Genoa by Devanshi Mody
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With precipitous cliffs perching prettily by the brilliant blue, it’s almost like Monte Carlo - without the flashy cars and trashy stars. Indeed, Genoa was declared the European Capital of Culture in 2004. After all, this is the city that gave the world Columbus, Garibaldi, Paganini and pesto. And whilst we mightn’t forgive Columbus for discovering America, what would we do without pesto?
Thought there were no hip hotels in Genoa? There weren’t any. But then hey presto, or perhaps hey pesto, Hotel Bentley opened. This is Genoa’s glam new number. €35 million transformed the landmark heritage building (designed by aristocratic architect Vergagni of the Piazzo de Ferrari fountain fame) into a slick, sexy, trendy hotel.
The city’s only five star deluxe has inevitably caused a sensation. If the dearth of smart hotels previously deterred elite travellers, Bentley now provides the perfect excuse to discover Genoa. Luxuriate in rampant suites replete with suave, state-of-the-art furnishings, or go for the 6th-floor rooms with harbour-facing patios. Lavish bathrooms boast massive mirrors that metamorphose into TVs at the press of a button – how very Bond!
Beds and baths are to-die-for, but so are the breakfast buffets – ensure you’re up for them. The entire Italian national football team stayed here within weeks of its opening and lent additional glamour to this prestigious Via Corsica address.
The great thing about the Bentley is its convenient location. Opposite the hotel is the Le Fate Art Cafe owned by celeb chef Sandro Capounetto, who once ran Chelsea's Michelin-starred Cafe Fate. Capounetto wearied of London so he moved to Genoa where he now makes the city’s lightest lunches, including adventurous salads, pastas and pastries.
This is the place for the loveliest lunches, but Fratelli Klainguti takes the cake: located in a lively piazza in the old town, this patisserie/café/bar with gilding and antique mirrors is a historical point of reference where you can have cake, all sorts and lots of it, without getting guillotined.
As for super suppers: anyone visiting Genoa goes to Zeffirino because J-Lo, the Pope and George W Bush have. Sinatra loved it so much they had to open branches in Las Vegas, Portofino and Sicily.
For gastronomes, a 52-year-old woman and 25-year old girl head the city’s culinary scene. The former specialises in sea food, makes her own chocolate and has the best wine list at Ristorante della Pergola. This is Genoa’s sole Michelin-starred restaurant – one wonders why. One also wonders why Bucca della San Matheo doesn’t have a star or even a mention in the Michelin Guide. This lesser known restaurant in the quaint old city is perhaps the city’s most wonderful little eatery. Pretty little Marie, who taught herself to cook in her mother’s kitchen, already boasts a Gambero Rosso star for her gorgeous, gorgeous cuisine. You don’t need to be a Cordon Bleu to whip up inspired, adventurous creations.
Especially impressive is that the creations are exquisitely presented with fabulous flowers and intricately twined leaves. Homemade trenette (typical Genoese pasta) in a subtly different pesto sauce arrives on a sea shell, and dessert is even more elaborately adorned. Marie recommends her specialty orange soufflé. You don’t like orange soufflé? You won’t be heard protesting when she suggests seconds after you’ve swiftly demolished the first portion.
Want to hit the hottest bar? It won’t be much of a night out if you’re staying at the Bentley because, surprise, surprise the hotel’s ultra swank Bar Norman a has become quite the place to be seen around town (and to drink yourself silly). Bond barman Toni Micelotta is Mr Martini, and has just brought out his autobiography. He mixed Martinis at London's Savoy and Dukes for 10 years, but suddenly realised there was “no poetry of life in London,” so returned to arty Genoa to shake and stir up trouble with his heady concoctions. Ladies beware – the barman has all the charm of 007 himself!
Do live it up but culture is, after all, what people go to Genoa for, and with good reason. Genoa’s Centro Storico ("historic centre"), dating to the 12th-century, is Europe's largest preserved medieval city, a fascinating mélange of Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Neo-Classical architecture with labyrinthine passageways and framing archways. Much of the historic city is an UNESCO World Heritage site.
Via Garibaldi (aka Strada Nuova) flaunts 14 odd Renaissance-style palaces including the fabled galleries Palazzos Bianco, Rosso and Tursi. Don’t miss Palazzo Rosso’s Veronese masterpiece of Christ on the Cross or Palazzo Spinola’s Van Dyke portrait of the child prince, which has a third cut out (the work of art was mutilated during a family dispute…).
The sumptuous 17th-century Palazzo Reale is a dream. Sant Agostino Museum in a medieval convent has everything from 10th-century sculptures and frescos to some wonderful masterpieces including Canovas and Pisanos. The city also abounds with Romanesque churches, including Church of Gesu with Rubens and Guido Reni altarpieces; whilst the awe-inspiring St Lorenzo Cathedral harbours the urn bearing St John the Baptist’s ashes.
Want to know Genoa’s best kept secret? The contemporary Teatro Carlo Felice is among Italy’s finest opera houses and has better acoustics and arguably puts on better productions than the more renowned Scala in Milan. Another must-do is Genoa’s aquarium, which is Europe’s largest marine park.
If you want to shop till you drop, Genoa is the best place in all Liguria for it. Elegant fashion boutiques are on streets radiating out from Piazza De Ferraris on Via XX Settembre, Via Roma and in Galleria Mazzini. Finollo’s (Via Roma, 38) is where Genoa’s aristocratic dandies have sought made-to-order sartorial paraphernalia for a century.
Rocca (Via Davide Chiossone) rocks for best custom-made Italian shoes. Try Almanacco for vintage couture pieces, but explore the whole jumble of shops tucked away in the little alleyways of the Historic City. Bargain clothes and shoes are on Via San Luca.
Via Orefici and Via Luccoli teem with quaint artisan studios and antique shops (Casa Antiquaria specialises in fab 19th-century French pieces). This is also where to look for Genoese speciality gold and silver filigree-work jewellery and handmade lace. Look out for the dinky gem-like 1922 barbershop gleaming with turquoise Art Deco glass…
By the Old Port under the porticos of Sottoripa, an antiquated bazaar ambiance prevails as if nothing has changed since days of yore when ships laden with various and wonderful merchandise docked here. This is the place for spices, dry fruit, and famous fried fish.
Mercato Orientale, the resplendent and rumbustious covered market is where to stock up on olives, herbs and Ligurian specialties galore. The 19th-century pastry shop Pietro Romanengo fu Stefano is for Queen Elena of Savoy's famous confectionery treat Pistachio Torrone.
There’s so much to do in Genoa, but you can also make it the base for day excursions – Portofino and other addresses on the Italian Riviera are a pebble’s throw away. It’s also well worth an hour-long trek to Asti and Alba in the picturesque Piedmont region to fetch fine wines, cheeses and truffles.