At these restaurants opened by luxury fashion houses, couture and cuisine make fine bedfellows.
Bulgari: Il Ristorante – Niko Romito
With seven hotels under its belt and five more slated to launch in the next three years, Bulgari has firmly established itself in the luxury hospitality scene. Each of the maison’s properties is home to its signature restaurants including II Ristorante – Niko Romito. The unique collaboration with Italian chef-patron Niko Romito of three-Michelin-starred Reale in Abruzzo is led by elevated yet authentic Italian flavours executed with unexpected innovation. Each outpost, including the Michelin-starred ones in Dubai, Beijing and Shanghai, features hand-picked design elements and a glamorous ambience true to the house. The restaurants’ newest locations at Bulgari Hotel Tokyo and Rome are set to open this Apr.
Armani: Armani/Ristorante
The essence of elegant Italian cuisine is brought to life at the Armani/Ristorante restaurants across the world. An exclusive location to visit is its Dubai outpost, which has recently earned one Michelin star. Located on the lower floors of Burj Khalifa, the restaurant adopts the understated, tasteful style of Armani’s fashion oeuvre, and pairs cream-coloured furnishings of cosy circular booth seats with textural design contrasts and clever light installations. Quality ingredients from rare terroirs are used in its take on modern Italian gastronomy, which is executed in dishes teeming with colour, flavour and texture.
Louis Vuitton: Le Café V
Perched atop the Louis Vuitton Maison Osaka Midosuji is Le Café V, the house’s first café within a store. The refined seventh-floor space features an expansive terrace and adjoining bar, with design accents of floor-to-ceiling windows and reflective glass ornaments emphasising the establishment’s proximity to the sky. Acclaimed chef Yosuke Suga, a protégé of culinary icon Joël Robuchon, is behind its menu as well as that of Sugalabo V’s. Also housed within the maison, the latter is an invitation- only restaurant hidden behind a speakeasy-style door, and fashioned after Suga’s own intimate Tokyo space. In 2021, the second Le Café V opened in Tokyo at the seven-storey flagship store of Louis Vuitton Ginza Namiki.
Prada: Bar Luce
Nothing spells photogenic more than a Wes Anderson-designed space, and that’s exactly what the Prada-run Bar Luce offers. Located at the art and culture complex of Fondazione Prada, it adopts references from Italian popular culture and aesthetics from the 1950s and ’60s. Wallpaper printed with Milanese windows adorns its interiors, while its Formica furniture is clad in Anderson’s stylistic signature of pastel hues. Come for the movie set-like interior, complete with a classic jukebox and retro pinball machines featuring characters from Anderson’s films, and stay for a Milanese spritz, coffee or panini.
