Venice – lifestyle: A private lunch party for Italian film director Ermanno Olmi. Tai and Rosita Missoni hosted a lunch party during the Venice Film Festival, for friends on board their barge Timoteo in honor of the Italian film director, Ermanno Olmi who received the Lifetime Achievement Award, twenty years after his film, The Legend of the Holy Drinker won the Leone d’Oro prize there.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - getting there. We took the vaporetto number 2 to the island of San Giorgio from Piazza San Marco, where the Missoni barge Timoteo was anchored.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the guests. As soon as we got off the vaporetto we bumped into Ca Rezzonico’s president, Franca Coin and her good friend, cinema and costume historian, Deborah Nadoolman Landis, who was in Venice because her husband, John Landis was part of the jury for the Venice Film Festival, presided by Wim Wenders. The Academy Award nominated costume designer wrote the book, In Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design, published by Harper Collins.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the Boat. The Timoteo was anchored on the Island of San Giorgio. The boat was built in 1904 and is the last surviving Venetian transport barge. It was found in the 1980s by Tai and Rosita Missoni and it took various renovations to restore it to it’s former splendor.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - a detail. Guests on deck enjoy an apertivo.Contessanally tip: click on any image to enlarge it.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - shoes. Shoes are left on the quayside on a bright colorful striped carpet before boarding the barge.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the Captain. Ennio Casson has been the captain of the Timoteo barge for two decades.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi. Venetian artist and designer Federica Marangoni arrives on board the Timoteo.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - a detail. Bright Indian bangles set the mood.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - mother and daughter. Cristina and Giannola Nonino.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi. Antonella Nonino.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the host – Tai and his friends. Tai Missoni chats with psychoanalyst, Fulvio Scaparro and the guest of honor, the famous Italian film director, Ermanno Olmi.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the hostess – Rosita and her friends. Grappa matriarch, Giannola Nonino, Corriere della Sera journalist, Maria Louisa Agnese, Venetian artist and designer, Federica Marangoni sit with Rosita Missoni.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the aperitivo table: 1. Delicious nibbles are laid out on the drinks table: figs, salame, bacala mantecato (dried salted cod) on white polenta squares and radishes.Note: the colorful flower printed tablecloth.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi – a detail of the aperitivo table: 2. A close up of some pepperoncini and mint wrapped in a Missoni Home Collection napkin sit on the drinks table.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi – a detail of the aperitivo table: 2. A close up of some pepperoncini and mint wrapped in a Missoni Home Collection napkin sit on the drinks table.Note: the colorful plastic glasses de rigueur on a boat.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - l’aperitivo: 3. Aged Parmiggiano Reggiano is great to nibble on while you sip your apperitivo.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the star chef and the hostess. Star owner/chef Ruggero of the Trattoria Gatto Nero, better known as Da Ruggero, on the island of Burano, chats with our hostess Rosita Missoni. Il Gatto Nero is one of Venice’s best seafood restaurants.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - a detail. Rosita Missoni always has the perfect accessories, note the sailing boat earings found at the Paris, Marche Aux Puces.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the author and journalist. The day after the lunch for Ermanno Olmi, journalist and author, Salvatore Giannella presented his latest book Voglia di Cambiare (The wish for Change) at the Festival di Letteratura di Mantova.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the hotelier. Camillo Guerra owns the Relais & Chateaux Hotel Il Melograno in Puglia where Ermano Olmi wrote probably his most important film “L’Abero degli Zoccoli” which translates as The tree of wooden Clogs. The film won fourteen awards incuding the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film. Il Melograno is a 17th century masseria or fortified farmhouse built originally as a defense against Saracen and Byzantine invaders.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the hotelier. Camillo Guerra owns the Relais & Chateaux Hotel Il Melograno in Puglia where Ermano Olmi wrote probably his most important film “L’Abero degli Zoccoli” which translates as The tree of wooden Clogs. The film won fourteen awards incuding the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film. Il Melograno is a 17th century masseria or fortified farmhouse built originally as a defense against Saracen and Byzantine invaders.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - lunch - the centerpiece. Rosita Missoni made the centerpiece for the buffet table. The designer of the Missoni Home Collection is a master in “instant” decoration, in the early morning Rosita went to the Rialto food market to pick out the most attractive herbs, chili peppers and zucchini flowers to arrange on board the Timoteo.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - lunch. A buffet lunch was served below deck. The delicious home-style food was prepared by Ruggero, owner/chef of the Trattoria Gatto Nero on the nearby Island of Burano. Locally know as Da Ruggero, the trattoria is famous for it’s seafood.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - a detail of the table. A detail of the food on the table; grilled aubergines, pepperonata, sarde in saor, the popular Venetian, baccala mantecato (dried salted cod) and typical tiny brown shrimps called schie.Contessanally tip: click on any photo for a better view.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - a plate full. A selection of the delicious food from the Gatto Nero in Burano. Polenta, grilled zucchine and cuttlefish, cherry tomatoes and sarde in saor; sardines marinated in organic onions, a classic Venetian appetizer.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - a detail. On one of the small table below deck, the catalogue of the exhibition, George Barbier (1882-1932): La Nascita del Deco which just opened at Palazzo Fortuny, until January 5th, 2009.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - behind the scenes. Nadia and Rossana help out in the galley kitchen.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi – a watercolor. Below deck a charming watercolor of the Missoni barge, Timoteo was painted by American guests.Note: the trophies and the sailboat memorabilia.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi. Fashion designer, Paolo Negrato is enjoying a sabbatical break from fashion.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi. Alvise and Carla Alvera.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi. Deborah Nadoolman Landis left early with Franca Coin for a second lunch at the Lido with her husband John Landis and Wim Wenders, both members of the Jury for the Venice Film Festival.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - Mother and Daughter. Ermanno Olmi’s daughter and wife, Elisabetta and Loredana.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the Sbrisolona cake – 1. Missoni PR, the delightful, Maddalena Aspes brings the Sbrisolona cake up on deck.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the Sbrisolona cake - 2 The Sbrisolona cake didn’t last very long and was enjoyed by all the guests. The Sbrisolona cake is like a piece of crumble with almonds and pistachio nuts in this case and was made by Peck in Milan. This dry cake must not be cut but broken with the hands. It is a specialty of Mantova and similar to the rustic cakes of Veneto and Trentino.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - special Venetian biscuits. These Typical biscuits called Esse, from “S” shape, are a specialty of the Island of Burano.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi. Luca Cendali is an architect and designer. Every year, Luca designs, at the Venini glassworks in Murano, a special decanter for the Nonino UE Cru Monovitigno Picolit collection for the Distillerie Nonino. Since 1998 he has been secretary of the Nonino Award, whose prestigious jury is presided by Ermanno Olmi.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the Grappa. No Italian meal is complete without a glass of grappa served after coffee. Naturally the grappa was provided by Giannola Nonino, who runs the family business. Nonino is the most famous Italian producers of grappa.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the fruit salad. Simple sliced peaches with mint, perfect in hot weather.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the ice cream. The ginger ice cream with chocolate chips comes from the best chocolate boutique in Venice called, VizioVirtu. Mariangela also makes delicious chocolate and fruit sorbets, as well as, unusual ice cream flavors like saffron and amaretto or Sicilian orange with bergamot.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi. Maria Luisa Agnese enjoys the last quiet moments before going back to work at the Venice Film Festival, which she was covering for the Corriere della Sera.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi. Don’t forget your shoes. Fulvio Scaparro is retrieving his shoes and socks before going home.Contessanally tip: click on any photos to get a better view.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - boating shoes. The correct shoes to wear on a boat, stripped plimsoles from Compagnie Francaise de L’Orient et de la Chine and the classic men’s Friulane slippers, which can be found on a stall on the Rialto Bridge in Venice.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the party is over 1. Going home by water taxi. The Nonino and the Olmi families share a water taxi back to the Lido.
Lifestyle: Missoni party for Ermanno Olmi - the party is over 2. Going home by vaporetto. The breathtaking view of Palazzo Ducale and Piazza San Marco taken from the vaporetto.