Supermodel Naomi Campbell is a regular. So are Sharon Stone, Sarah Ferguson, and Sir Elton John. Salma Hayek even stayed at one of their hotels during her wedding to the French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault in 2009.
Listing the number of celebrities that frequent any one of the Ciprani family’s seventeen restaurant and hotels is a nigh on impossible task. But knowing that any one of the staff could be serving a famous model, actress or member of royalty is all part of the allure of Cipriani — at least that’s what you would think.
Hospitality tycoon Giuseppe Cipriani would rather talk about the food rather than the company. “We are all about the simplicity of foods, simplicity of service,” he says in his thick Italian accent. “People come to us and they know that they’ll find what they are looking for, nothing difficult and nothing fancy,” he adds.
He’s got a point; Cipriani’s food is just as famous as the clientele that dine there. Cipriani’s grandfather and the founder of the brand, Giuseppe, is the man credited with inventing the famous Bellini cocktail and carpaccio, the raw meat dish. Ciprani Senior named the cocktail after a Venetian artist who painted a picture of a pink-shirted saint, which turned out to be about the same colour as the drink. Nine decades later the family’s four New York restaurants are still selling around 4,000 Bellinis per day.
The carpaccio, meanwhile, was created for the countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo who was recommended by her doctor that she only eat raw meat. That too was named after a Venetian painter. Both dishes were created at the equally renowned Harry’s Bar in Venice, which Giuseppe also founded.
Today, it falls upon Giuseppe’s family — his son Arrigo and his grandson — to run the family business. “I guess the genes are there,” he laughs, adding that his sons, Maggio and Ignazio, have been busy developing their own hospitality concept, Mr. C. “This is what they grew up with and I guess this is what they want to do. They’re actually doing very well; I’m really impressed.”
While his son’s concentrate on their new project, Cipriani takes care of the rest of the family empire, which in addition to several restaurants in New York, Hong Kong and Venice also has a residence and a club in New York and a resort in Beverly Hills.
In 2010, the firm branched out into the Middle East with a restaurant and nightclub on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, Cipriani Yas Island and Allure by Cipriani. In typical Cipriani style the opening event was held during the city’s second Grand Prix weekend with guests including His Majesty the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bernie Ecclestone and Sir Richard Branson as well as performances from Prince and Linkin Park.
“I love Abu Dhabi,” says Cipriani. “I’m not just saying that because I have a restaurant there, I’m saying it because I really do love it. I am a Formula One fan and this year’s event was probably one of the best Formula One I have been to.
“[At the next Grand Prix] the whole building is going to turn into an entertainment place with food, entertainment, the best music, everything. It’s going to be a fantastic party,” he adds.
Cipriani’s love of parties is just as famous as his family’s tussles in and outside of the courtroom. In fact the family’s battles with restaurant critics, tax men and even their next door neighbours have been well documented both in the New York press as well as the international newspapers.
In 2007, Arrigo pleaded guilty to a felony tax charge while Cipriani pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor following the discovery of the company’s $3.5m tax evasion. In addition to repaying penalties and restitution, the firm was also forced to employ an independent auditor to ensure the company pay its future taxes.
The court appearance wasn’t the only hot water the company has found itself in over the last few decades. In 1999, the restaurant empire found itself embroiled in nine month battle with regulars of the Rainbow Room, which Cirpriani wanted to turn into a banqueting hall.
Cirpriani jokingly says his litigation bills are somewhat lower than they were several years ago. “They were quite high but right now they are almost down to zero,” he laughs.
Does he agree that any publicity is good publicity? “I’d rather take fewer disagreements,” he says. “But that’s the past. You have to make sure you try to find a positive of every experience that you have in your life,” he adds.
“In life you have good times and you have bad times and the important thing is at the end you want more good times than the bad times. Until now we’ve been kind of lucky, our good times have been much better than the bad time.”
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Public spats with restaurant critics have also been well documented. There was the time when Cirpiani Senior banned critic Bryan Miller from eating at his restaurant again after Miller wrote a negative review about one of his restaurants for the New York Times. When Miller sneaked back into Bellini in disguise, Cipriani took out a full advert in a newspaper lambasting him.
“To be honest I really care about what my customers say, our biggest critics are our customers,” Cirpriani says of the incident. “We always try to be in the restaurants ourselves because we want to hear what people have to say not only about the food, but [also] the atmosphere, the ambiance.
“The customers are the ones paying the bill and they are also the ones that are going to come back and make sure that your business flourishes. Your core focus has to be about, of course you try to make everybody happy including the critics but they do it as a job, my customers are not obliged to come, they chose to come,” he says. And continue to choose they most certainly do.
In 2010, the firm branched out into the Middle East with a restaurant and nightclub on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, Cipriani Yas Island and Allure by Cipriani. In typical Cipriani style the opening event was held during the city’s second Grand Prix weekend with guests including His Majesty the King of Bahrain, Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bernie Ecclestone and Sir Richard Branson as well as performances from Prince and Linkin Park. “I love Abu Dhabi,” says Cipriani. “I’m not just saying that because I have a restaurant there, I’m saying it because I really do love it. I am a Formula One fan and this year’s event was probably one of the best Formula One race I have been to.
“[At the next Grand Prix] the whole building is going to turn into an entertainment place with food, entertainment, the best music, everything. It’s going to be a fantastic party,” he adds.
Cipriani’s love of parties is just as famous as his family’s tussles in and outside of the courtroom. In fact the family’s battles with restaurant critics, tax men and even their next door neighbours have been well documented both in the New York press as well as the international newspapers.
In 2007, Arrigo pleaded guilty to a felony tax charge while Cipriani pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor following the discovery of the company’s $3.5m tax evasion. In addition to repaying penalties, the firm was also forced to employ an independent auditor to ensure the firm pay its future taxes.
The court appearance wasn’t the only hot water the company has found itself in over the last few decades. In 1999, the restaurant empire found itself embroiled in nine month battle with regulars of the Rainbow Room, which Cipriani wanted to turn into a banqueting hall.
Cipriani jokingly says his litigation bills are somewhat lower than they were several years ago. “They were quite high but right now they are almost down to zero,” he laughs.
Does he agree that any publicity is good publicity? “I’d rather take fewer disagreements,” he says. “But that’s the past. You have to make sure you try to find a positive of every experience that you have in your life,” he adds.
“In life you have good times and you have bad times and the important thing is at the end you want more good times than the bad times. Until now we’ve been kind of lucky, our good times have been much better than the bad times.”
Public spats with restaurant critics have also been well documented. There was the time when Cipriani Senior banned critic Bryan Miller from eating at his restaurant again after Miller wrote a negative review about one of his restaurants for the New York Times. When Miller sneaked back into Bellini in disguise, Cipriani took out a full advert in a newspaper lambasting him.
“To be honest I really care about what my customers say, our biggest critics are our customers,” Cipriani says of the incident. “We always try to be in the restaurants ourselves because we want to hear what people have to say not only about the food, but [also] the atmosphere, the ambiance.
“The customers are the ones paying the bill and they are also the ones that are going to come back and make sure that your business flourishes. Your core focus has to be about, of course you try to make everybody happy including the critics but they do it as a job, my customers are not obliged to come, they chose to come,” he says.
And continue to choose they most certainly do.
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