Cracco in Galleria, a blend of period decor and contemporary design

Cracco in Galleria is the fulfilment of award-winning chef Carlo Cracco's plan for restoring the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II to its rightful role as the favourite meeting-place for Milan residents.

The location, on five floors, includes a café with bistro, a restaurant, a winery and a private room for special functions.

The entrance, on the ground floor, leads into the bistro, where the plaster walls, hand-painted with a damask motif, recall the Fortuny patterns; the interior is further enriched by a mosaic floor and a large bar-counter dating from the late 19C.

On the first floor, customers find a space decorated with boiserie panels in shades of glue-grey and wallpaper with a large floral motif, leading to the restaurant, with two dining-rooms overlooking the Galleria dominated by exquisite Lucio Fontana ceramics on the walls and the elegant place-setting, a homage to Milan architect Gio Ponti in the design of the tableware and glassware.

The Sala Mengoni on the top floor, close to the Galleria's central dome, is reserved for special occasions. Finally, in the basement, the winery conserves its treasures between lacquer red walls and spruce wood shelves, containing more than 2000 labels and over ten thousand bottles.

The plasterwork, pilaster strips and bas-reliefs of fine mid 19C architecture blend with more contemporary details in the prestige renovation project by architects Laura Sartori Rimini and Roberto Peregalli.

A refined style native to Milan is also expressed in the choice of the Triennale four curve tile - designed by Gio Ponti and Alberto Rosselli for Marazzi in 1960, and used in a jigsaw of Avorio, Ocra and Nero colours - as the wall covering for all the kitchens, included on all five floors.

In the elegant washrooms, the Allmarble marble-effect stoneware by Marazzi, in the glossy Saint Laurent and Statuario finishes, dialogues skilfully with the natural marble, with which it provides a fine match, while the Mystone Lavagna stone-effect stoneware was chosen for the floor coverings of all the technical areas, including the kitchens.

Architects: Roberto Peregalli, Laura Sartori Rimini - Studio Peregalli Milan