Why Motelombroso?

“Because we like the sound of it. The letters lined up in a compound name that we treat as a noun. Neutral.

Motelombroso is a project centered on time—to be savored. And it all began with food and wine because, for us (Alessandra, the manager, Matteo, the sommelier and Nicola, the chef), everything began from here.
A place suspended in time, a space to unwind—our home.

And our home exists outside of time.
That’s how we imagine it, and that’s how we’ve tried to represent it.
It’s a tribute to the time we take in letting ourselves be carried away by time itself.
It’s a motel, and calling it Motel reminds us that we all need moments to let ourselves be swept away by the empty yet meaningful nature of a motel. A holistic space that is ours, if only for a little while, in the pursuit of pleasure.
Where the aim is to bring the sensory experience back in its entirety—without a main protagonist.
From food to visuals, to imagination. Or in whatever way you choose to embrace it.

It’s up to you.
It’s up to you to interpret what Motelombroso is, what we are, and what our spaces mean.”

Nicola, what do food and cooking mean to you?

N: For me, the kitchen represents my ideal habitat, the place where I feel the most at ease in the world.

Matteo and Alessandra, if Nicola’s food were a film, which one would it be and why?

A: Blade Runner – Like Rick Deckard, over the years I’ve seen Nicola constantly questioning himself, searching for a direction and integrity first as a human being and then as a chef. I’d even compare today’s fine dining scene to that dystopian and surreal world Ridley Scott painted in his masterpiece, and I see Nicola/Rick searching for a new role that has yet to be written.

M: Freaks – Because it’s a film about madmen who live normality within madness.

And what about your service and wine selection—what film would that be and why?

M: Following. Like Christopher Nolan’s debut film, which plays with time distortion, we like our service to lack a linear structure, instead unfolding at different paces. This allows the guest to take part in the storytelling of the dinner: they will have to piece together the various fragments, leading to the finale of our current tasting menu, which forces a complete reinterpretation of everything that came before.
The concept of relativity is also linked to our view on pairing:
What is true, and what is not? In the end, each person’s truth is just one of many possible narratives, which is why the perfect food and wine pairing may not exist.

What does music mean to you?

M: Music has always been an essential and fundamental part of the experience in our restaurant. Just consider that every time we change the menu, we also change the restaurant’s soundtrack, believing that the two should constantly be in dialogue.

Why do you like Daniele’s music, and how does it connect to your restaurant?

A: Daniele is capable of creating surreal, intense soundscapes that make you lose your sense of space and time, catapulting you into a confused and irrational reality.
This is exactly what we’ve tried to create in our restaurant—which, not by chance, is called Motel, symbolizing a temporary escape from reality. It’s a suspended environment, with architectural references designed to make you lose your perception of time and space, like our six-meter mirror in the garden, which reflects the sky and dissolves boundaries.
Listening to Mana here means giving a sonic meaning to everything we have created.

If the Gelinaz event you are creating together were a film, what would it be?

A: Paprika – Dreaming a Dream. Who knows, maybe we too will manage to analyze dreams, dig into, and intervene in the subconscious of our guests that evening…

What should guests expect?

M: As in the best experiments, we ask our guests to let go of any preconceptions and to be the protagonists of the evening themselves.

Your message to Andrea Petrini?

A: Andrea is a great visionary. His ideas always push us to experiment one step further. Often, like this time, without knowing where we’ll end up, but I believe that’s exactly what makes working with him so exciting.

And your message to Gelinaz guests?

M: If you don’t like loud music, extreme dishes, daring pairings, or the floor and ceiling flipping upside down, stay away from Gelinaz! at Motelombroso!

You want to be part of this! So book it here before it’s sold out.

https://motelombroso.it/