newly-designed creative exhibition-like space selling one-of-a-kind items and experiences for Gucci fans that live, breathe – and now arguably – taste, the brand.
This next level experiential retail is not a new concept; LVMH announced late 2017 that it would be offering a second branch of its gourmet grocer La Grande Epicerie in Paris just days before Tiffany & Co opened its New York based Blue Box Café.
Be it an extension of the brand’s eclectic maximalism or simply tapping a deeper understanding of its customers’ needs, the Gucci Osteria enables the fashion house to clip the ticket at yet another customer touch point.
“The big brands are following where their high-spending clients’ cash is going,” said Fabrizio Pini, professor and joint director of the International Master in Luxury Management of Milan’s MIP Politecnico business school.
While it’s not expected to generate large returns for the brand, if the level of the gastronomic experience is on par with Gucci’s globally-recognised and adored goods, it could serve to benefit the brand in the long run.
