Cheers to your Story

Strongly desired by the Biasiotto family - the project - which lasted over a year - was born to raise awareness of some of the most important example of excellence of the Venetian territory. It’s an exciting journey into different realities, who share with Foss Marai the same true values of made-in-Italy, craftsmanship, passion for their job. The bond with the surrounding territory plays an important role for the success of their activities.

The result are real stories, told through interviews, photos and videos showing the 15 characters in all their spontaneity.

The evening started off with a brief tour of the Foss Marai cellar, whose story -told by the family itself- was all about a passion which soon become a long life job.

Throughout dinner the 15 characters went through this amazing journey. It was an emotional moment shared with a slideshow of photos and videos.

The first stop on our journey was Smania, represented by its CEO Francesco Snaidero, manufacturer of luxury furniture and ultimate expression of Italian craftsmanship. The company has always paid great attention to choose only fine, top-quality, but sustainable raw material, according to the market demand. Smania has now become in all respects a ‘mood’, a furnishing philosophy.

The journey went on to the Murano Island where we met Massimiliano Schiavon and his Art Team. For six generations the Schiavon family has been dedicating their entire life to working blown glass, a passion more than a job. The result are unique, colorful, handcrafted pieces. The entire artistic production can be seen (and purchased) at their lab and showroom in Murano.

A few minutes away from Guia and Foss Marai headquarter, in Cison di Valmarino (TV), the old Castle of Castelbrando stands out in the sky. The castle was previously owned by the noble families Da Camino e Brandolini until 1998, when Massimo Colomban and Ivana Casagrande took it over and transformed it into a fairy tale hotel. We met Mrs. Ivana who gave us a tour of the most secret corners of the castle.

The fourth character of the Foss Marai Stories is Mr. Andrea Corletto, new owner and General Manager of Le Beccherie Restaurant, an important landmark of Treviso’s restaurant business. The original recipe of Tiramisù (famous Italian dessert) was also created here in 2010.

By going on with our journey, we met Luca Badoer, former F1 driver, whose career counts 51 races and whose actual life is still divided by his great passion for racing and his job at his family’s company, the place where we held our interview.

By moving forward to Vicenza, we met another interesting example of Venetian Excellence: the Cappelleria Palladio, a traditional artisan shop - a place where you can find yourself surrounded by an atmosphere of antiquity - which is specialized in the sale of accurately designed men’s and women’s hats.

The next Story has two main characters, the brothers Luca and Giorgio Bonato: Luca, with his creative attitude, is at the head of FusinaLab, a company which is specialized in the production of plexiglass for the retail market; Giorgio, with his technical attitude, is the founder of HangarFusina, a branch of the company which applies the technical capabilities, together with the use of different materials such as plastic, wood and metals, into the development of various objects and tools.

Going back to the Treviso area, more specifically to Miane, we head to the Ristorante Da Gigetto - now managed by Gigetto’s son and daughter Marco and Monica Bortolini - which, by more than fifty years, has been offering traditional Venetian recipes, revised with a modern touch, and a variety of Italian and international wines (more than 1600 brands) that are part of the outstanding restaurant’s cellar, one of the most important in Italy.

Our journey led us next to interview Uberto di Remigio, President of the Zavrel Foundation, who explained to us the main message of the Foundation as follows: the discipline of illustration has a great educational value because it helps the students develop their critical capability, which is necessary to find one’s way in life.

Our tour throughout the Veneto Region doesn’t end here: one of the protagonists of our dinner was, in fact, the sculptor Valentino Moro. In his atelier in Miane (TV), Valentino shapes and sculpts the iron with astonishing ability. During the event, Valentino revealed us some details about his new work of art. The sculpture, named “Sfida”, is dedicated to the Vaia Storm, which in 2018 did great damage to the North East of Italy, destroying huge wood areas and causing flooding and landslides.

The Follina’s (TV) Lanificio Paoletti is one of the most significant examples of top-quality, Italian manufacturing. The textile company is specialized in the design and production of 100% pure carded wool fabrics.

Adriano Zanchettin, the thirteenth character of the Stories, tell us about his great passion: making Venetian-style floors, a traditional working which - originally - was made only with waste materials from the territory. Throughout the years, small parts of marble were added to it and, at the beginning of the 20th Century, it started being decorated in art nouveau style.

In a blink of an eye we move from floors to crystals. Marco Varisco lets us in his glass lab, telling us about the pleasure of working a material like glass and talking about the engraving technique, which he will later on hand down to his son.

A similar pleasure feels Valerio De Marchi as he models the bronze to give life to dozens of female sculptures, which can weigh over 100 kilos. His works originate from his passion for Beauty, where the body shape reveals all his wonder.

The intense journey of the Foss Marai Stories took us all the way to the dessert and to a not-to-be-missed experience at the Pasticceria Villa dei Cedri, where we enjoyed the pastry specialties of Massimo Carnio, World champion of Ice-cream in 2020 and Italian champion of Chocolate in 2015.

Of course, at Foss Marai, the good wine couldn’t miss on the table; it enhanced every single moment of the dinner, from cocktail to dessert, thus enriching the friendly atmosphere and connecting all the stories with a magical fil rouge.