During any visit to Cibreo, one is likely to experience two things: the sight of diners dressed in fashionable and stylish Italian clothing, and the taste of the justly famous Yellow Pepper Soup. Here is our version, inspired by that served at Cibreo.

Cibreo
via a. del Verrocchio 8r
via dei Macci 122r Firenze
tel +39 055 234 11 00
fax +39 055 244 966

Italian Roasted Yellow Pepper Soup

This is a lovely, warm and richly colored soup to serve 4 - 6 people as a first course. Serve piping hot with crusty bread, or sprinkle with some homemade croutons to vary the texture a bit.

1/4 cup extra virgin Tuscan olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 or 5 yellow bell peppers, roasted according to directions below
4 cups chicken stock, or a good vegetable stock
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to taste

Here is a link to our very explicit directions for roasting bell peppers from our 2003 Newsletter, Tuscan Visions, Tuscan Dreams. You will note that we were roasting red bell peppers, but the instructions are exactly the same:
http://www.florencevillas.com/newsletter/nl_25.htm#roasted

Remember, you are only roasting the peppers, and not marinating them, so only follow the above instructions through the roasting and peeling process.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan and gently cook the onions and garlic until tender. Stir in the peppers, and broth. Simmer, covered, over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes.
Process the soup in batches in a food processor, and return to the saucepan. Heat through, and either reduce or add a little broth to get the desired consistency, that of light cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with croutons, capers, or sprinkled with a few hot red pepper flakes. Delicious!

Roberto Cavalli

I thought we would begin with a younger son of Florence, one whose name may not be as commonly known as Gucci, Pucci, or Ferragamo. Roberto Cavalli was born in Florence in 1940 to parents who honored the artistic traditions of their native city. Although his family was of modest means, works by Cavalli's grandfather, an Italian Impressionist painter, can still be seen in the Uffizi.

As a young student at the Academy of Art, Roberto Cavalli developed a revolutionary process for printing on leather, the first time this was done. This was the beginning of his career as an innovator, technician and scholar of design. Concentrating on the links between art, fashion, and technology, he patented his leather printing process. In the 60s, Cavalli's patchwork leather designs caught fire, and spread a trend around the world.

By the 1970s, Cavalli was a huge hit on the Cote d'Azur. Brigitte Bardot, the reigning starlet of the time, wore one of his creations and another hot trend began. Italian Vogue soon after started to feature his designs . Cavalli showed his first major Italian collection at the Palazzo Pitti in 1972. He cemented his reputation for young and daring designs by showing patchwork denim, a fabric that had not yet been seen on Italian catwalks.

Cavalli experienced something of a down period in the 1980s, when Versace was king of Italian design, but came back for a sort of renaissance in the 90s, working with his wife, the beautiful Eva Duringer, a former Miss Universe. His clothes exploded with color and jewels, and the couple took their lines to Milan, expanding into men's wear and more. Today, Cavalli even produces a vodka under his label, using all Italian grains and Alpine spring water! He also opened a restaurant in Milan and a cafe and chocolate factory near Firenze.

A true Tuscan, Cavalli is, as you might guess from the above, hospitable and loves to surround himself with friends and celebrations. He is nearly as well known for his parties as he is for his designs. International celebrities, from Lenny Kravitz to Ornella Muti attend his gatherings. Cavalli's success continues, and he lives in Italy with his wife and children.

Salvatore Ferragamo

The name of Salvatore Ferragamo represents the very best of Italian design. He began crafting beautiful handmade shoes in the late 1920s, and the style makers of Hollywood brought fame and fortune to this son of Italy. Not a native Tuscan, Ferragamo was born near Napoli. His father was a peasant farmer, and the family had fourteen children. At nine, Salvatore began to try to convince his father that he wanted to make shoes for a living. Alas, his father had wanted something better for his son, and didn't think that being a cobbler was good enough for the bright lad. However, Salvatore was eventually allowed to move to Naples to become an apprentice shoemaker. By the age of fourteen, young Salvatore immigrated to America.

After working for a short time in a California cowboy boot factory, Ferragamo began to make Roman sandals for the Hollywood epics of Cecil B. DeMille. Ferragamo quickly became the "shoemaker to the stars." His works were so beautiful and innovative that they continue to inspire shoe designers to this day. This was quite obvious when the Victoria and Albert Museum in London held a definitive exhibit of Ferragamo's shoe designs in 1987.

After Hollywood, Ferragamo returned to Italy, and established his company's headquarters in Florence at Palazzo Feroni-Spini on the Via Tornabuoni. He began to mass market shoes in America in the 1950s, but his handmade designs always remained available in Italy. Salvatore Ferragamo died young, in 1960, but his family kept the business going, and introduced lines of leather clothing, and men's wear that are all still very successful today. But the original designs by Ferragamo himself still remain some of the company's bestsellers.

The Ferragamo Shoe Museum The Palazzo Spini-Feroni is a lovely 13th century pink stone building that sits on the east side of the Ponte Santa Trinita, at the corner of via dei Tornabuoni. The Ferragamo company is still headquartered here, and up the winding stairs on the top floor is the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, where Ferragamo's wonderful shoe designs are enshrined in a series of small rooms

Salvatore Ferragamo
Via Tornabuoni 2, 50123 Florence
Tel: +39-55-43951
Fax: +39-55-5395215

Emilio Pucci

Emilio Pucci was born in the Marches, and like Ferragamo, made his headquarters in Firenze. Pucci was a fighter pilot, war hero, designer and politician, but his lasting legacy is that of the swirling silk prints that solidified his reputation as an Italian fashion designer of the highest degree. The jet-setters of the 1970s turned Pucci's printed silk jersey dresses into status symbols that they couldn't travel without. Inspired by the contrade flags flown at Siena's Palio, Pucci's silk jersey prints were a combination of swirling geometric shapes and bright pastel colors.

Although Marchese born, Emilio Pucci grew up in Palazzo Pucci on Via dei Pucci in Firenze. After W.W.II, he went to America to attend the University of Seattle. Like many aristocratic young men of his day, he skied in St Moritz, and in 1947, Toni Frisell, a photographer for Harper's Bazaar, snapped the handsome young Pucci on the slopes. The picture was printed in the magazine alongside a caption saying that Pucci had designed his own sleek ski wear, and a career in design was born.

Pucci's distinctive prints began to appear everywhere and he designed a line of uniforms Braniff Airline's flight attendants that were a hit for the company, and increased their sales. America's Apollo 15 astronauts even carried a Pucci designed flag with them to the moon! In the 1970s, Pucci was elected to Parliament and began also to sell wine produced on the estate his family had owned in Chianti since the 13th century.

Emilio Pucci
Palazzo Pucci
Via dei Pucci 6r, Florence
Tel: +39-55-283061

One of the things natives and visitors alike love best about Florence is the shopping. We have listed the flagship stores of Pucci and Ferragamo above, and will talk about Gucci in our next issue.

But many visitors to Firenze also love to head to the outlets for better buys on high fashion merchandise. Among our favorites isThe Mall, where there is a Gucci outlet, as well as outlet stores of many other famous designers. The Mall is about 45 minutes driving time from Florence, in the Tuscan hills.

Among stores at The Mall are

Giorgio Armani
Bottega Veneta
Sergio Rossi
Yves St Laurent
Loro Piano
Emanuel Ungaro
Valentino
Ferragamo
Ermengildo Zegna
La Perla
Tod's
Hogan
Marni
Pinco Pallino
Agnona

The address is
Via Europa 8
Leccio-Reggello
FIRENZE 50060

The Information Center is open Monday - Saturday, from 9am until 6pm Telephone: 055 8657775

Opening Hours: Monday-Saturday 10:00am to 7:00pm - Sunday 3:00pm to 7:00pm

The nearest train station to The Mall is Rignano Sull'Arno, and taxi service at Rignano Sull'Arno can be reached by telephone at: 347-8862731 055-8657163