When the iconic magic box meets the place, captured from hotel guests shots to let discover the details of the hotel destinations.
The hotel couture
Ignazio Cipriani in Mr.C
Spring is late in coming to New York. Outside, people are waiting for the first day of sunshine. Ignazio Cipriani is eagerly awaiting the coming months, too; something new is about to happen in his life. Some things remain unchanged over the passing of time, whilst others change in the blink of an eye. Perhaps it’s because he is only thirty, but every time he has lunch at Harry’s Bar in Central Park he feels like a kid again.
It’s like he’s back pretending to make dough in the kitchens of the original Harry’s Bar, the first of the dynasty opened by his great-grandfather in Venice in 1931.
Time seems to have stood still there.
His grandfather still works there to this day, and each summer Ignazio returns to Italy to pay him a visit. There, he finds him behind the counter, and imagines watching him chat to legendary regulars such as Ernest Hemingway or Truman Capote.
“Seaport District, right?” the driver asks. The brothers nod. From Central Park, they head south, crossing half of Manhattan to reach their destination. They only moved from Milan to New York a few years ago, but everything is already so familiar.
Whatever street the driver takes, they pass something that carries their name and their Italian touch – whether it’s the Midtown offices, Cipriani Dolci at Grand Terminal, the Grano restaurant, or the grandiose ballrooms located in historical Downtown buildings, and on Broadway and Wall Street.
“We learned everything we know about work from our family,” Maggio says. “Right. Family, work, friends, there is no contradiction, and no contraindication, either. Some friends don’t want to work with their friends. But I have to trust the people I work with; who can I trust more than a friend?” “What a question! Your brother, of course!”
Maggio quips before continuing: “But is there anything you feel you have learned on your own?” “Yes, I have learned how to make mistakes,” Ignazio replies. They reach the Seaport District, and the view opens out onto the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge.
This is the spot where the Cipriani family has bought a traditional redbrick building, which it is transforming into the new Mr. C New York. The design has been entrusted to Danish architect Thomas Juul-Hansen, and the style will feature the same relaxed, welcoming atmosphere as Mr. C Beverly Hills in Los Angeles.
Ignazio walks onto the building site of the new hotel, pausing in the restaurant to imagine how it will be when it is finished.
This is the part of his work he loves most: coming up with new ideas, and then seeing them take shape. “Nearly there,” he thinks.
His great-grandfather Giuseppe Cipriani was an inventive man with an artistic vein; he named his culinary inventions, such as the cocktail made with prosecco and white peach or the paper-thin slices of sirloin steak, after Veneto-born renaissance artists such as Giovanni Bellini and Vittore Carpaccio.
Ignazio’s day still stretches out in front of him. And tomorrow is Saturday. If the forecasts have got it right, the sun will be coming out at last. It’s set to be a great day, because the five-a-side soccer pitch has already been booked for a match with his friends.
