casa olivi

16.3.11

casa with cypresses

13.3.11

Casa Olivi, experiencing the tradition and the modernity of Italy...

Casa Olivi is located in Treia, in the heart of the Marches, The New Tuscany. Its renovation took 4 years, conducted by 2 swiss architects Markus Wespi and Jerome de Meuron. The outside style has been preserved as the building is protected by the Italian Cultural and History Administration, but the inside has been entirely re-organised according to a luxurious, high comfortable and minimalist style.

The house offers 11 sleeps in 5 bedrooms, 4 in the house and 1 in the independent guest house. All bedrooms are en-suite with own bathroom and air conditioning.

Ground floor: double living with fireplace and TV, home theatre Loewe, professional dream kitchen in inox ArcLinea, dining room for 12 people, laundry room with washing machine and dryer, toilets, fitness room with runner and kinesis wall Technogym.

First floor: big entrance, 1 bedroom with 3 simple beds, closet and bathroom (shower), 1 bedroom with 2 simple beds, closet and bathroom (shower)
Second floor: 1 bedroom with king-size bed, closet and bathroom (shower), 1 bedroom with king-size bed, closet and bathroom (bath tube and shower), big office and closets.

Guest house: 1 bedroom with queen-size bed, closet and bathroom (shower), living room with panoramic views on the landscape until Monte Conero.

The Villa presents design furniture from italian, spanish and french designers (Vitra, Cassina, Gandia Blasco, Philippe Stark...), as well as furniture designed by wespi de meuron.
On the south part of the house, a big terrace in terracota with pergola, dining table for 12 people, outside inox kitchen with grill and teppanyaki (Japanese grill), amazing infinity pool 5x12m.
The house is in a panoramic position with a 360 degrees view on the landscape, 1 hectare of land with olive trees.
5 minutes from the city of Treia with a very good asphalt road, 20 minutes from Macerata and its open air opera festival in the summer, and 1 hour from Ancona airport, Casa Olivi offers an ideal position to visit The Marches, enjoy the adriatic coast as well as some beautiful cities in Umbria.

Outlet factories in Le Marche

It’s a well kept secret that a lot of the Italian quality leather goods are made in Le Marche region. In the last 30 years the region benefited from a quiet industrial revolution that didn’t displace the workers but went to them.
The result is that a lot of small industries are scattered through the territory and the workers added the income from the agriculture to the income from home based manufacturing.

The area of Macerata and Ascoli Piceno are sprinkled of leather related small business, outlets and markets.
The tenacious shoe seeker will find a splendid hunting ground in Tod’s or Prada factory outlets. Both brands offer elegant design, meticulous manufacture and unsurpassed comfort.
The outlets are close to each other in a recently open shopping mall devoted to shoes and bags.
The Tod’s outlet is located in Casette d’Ete in the vicinity of Civitanova Marche and Sant’Elpidio.
Take the exit Civitanova Marche from A14 then on the road to Macerata, take the exit Monte Cosaro. Before entering the village of casette d’Ete turn right at the big roundabout.

Just in front of Tod's is the new and huge Prada outlet for the joy of bargain hunters...

10.3.11

Fabio Trabocchi to open Fiola in spring 2011

As long expected (and hoped) by Washington food enthusiasts, Fabio Trabocchi last week announced he was leaving New York for Washington, where he plans to open Fiola in the former Le Paradou space in Penn Quarter. The acclaimed chef describes his new venture as "a more casual approach to what I was doing before at Maestro," the late ode to high-end Italian cuisine he presided over for six years at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner.

The menu at Fiola will change daily and will highlight the flavors of the Marches. Trabocchi is calling his ideas "gourmet but accessible." They are also a continuation of "the democratization of gastronomy" that he sees in the restaurant market.

A tall, soft-spoken native of Le Marche, a province of sea and mountains on the Adriatic side of central Italy, Mr. Trabocchi grew up on a farm and began cooking as a child. He eventually worked his way up to some top kitchens in Italy, including that of the Michelin-starred Gualtiero Marchesi. For much of his career he has worked in hotel restaurants abroad. While in London he attracted the attention of the Ritz-Carlton chain. He created Maestro in their Tysons Corner property to replace the more generic Dining Room.

“I’ve worked all over, but Le Marche is still my main influence,” he said. He roasts lamb in fresh hay as it is done there to give it an herbal smokiness. His menu includes lasagna Vincisgrassi, named, in a loose Italian transliteration, for an Austrian field marshal, Alfred Windischgrätz. It’s a local production number in which all the ingredients, including veal, are finely diced, not ground. In Le Marche, the dish calls for at least 12 layers of fresh pasta, but Mr. Trabocchi has simplified it a bit for Fiamma (and even more for home cooks, in the accompanying recipe).