They are rare pearls in Italian dining, examples of culinary and artistic creativity that combine to offer a complete and unique experience: the ten Italian restaurants awarded in this first edition of the newly formed Visionary Places project. Conceived by Gambero Rosso, the initiative aims to identify and enhance the most visionary proposals that have been able to generate a positive impact on the territory and the entire community, restoring value to the culture of hospitality in order to stimulate the restaurant sector to seek that extra quid that has always distinguished Made in Italy hospitality in the world. Different in terms of geographic positioning, gastronomic horizon of reference and ambitions, in common all the selected restaurants have a series of values identified by the three partners and encapsulated in a manifesto: they range from entrepreneurial vision to the ability to generate well-being, from gastronomic offerings to innovation, and the relationship with art, architecture and design. A visionary restaurant is a place that is able to stand out without following fashions, interpreting the concept of well-being for both diners and staff by paying attention to all the elements ancillary to the cuisine that contribute to making the customer experience complete. The gold medal went to Luminist, a brilliant example of museum dining inside the Gallerie d'Italia in Naples. Intesa Sanpaolo's Gallerie d'Italia project is advancing space by bringing the relationship between art, architecture, and gastronomy into sharper focus. The location based in Via Toledo, in the spaces of the historic Banco di Napoli headquarters, restored and redesigned by Michele De Lucchi, is perhaps the most accomplished example, with the Luminist bistro cafeteria on the ground floor, the fine dining 177Toledo and the Anthill cocktail bar, a multifaceted organism orchestrated by Giuseppe Iannotti, chef and patron of the Krèsios restaurant in Telese Terme. Cortina d’Ampezzo’s SanBrite, the flagship of a gastronomic organism that also includes a livestock farm and dairy, takes second place. Bronze medal for IO Luigi Taglienti of Piacenza, created in synergy with the Volumnia art and design gallery, which returned a precious deconsecrated church to the city. On a par are the following: AlpiNN - Food Space & Restaurant in Kronplatz (BZ); Ristorante Torre in Fondazione Prada in Milan; Il Sale in San Vincenzo (LI); Arnolfo in Colle Val d'Elsa (SI); Mazzo in Rome; Ninù in Rome; and Vettor in Bari.
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