La casaPhilosophy
Cook it once.Cook it now.Know its name.
We believe Italian cooking is at its best when it is least decorated. Our work is to find the finest ingredient in its finest week, and then to do as little to it as possible, as precisely as possible.
That means nothing is cooked ahead. Pasta is rolled each morning, sauces are finished at the pass, and every plate leaves the kitchen within a minute of being ready. It also means we know every producer by name, and most of them by their children’s names.
No. 01The chef
Marta Vianello
Marta grew up in the kitchen of her grandmother’s trattoria in Bassano del Grappa, where she was given her first knife at nine and her first station at fourteen. She trained in Modena, then spent five years in Lyon, learning the French discipline she now applies to Italian food.
She opened Velluto in 2016 in a fifteenth-century palazzo on Via Maggio. She still arrives before the bread, and still tastes every sauce before service.
“My grandmother never wrote anything down. I write everything down. We cook the same food.”
No. 02Milestones
Sixty-eight years
No. 03La brigata
The brigade
Twenty-two cooks and eighteen in the dining room. Forty hands, one kitchen.
- Chef-PatronMarta VianelloTrained in Modena and Lyon. Opened Velluto in 2016.
- Sous ChefDavide Lo RussoFrom Bari. Twelve years at Marta’s side.
- Pastry ChefInes CarusoSicilian, precise, and fond of fig leaves.
- Head SommelierTomaso RicciKeeper of 1,400 labels in the cellar.
- Maître d’Giulia FerroRemembers every guest, and every anniversary.
- Chef de Partie, PastaKenji AraiRolls every sfoglia by hand, from 7:00.
No. 04Producers
The peoplebehind the plate
Forty-one farms, boats, dairies and mills supply the kitchen. Most are within a day’s drive. All of them we have visited.
- Fattoria ParisaMugelloEggs from hens raised under chestnut trees
- Allevamento LorenziniMarradiPigeon, raised slowly on grain
- Cooperativa PescatoriMazara del ValloRed prawn, landed the night before
- Caseificio GennariCollecchioParmigiano aged 36 months
- Orto di VellutoGreve in ChiantiOur own garden: two hectares, forty varieties
No. 05 — Recognition
- 01Guida MichelinTwo Stars
- 02Gambero RossoTre Forchette
- 03L’EspressoCinque Cappelli
- 04Wine SpectatorBest of Award of Excellence
- 05Guida MichelinGreen Star