viabledesign

Marco Civitelli: It is great having you here, Detlef. The pandemic has been a tough challenge for us, in particular because all of a sudden our well-balanced guest mix (50% guests from Milan, 50% foreigners) changed into nearly 100% Milan guests. This change forced us to modify our general approach as hosts to better serve the local community. We implemented a membership club with currently around 300 members. Being a member offers benefits like having exclusive access to our wine cellar including discounts for buying with us. We also put a strong focus on offering special experiences to our members, like guided excursions to vineries. This kind of relationship building resulted in a vital community and also helps us to learn more about the wants and needs of our members, to better serve them and their guests in our facilities. As you know, we do not only offer two fully catered swimming pools but also two bars in addition to our restaurant.

Marco Civitelli: Especially during the first phase of the pandemic, we realized certain social changes among our guests: Going out to a restaurant has become way more social. Guests came as families and groups of trusted friends, while before COVID-19 the social approach in having a joint meal was not clearly noticeable. We also invested in a special green menu, as the need for healthy food has become very transparent.

Marco Civitelli: Even though we did not lay off any full-time employees during the pandemic, it was tough to find the necessary talents especially during the peak seasons in summer and fall. A lot of them have changed careers during the pandemic and are not on the hospitality market anymore. Such lack of talents forced us to reduce our capacity. Therefore, we decided to serve customers only in one pool area, while the other pool area has become an event space which we rent out for private events, to hotels and to companies. Since this approach has been a major success, we are expanding the facilities by adding a unique veranda (to be ready by September 2022). We also opened a second Ceresio 7 restaurant in Mykonos in summer 2021. This means we are still doing organic investments, even though a huge flexibility and great caution is required these days. But since we are 6 business partners, a joint governance is key to us.

Marco Civitelli: For sure, rising costs are a big topic for us. Together with our trusted suppliers, we therefore actively and regularly perform a supply management in order to find mutual sourcing solutions. Every month, we are meeting for a joint “menu-engineering” with a clear focus on profit/loss but also with a focus on an active management of our recipes, including adapting and removing dishes when necessary. But not all those measures lead to a success, which is why we had to do some minor price adaptions vis-à-vis our customers, including an increase of the cover charges. In terms of interior design, only necessary and minor changes (color, objects) are planned for 2022. The general vintage theme will stay unchanged.

Marco Civitelli: You are right. A major part of our interior design consists of artworks and design objects and thus truly influences our atmosphere and brand to the positive. Our interior design was developed by the design agency DIMORESTUDIO, Milan, highlighting roots to the New York and London urban culture. When it comes to investing in new art and design, all owners, including Dean and Dan Caten, always play a key role in the decision making process.

Marco Civitelli: It has been a pleasure. I hope that we find time to further exchange in 2022.