The Park, restaurant of the Park Hyatt Milan, represents the ideal place to live an interesting and fine gastronomic experience, set within an environment characterized by sober and refined elegance. The menu varies according to the seasons and offers a variety of dishes that merge innovation and tradition, with particular care for the selection of products coming from different regions.

The Park offers a creative cuisine, where natural products of high quality are the real protagonists, with their flavours and perfumes proper of the Italian tradition, together with balanced and imaginative combinations. A very rigorous selection of providers, mostly Italian, guarantees exclusivity and freshness. The presentation of the dishes plays a very important role: careful to the quality, its peculiarity consists of simplicity that doesn’t compromise the taste of the course. Every dish has its own personality, deriving from the presentation, the choice and combination of ingredients.

The wine menu is the result of choices that are never random, but rather of careful research and analysis; there appear the names of great and famous producers together with small wine houses, well-known at local level for their excellent wines.

The Park is distinguished by the excellence of its services that, together with the dishes and the choice of wines, contributes to making each singles soiree an unforgettable one, and one to suggest to friends and foe. The restaurant hosts 60 seats, divided into two separated rooms, surrounded by a cosy atmosphere. The walls are decorated with pastel painting by Kim Rebholz, young American artist. The porcelains by Jaunes de Chrome were exclusively realized for The Park and flower compositions are curated by Armani Flowers.

Mind and soul of The Park is the Executive Chef of the Park Hyatt Milan, Filippo Gozzoli who conveys a touch of Italian contemporary cuisine to every single dish. In a delicate period such as the one we are experiencing, in which it seems that trendy venues are the only ones there is space for, where the environment is given more care than the quality of food, The Park Restaurant, headed by the enthusiasm of Gozzoli, is definitely an address to rely on. The excellence of the service and the refined atmosphere make a difference.

Gozzoli knew that he would have become a chef since the young age of 5, when he cooked his very first smashed potatoes for his mother. When he was 13 he started working as Pasta Chef at the Ceresole restaurant in Cremona, boasting 1 Michelin star. After being awarded the diploma by the Institute of Salsomaggiore Terme, one of the most prestigious Italian hotel institutes, and having gained experience in well-known international restaurants (among which the Harris Bar, the Oak Room Restaurant – 3 Michelin stars – and the Gavroche Restaurant – also 3 Michelin stars), reached the Osteria in Los Angeles where he stayed for six months in the role of Chief Pasta Chef. Once back to italy, the experience of Filippo Gozzoli continued in restaurants of prestigious hotels until when, in 2004, he became manager of the courses for professional Chefs at the international school of cuisine of Gualtiero Marchesi.

Before arriving at the Park Hyatt Milan, his last employment was at the Bistrot Duomo, where he had the ability to offer the guests a sophisticated cuisine, thanks to innovative culinary inventions, together with a classic taste that is always most welcome by the Milanese audience. But, what is the secret of your art? “I love light and modern cuisine – explains Gozzoli – respectful of tradition, though curious enough to experience new tastes that merge the east and the west. After a period of daring experimentations, I like to go back to Italian traditional standards, which represent not only the foundations, but also the future expectations of a cuisine d’excellence. It is stimulating to re-interpret the most typical dishes, without making too much of them, respecting simplicity, cutting cooking times and making recipes lighter. I want raw materials to stand out, using vegetables that are normally unfairly disregarded as, apparently, less noble, though, I believe, able to deliver tasty combinations. I also revisited the section ‘Traditional dishes’ within which I used to suggest recipes of the Lombardy tradition; this year the regional criterion widens and draws upon dishes that are inspired by flavours of different regions of Italy.”

Do you wish to book special rates at the Park Hyatt Milan? Click here

Italian version

Luxgallery is partner of the Park Hyatt Milan, the fine 5 Stars Luxury Hotel, Via Tommaso Grossi, just next to the Vittorio Emanuele Gallery.

Luxgallery readers that wish to try the experience of a luxury and comfort stay, can make reservations at special prices, just for them. Here how to do:

-    go to the website www.milan.park.hyatt.com
-    click “Room and Rates”
-    select the dates of your intended stay
-    insert in the “Group/Corporate #” section the following code: CR51529 . The special rates reserved for Luxgallery readers will appear.
-    Conclude your booking

Italian version

In the Laurentides, Mauricie and Charlevoix regions, leaving behind the summer heat you can still practice open-air sports, like fishing and make kayak and rabaska (the long Indian canoe) excursions, or go through wood paths by foot, by bike, on a horseback or by quad.

In this moment of the year the eyes get lost in the huge maple expanses which create an unbelievable colour vibration: red, orange, gold, brown, the colours of trees losing leaves while waiting for the winter. Between peat bogs and tee-pees, lakes and red-hot woods, from one sucrerie to the other to learn how to make maple syrup, in Quebec in this period one can enjoy a sudden rise of temperature 820-22 degrees) and a fable atmosphere.

To stay in total harmony with nature, there is the Hotel Sacacomie in Saint Alexis des Monts, co-resort fully built with pine trunks, very simple oasis of rustic elegance with 109 rooms, half of which with whirlpool bath, boutique, Spa and panoramic restaurant. After an excursion at the beaver reserve, after reaching an Indian village by canoe, fishing and dining beneath trees branches, after a tour on a hydroplane unveiling the isolation of the place, one can enjoy a Swedish massage or taste a cognac in front of the fireplace.

Of a different kind is the Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello, obtained by a Victorian palace. A resort with golf field and Spa, whose building has been built with huge cider trunks, rustic luxury hitting right when entering the hall, with at the centre a monumental fireplace. The game reserve surrounding the resort is wonderful: a lodge with 70 lakes, a real escape from the world.

www.bonjourquebec.com/it
www.sacacomie.com
www.fairmont.com

Italian version

Furnished with “vintage”, ethnic and natural furniture, Il Contatto aims to offer moment of pleasure, combined with instants of reflection and aggregation, to reach the maximum contact with the self.
The search for a real status of health and beauty passes through the consciousness of the self, obtainable through steps bringing to the fore one’s own self. The philosophy on which the spa draws is exclusively eco-friendly, as well as its structure made of natural materials and with a low environmental impact.

To discover the vital energy there are old rituals and traditions brought back to the original form: hammam, water paths, ayurveda massages, Lomilomi, oriental disciplines.

There is the humid area, dedicated to water, with a pool, sauna, steam bath, Kneipp path and hammam: here one can follow various paths of complete wellness. Then there is the area dedicated to massages, ranging from the classic anti-stress and hot stones to the Hawaiian massage Lomilomi, with vegetal butters, with argan oil, with flax milk, with ginger lemon, with coffee time.

A whole room is dedicated to Ayurveda.
Through nutrition, meditation, positive hinking and the old art of body treatments, the Ayurveda rituals help find out and maintain the well-being. Kerala, Abhyanga, Pindasveda, Shirodhara, Garshan massage, are old rituals to discover, to clines the body and find harmony.

The face and body treatments, the Private Spa Suite, the Hair Spa dedicated to haircare, are the ingredients that Il Contatto offers to its guests as a wellness cocktail.
One area is destined to meetings and small and medium conventions and to groups, toning exercises, tai chi, Qi Gong, stretching and meditation.

The cosmetics used for the treatments are products without chemical ingredients and are completely natural making the most out of the elements and raw materials of the territory around Verona. The material is mostly recycled, like the wood coming from Indonesia, or recyclable like soluble-paper glasses and plates. During a day inside the centre, featuring a completely feminine staff, there is room for a break at the Break Point for a fresh and light snack based on herb tea and fruit shakes; for a visit at the Library, for a glance at the Shop. The Sparty! Contatto offers the chance to celebrate together with friends, for private or business events, with wide spaces available like the pool the spa, the massage area combined with music and drinks in total harmony.

For further information:
Il Contatto
Via Monte Pastello 14/b
37057 San Giovanni Lupatoto (VR)
Tel. 045 8753766 fax 045 8753766
http://www.ilcontattospa.it/
info@ilcontattospa.it

Italian version

The theme of the project of the Atkins Design Studio is water. Particular care has been given to eco-sustainability: geothermic energy will be used while the quarry has a natural climatisation and the green roof favours thermic isolation.
The hill will be transformed in roof-gardens with terraces with a waterfall at the centre.
The first two floors of the building will be underwater, with luxury rooms and a restaurant, overlooking a ten meters deep aquarium.

For the fans of extreme sports there is the rocky gym and a Bungee Jumping. And of course there will be a waterfall with a swimming pool, besides the possibility to practice various sportive activities linked to the water world.

Italian version

One of the most exclusive hotels of the world is even the highest, with its 321 metres: it’s the Buri Al Arab of Dubai. The one located at the biggest altitude, instead, is the Hotel Everest View, in Nepal, rising at more than four thousands metres height and reachable only on a helicopter.

If you’d like to be surrounded by comfort throughout your trip you can book your stay at the most expensive hotel of the world, the Villa royale, at the Grand Resort Lagonissi of Athens: butler, chef and personal piano player will be at your disposal for 40 thousands euro per night.
Over three billions euro, instead, to create the Emirates Palace of Abu Dhabi, the hotel whose construction was the most expensive.

If you like wide spaces, choose the Suite royale of the Hotel Grand Hills, in Broummana, in Lebanon, the biggest room of the world, with its eight thousands squared metres and two indoors pools. The biggest hotel in terms of number of rooms is, instead, the Pallazzo resort Hotel & Casino of Las Vegas, with 8,108 rooms.

If you look for a bit of romance, choose the oldest hotel of the world, the Hoshi Ryokan, in Komatsu in Japan – built in 781 and run by the same family for 46 generations – and the coldest hotel, the Icehotel, in Jukkasjarvi in Sweden, with the temperature of the rooms between -5° and -8°C.

Eventually, for whom doesn’t give up the respect of the environment even on a trip, there is the most ecological hotel, the Daintee Eco Lodge & Spa, in Queensland in Australia, with solar panels, low consumption lamps, separate collection and recycled garbage.

Italian version

From September all this will revive with a grand prestigious lifestyle, united to superfine gastronomy: among the culinary excellencies of the La Mamounia there is L’Italien Restaurant of Alfonso Iaccarino, which has already received Michelin star awards.

Guests will be delighted by five bars, for different sensorial experiences, tea room, library and 2500 sq m made of spa with hammam and wellness treatments that make use of very high quality products.

www.mamounia.com

Italian version

Castel Monastero will re-open in July with high class services, a prestigious Spa and the high gastronomy by Gordon Ramsay, while keeping intact its noble allure of Tuscany.

Who arrives from the road can see the Castelletto surrounded in an amazing natural panorama, in the silence of its thousand-year traditions.

The central square re-creates the atmosphere of a typical medieval village, while the external pools, the water games and solarium around represent the non plus ultra of the wellness in a rarely beautiful and quiet place.

Embedded like little jewels there are 75 suites and a villa drawn out of old pre-existing buildings, with the same traditional architectural  features of a luxury residence of the countryside of Tuscany: the terracotta paving and the truss ceiling are placed within a contemporary view based on the interior design project by HBA firm and by the architect Eric Egan.

Silence and exclusivity originating from the wonderful panorama embracing the entire village continue in the personalized services, like the opportunity of having a personal chef or a butler.

Another plus of Castel Monastero is the Spa, idel place to regenerate one’s own psycho-physical balance under the consultancy of specialized doctors who will advice the guests about diet and the most suitable treatments. A thousand s-m under the consultancy of Urban Retreats (among its resorts there is also the prestigious London Spa of Harrod’s), two pools, a aqua treatment, emotional showers, three wellness treatments – luxury, eco, classical line – and personalized treatments, like the use of sea oils, to enjoy inside two typical rural houses of Tuscany where the Spa is located.

But Tuscany is not only nature, art, wellness: how to forget its superb wine and food tradition?

Inside Castel Monastero lies the gourmet restaurant with the delicacies of the great culinary tradition made of the best ingredients by the Chef Gordon Ramsay, already 10 stars Michelin, and by the emerging star of Italian gastronomy Alessandro Delfanti.

Not to be missed the original medieval XI century Wine cellar, not only charming historical place but also temple where to find the most prestigious wines in an environment that keeps intact its thousand-year charm.

Italian version

The inflatable bath is quickly ready and it has strong adjustable deflectors for the massage. The water is heated by a 900 watt boiler that secures also the constant water turnover. The temperature is adjustable thanks to the touch screen control panel.

Italian version

The beaches of Fiumefreddo – few stones away from Giardini Naxos and from the charming Taormina -, of Pozzallo, Pietre Nere, until Menfi, this year obtained the Blue Flag. If you missed the annual appointment with “The Blue Nights”, when the loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) are unleashed on the beach of Pietre Nere, you can anyway enjoy one of the most beautiful coasts of Italy.

An extraordinary seacoast, where the scents and tastes of the Trinacria diffuse in the landscape here rough, there softly illuminated by the warm sun of May, to end up in the reflex of some temple that seems abandoned, “resting” on a hill, to remind of a notable past in this land.

Of course one of the greatest prides of Sicily is the theatre. In Taormina, the show season has already started since April, donating intense emotions to those who spend their early summer nights outside. At the Teatro Massimo Bellini, from 22nd to 28th May, will be on stage the ballet Summer of Love choreographed by Lukas, Ligeti, Burkina Electric (www.teatromassimobellini.it).

For those who are planning to stay over ten days, waiting for the , we suggest th55th edition of the “Taormina Film Festival in Sicily” (from 13th to 20th June) e Grand Hotel San Pietro, Relais & Chateaux, five stars luxury of the Gruppo Gais Hotel and real oasis of peace with its wonderful garden ending up on the exclusive panorama terrace on the sea (www.grandhotelsanpietro.net) .

Siracusa as well is a breath-taking destination for the fans of the classical theatre. On 9th May the show season opened at the Greek Theatre from whose cavea, at dusk, the spectators are surrounded by the enchanting sight of nature, art and history (complete program at the website of the Istituto Nazionale Dramma Antico www.indafondazione.org ).

Passing by Modica, capital of fine chocolate and where has recently taken place the kermes “Cioccobarocco”, you can find some interesting small sea resorts. Those depicted by the popular masterpiece by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, “Il Gattopardo”. Among them, the popular feud of Agrigento, known as Donnafugata, today Palma di Montechiaro, where is located also the homonym wine house, one of the taste made in Italy’s state-of-the-art.

It is not too close, but it is worth an inland deviation, at the discovery of the domus of Piazza Armerina (Enna). The huge Villa del Casale, IV century a.C., is one of the most evocative evidences of the modus vivendi of the Roman “Scrooges”, demonstration of art, taste and habits of our notable ancestors (http://www.villaromanadelcasale.it/).

A stop off Agrigento with its extraordinary Temple Valley and the wonderful Garden of the Kolymbetra under the protection of FAI (http://www.fondoambiente.it/beni/giardino-della-kolymbetra-.asp), and then towards Mazara del Vallo, where to welcome the most demanding tourists there is the Kempinski Hotel Giardino di Costanza.
This Olympus of the luxury hotellerie is endowed with a superb restaurant Dubbesi (with the Mediterranean delicacies of the chef Salvatore Barbara and the rich wine cellar of prestigious brands) and of an excellent Wellness Resort Nakhlah (a place over 2,100 s-m large).
Due to its high hospitality, the Kempnski has recently obtained a recommendation on the portal Seven Stars and Stripes, the tour operator dedicated only to the top in terms of hospitality. The Kempinski Hotel Giardino di Costanza is in fact one of the winners of the 2009 World Level Perfection, an exam by the rigorous criteria based on a concept of global luxury (www.sevenstarsandstripes.com).

Not by chance, in fact, this hotel complex has been selected for the presentation, early in the year, of the new Porsche Boxster S. Actually, besides the prestigious image of the Kempinski Hotel Giardino di Costanza, there is a specific and special reason to this tie Porsche-Sicily: Porsche is, in fact, the car maker that obtained the greatest number of victories in the memorable Targa Florio.
In fact, the spectacular sceneries of the western coast serve as a background to the prestigious four wheels competition Grand Tour International Sicilia – Targa Florio.

A kermes for old cars that, this second year, wishes to emphasize the beauty and culture of the island through the slogan: “Five thousand years of history in eight days”, from 24th May until 1st June, from Palermo to Trapani, going back through Agrigento, Cefalù and Cerda, at the discovery of the glorious path of the Targa Florio. Collectors and fans of noble brands will be able to admire some of the pearls of the time that will parade in a colourful motorcade on streets and hairpin turns until Erice, passing by the evocative salt mines or by the Greek Temple of Segesta (For the complete program: http://www.grandtourdisicilia.it/ ).

Darting towards north-east, of course you have to visit Palermo and Monreale and then in the direction of the Aeolian Islands, especially the small port of San Pietro of the Panarea Island where the restaurant Hycesia serves excellent fish dishes in total exclusivity.
The chef Gaetano himself will be pleased to prepare some delicacies made of fish to comfortably enjoy even on board of one’s own boat as suggested by “lunch on the boat”. Without giving up a themed outfit.

Thus, the new handbag Miss Sicily by Dolce and Gabbana perfectly fits the occasion.
The stylists, genuine Sicilian, paid homage to their land this spring-summer 2009 with a Snakeskin very detailed and, of course, in limited edition.

Three or four days dedicates to a complete tour of the island, treasury of scents, tastes and tradition of our Bella Italia.

Taormina
Teatro Massimo Bellini: http://www.teatromassimobellini.it/
Grand Hotel San Pietro, Relais & Chateaux: http://www.grandhotelsanpietro.net/
Siracusa:
Istituto Nazionale Dramma Antico: www.indafondazione.org
Piazza Armerina (Enna):
Mosaici romani della Villa del Casale: http://www.villaromanadelcasale.it/
Agrigento:
Valle dei Templi: www.fondoambiente.it/beni/giardino-della-kolymbetra-.asp
Mazara del Vallo:
Kempinski Hotel Giardino di Costanza: www.kempinski-sicily.com; www.sevenstarsandstripes.com
Grand Tour Internazionale di Sicilia – Targa Florio: http://www.grandtourdisicilia.it/
Panarea (Isole Eolie):
Ristorante Hycesia: www.hycesia.it/it-risto.htm

Italian version

Four settings and four architects give shape to the different areas, all coordinated by the Stefano Pediconi Studio.

SPA saline by Luca Nardi: the focus is on salt and its uses in the field of psycho-physical wellbeing where thalassotherapy and halotherapy treatments are best applied. The area takes shape on a surface of about 200 sq.m., filled with typical SPA environments set on fixed spaces and within movable micro-modules that can be adapted to any wellness centre.

Home SPA by Fabio Pradarelli: its aim is to be an example of how it is possible to organize an even small wellness centre in one’s own home. Out of a basement area, that is a secondary zone of the house, it is possible to obtain a paradise corner with personalized relax facilities.

Spa mobile by Stefano Pediconi Studio: Welly is the very first mobile wellness centre previewed in Rimini for the first time in Europe. Welly is a rentable structure, patented, representing a chance for those facilities that aim at obtaining the most out of the wellness business without the need of significant initial investments and without the need to face maintenance fees.

SPA artistic by architects Antonelli, Spinola and Grandi: “Beyond Dimension”, the architects aim at creating a subtle game between art and architecture. It’s a proper exchange of values starting from the duality between soul and body, staging a narration that turns from bi-dimensional to three-dimensional, involving and multi-sensorial.

Italian version

Next summer, in Porto Cervo, the fans of the beau monde and of the bien vivre will find again one of the most beautiful and suggestive Spa with some new proposals, novelties of a global project of new international openings.

As part of the benefits of the Spa Acqua di Parma there are two kinds of personalized treatments called “on board” and “private luxury”. It’s about an oasis of relaxation that one can enjoy, to own liking, on board of a yacht or inside an exclusive villa in Costa Smeralda.

A wide choice of treatments offered by the Spa, such as the formula visage and body of the Mediterranean Oxygenating Complex™, effective synthesis of active ingredients renovating and regenerating taken from the Mediterranean maquis to purify, nourish, awaken and protect the natural brightness of the skin; and the use of four special essences with different effects: the relaxing Orange of Capri, the energizing Cypress of Tuscany, the sweet Almond tree of Sicily and the vitalizing Fig-tree of Amalfi.

Special and personalized treatments created ad hoc by the Spa Chakra équipe, constituted by the best experts in terms of advanced treatments in luxury Spa. Their research is focused on the “reading” of five key indicators – toxins level, muscular and general tone, circulation, tension-relaxation level, oxygenation -, a system allowing to evaluate the physical and emotional status of a person.

This is why these unique techniques and the same sensorial treatments are to be enjoyed inside a very suggestive location, decorated with mosaics to evocate the same Blu del Mediterraneo of the surrounding sea.

The Blu Mediterraneo SPA of Porto Cervo will be open from Friday to Sunday until the end of May, while from June until September it will be accessible the whole week to all the fans of wellness, luxury and Acqua di Parma.

www.acquadiparma.it/en

Italian version