Tell us a bit more about your background and your current work:
We met just after graduating from university, Niccolò with a degree in economics and Gemma with a degree in psychology. We both wanted to travel and get hands-on experience in the hospitality and tourism sectors, since that is what we wanted to do in the future–together.
After various hospitality experiences in Italy and working as chefs in Australia and Southeast Asia, we decided to bring all we had learned back to our hometown in Milan.
We started out simple: renovating, furnishing, and managing four 1- or 2-bedroom apartments, all with special characteristics and charm. We set up a 900-meters-square vegetable patch just outside Milan as we really missed nature and wanted to start putting the farm-to-table concept into practice. And to share the benefits–as well as our fresh, natural produce, of course–with family and friends.
When we found La Foleia, it was love at first sight. The atmosphere was so magical that we felt transported to another world, and we immediately started imagining the many ways we could preserve and develop its amazing potential.
All of these experiences helped us tune in to a slow, authentic way of living and thinking in both the hospitality and food sectors. This mentality is now part of our identity, and then came naturally to our work: both with our latest project at La Foleia and a future, secret project coming up in Milan (hopefully!) soon.
Why did you choose to stay in Italy?
We’d love to reply with another question: “why wouldn’t we consider staying in Italy?” We know many people leave this country, as we did for a couple of years, but we wanted to grow both personally and professionally in our country of origin. Which also so happens to be, in our opinion, one of the most interesting countries in the world.
What do you see for the future of the hospitality industry in Italy?
We see experiences and authenticity, or even better, authentic experiences as the future of the hospitality industry. Italy is made up of the people who live it. Small towns, ancestral rituals, knowledge passed on from one generation to the next, artisanal work–this is our country’s social fabric, what we believe gives it value, and what we’d like to communicate and have our guests experience. This is what we believe, or what we hope, the future of hospitality here is.
What are the greatest obstacles and satisfactions that you face working in this country?
The greatest obstacles we’ve had to face and still face in this country: bureaucracy, bureaucracy, bureaucracy.
The greatest satisfaction is definitely the human aspect of meeting people when trying to set up our business. Even in such a small town like Revislate where La Foleia is located, we have found so many amazing people and young entrepreneurs who’ve decided to give up the conventional path to become incredible flower farmers, cheese makers, Japanese veggie growers, and so on.
