The CEO and co-owner Luca Marco Giraldin, 27, Paduan, combined the marketing he studied in Milan and in Lyon with the Padovan tradition of his family that has been working in the food distribution sector for 35 years. What he created is ‘Patavini‘, an “Italian specialty food boutique on one side and an open-concept kitchen area for artisanal gnocchi production on the other.” In other words, he succeeded in bringing opposites together: the luxury of a jewelry store and what in Italy is a staple food, potato gnocchi. According to Patavini website: “Potato gnocchi are a culinary token representing how the sheer simplicity of a few natural ingredients can result in an experience of absolute taste and pleasure.” And the shop’s sweet and savory varieties make up for the largest offering available in New York City.
Indeed, the feeling that Giraldin and his three partners wanted to give to the store is that of luxury: “I have always worked in consulting, in the world of luxury, fashion, and design, working for companies like Cartier, and I wanted to bring this concept to New York: now the real luxury is to have access to an experience of the highest level linked to tradition, to the territory, to the excellence of the ingredients, to the rigor of the preparation, in short, to the best side of the Made in Italy” says Luca. “Entering my shop you have an authentic experience: with a dozen dollars you bring home not only a product of the highest quality but also all that is behind us, the history, tradition, passion, civilization of our grandparents and our land.”
Moreover, behind the extremely elegant minimal windows, in addition to gnocchi – traditional as well as original ones such as the blue ones made with lavender -, it is possible to buy sauces and oils produced by small companies. Thus, in one shop there is the solution for a dinner, the experience of watching the traditional preparation of gnocchi, and a luxury delicatessen.
Ilona Catani Scarlett