Lapo Elkann, great-grandson of
Fiat founder Giovanni Agnelli, has created a new venue opening
on Thursday called Garage Italia, combining a love of fast cars
with food, fashion, and design.
Elkann collaborated with Chef Carlo Cracco, who designed the
menu for Garage Italia's restaurant, and designer Michele De
Lucchi, who remodeled a historic Agip service station in
Piazzale Accursio that had long since been abandoned.
"When I imagined this place, I thought of a concept that I
had seen in a book by my great-grandfather, Giovanni Agnelli -
not 'The Lawyer' but the genius of the family - with the spot
'Fiat sky earth sea'," Elkann said.
"There's no comparison between me and him, but in my own
small way I want to bring back that concept to an industry
that's in full ferment, that of motion," he said.
Elkann said he looks back to the years when the building was
commissioned in 1952 as a time "when we were a country that
dominated the world", and he now imagines a "Dolce Vita 4.0".
"Italy has incredible craftsmanship, with extraordinary
entrepreneurs and artisans; by uniting these strengths we win if
we compete abroad," he said.
The space includes an area where visitors can simulate the
experience of racing a Ferrari by using the same professional
simulator that Gran Turismo Championship drivers use for
training.
The ground floor also has a shop with ties and jackets by
Rubinacci, sweatshirts by Hydrogen and cashmere by Majestic.
Upstairs is the restaurant, with a Ferrari 250 GTO
transformed into a cocktail bar in the middle of the dining
floor.
There are also nine Ferrari Daytona seats and two Ferrari 599
seats that function as armchairs.
The menus are designed to look like speedometers, and Cracco
said the dishes represent "the great Italian tradition tied to
Lapo's memories", such as his Grandmother Marella's garden and
his grandfather's salad.
Architect Michele De Lucchi said he was inspired by the
"propulsive strength of the optimism of the 1950s, in which
there was a sense of wanting to build a new world".
"It's the same optimism that drives us today," De Lucchi
said, adding that Lapo Elkann is "speed in person".
Elkann, for his part, said "going fast is important, but calm
is also needed to understand and make this project 100% perfect
before taking it around the world".
"Which I will definitely do," he said, adding that he also
feels ready to have a "stable relationship with a woman and have
children".
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