FORTE DEI MARMI, Italy — In the 1983 Italian cult movie “Sapore di Mare,” known as “Time for Loving” in English, by Carlo Vanzina, multiple romances unfold against the backdrop of the seemingly endless summer of 1964 spent at the Bagni Marechiaro, Forte dei Marmi’s oldest beach club.
The group of teens “in villeggiatura,” the Italian word for vacationers spending the entire season in one of the country’s numerous resort destinations, navigate first loves, class divides and bittersweet farewells as they approach adulthood.
A symbol of Versilia’s golden age, the Tuscan coastal area home to Forte dei Marmi, the Marechiaro beach club — founded in 1913 and currently owned by the Olivetti Rason family — has in recent years struggled to keep pace with the uberluxe offerings of neighboring venues, even though it arguably helped cement Forte dei Marmi as a destination beloved by the international jet set since the 1950s.
Enter Giacomo Milano — a landmark of Milan’s restaurant scene since the late chef Giacomo Bulleri established it in 1958 — and its ambition to seriously dive into lifestyle-leaning waters: Marechiaro Beach Club is returning to its former splendor.
Located a 10-minute bike ride from the city center, the beach club offers everything one has come to expect from the seaside town’s tony beach entertainment and the Milanese restaurant business, known for its gourmet dining experience and old-school charm.
The restaurant Da Giacomo Forte dei Marmi inside the Marechiaro beach club.
Letizia Cigliutti/Courtesy of Giacomo Milano
Officially opened earlier this month after a yearlong renovation, the beach club’s chic and understated design was curated by architect Fabrizio Casiraghi, the creative behind the newish revamp of Milan’s Sant Ambroeus.
Marechiaro’s interiors draw from the design codes of 1950s yacht clubs — ivory-lacquered wood with a chic patina, brass accents, wrought iron tables and impeccable table linens, blended with distinctly Milanese elements, such as terrazzo flooring and stained-glass details.
Walking past the entrance hallway, replete with a reception desk and cabinets showcasing branded merchandise, including sandals that are part of a collaboration with Scholl, the 120-guest Da Giacomo Forte dei Marmi restaurant opens on the right, its ceiling decorated in hand-drawn motifs of a starry sky. Next door is Bar Luna, an intimate cocktail bar with a moodier ambience that owes its blueprint to Giacomo Milano’s numerous Milan locations.
The restaurant’s windowed structure opens onto a beachfront courtyard, partially veiled by climbing vines and framed by Mediterranean shrubs, where outdoor tables and parasols set the scene for aperitivo, light lunches and open air dining.
The restaurant Da Giacomo Forte dei Marmi inside the Marechiaro beach club.
Letizia Cigliutti/Courtesy of Giacomo Milano
Beach cabins decked in ivory and sage green only partially shield the sea view as some swing open on both sides, offering sweeping glimpses of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the two rows of 30 cabanas dotting the beach, which is managed by Giacomo Milano as part of a deal with the owner.
Each cabana comes with two lounge beds, director’s and deck chairs and a studio apartment-size parasol, swathed in a palette of blues, ivories and mustard.
“Our choice of Marechiaro was deeply intentional….It’s a place defined by heritage, character and memory. Forte dei Marmi feels like a natural extension of our world, a destination where the Italian spirit and lifestyle have always found their way, a place many consider a home away from home,” said Giampaolo Grossi, chief executive officer of Giacomo Milano, screw driver in one hand, busy fixing a sconce.
With previous experience in the restaurant business at Prada Group-owned Marchesi 1824, as well as Bice and Starbucks Italy, the executive was brought onboard in September 2023, soon after Giacomo Milano was fully acquired by Fidim, the investment holding of the Rovati family, known for its pharmaceutical business. The takeover followed the acquisition of a 47 percent interest in the business in 2021, which at the time was still owned by the founding Bulleri-Monti family.
Grossi was enthusiastic about the move to the seaside resort, which he characterized as a new business model for Giacomo Milano. The restaurant business already boasts Da Giacomo Pietrasanta in the namesake Tuscan seaside location, a 15-minute drive from Forte dei Marmi, but Marechiaro is the first beach club it is handling.
“It was essential for us to find a place that shared that same sense of history and continuity. Versilia feels like a natural extension of our journey,” echoed Carola Rovati, president of Giacomo Milano. She pointed to a man under his cabana doing a crossword puzzle, already a regular since the beach club opened.
The cabanas at the Marechiaro beach club curated by Giacomo Milano.
Letizia Cigliutti/Courtesy of Giacomo Milano
The gastronomic experience at Da Giacomo Forte dei Marmi is both rooted in the brand’s heritage but unique to the location.
Aficionados should not worry — signature dishes including tortello cacio e pepe, spaghetti al pomodoro, spider crab and vitello tonnato are front and center on the menu curated by chef Alessandro Mancusi. But Giacomo Milano developed an offering hinged on the Josper grill, with seafood, meat, vegetables and even desserts prepared via the live-fire cooking method.
One can open with grilled lobster with peaches, dates and basil as a mouthwatering appetizer, before tasting spaghetti with “arselle,” a local species of clams, and end with the inventive grilled peach with honey, walnut and custard gelato — not one’s regular dessert.
The grilled lobster on the menù of Da Giacomo Forte dei Marmi inside the Marechiaro beach club.
Jacopo Salvi/Courtesy of Giacomo Milano
Giacomo Milano’s opening in Forte dei Marmi reflects the recent renaissance that the town and Versilia are experiencing, after being overshadowed in recent years by other resort destinations in the country, especially in the South of Italy.
That course is partially reversing.
As reported, last year Giorgio Armani acquired La Capannina, the historic night club in Forte dei Marmi which played a key role in the growing fame of the Tuscan seaside town. Founded in 1929 by Achille Franceschi and controlled by Gherardo and Carla Guidi since 1977, La Capannina is currently under renovation and incidentally located next door to the Marechiaro Beach Club.
A year earlier, Italian entrepreneur and Formula 1 legend Flavio Briatore sold his Twiga-branded beach club to LMDV Capital, the family office of EssilorLuxottica’s chief strategy officer and Ray-Ban president Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio. At the end of 2022, Prada Group acquired the town’s historic Caffè Principe, which also traces back to the 1930s, and reopened it in summer 2023 with revamped interiors and a Marchesi 1824-curated menu.
As for Giacomo Milano, landing in Forte dei Marmi marks the latest step in its steady and organic expansion plan in resort destinations. In addition to Da Giacomo Pietrasanta, the firm comprises Da Giacomo al Lago inside the Grand Hotel Tremezzo in Tremezzina, Italy, on Lake Como, as part of a partnership with the De Santis family who own the hotel, and Da Giacomo al Salviatino, a hotel in Fiesole, in the outskirts of Florence, owned by the Rovati family.
Chef Bulleri opened the first Da Giacomo Milano outpost on Via Donizetti in Milan but gained acclaim after relocating to the location designed by architect Renzo Mongiardino on Via Sottocorno in 1989.
In the years that followed, the street has become a Giacomo Milano district of sorts with the opening of additional units, each with its distinctive flair, from Giacomo Bistrot, with its tony town house and sexy interiors, and Giacomo Rosticceria, with its picture-perfect little courtyard and dedicated to homemade, family-style cuisine, to Tabaccheria for aperitivo, and Pasticceria, a pastry shop.
In Milan the brand also owns Da Giacomo Arengario, a stunning venue inside the city’s Museo del ‘900 overlooking Piazza Duomo, and Giacomo Caffè Letterario, a café inside Palazzo Reale.
