Tuscany, Shaken…With a Twist
It’s hard to travel through the Tuscan countryside and not be seduced by the sheer beauty of it all. The hills as they fade into one another, and their silhouettes marked with quick, upright strokes of cypress that overlook the valleys. It’s the dreamland of the collective conscience, the backdrop to our favorite films, and the destination goal of our next vacation. It is also the land of world renowned “Super Tuscan” red wines and a sublime cuisine that embraces its rustic heritage.
It is because we all “know” Tuscany so well, at least in our imagination, that when something, or someone, introduces something new and innovative it shines all the brighter. Especially when it is executed with the same level of passion and intention that made Italy synonymous with beauty in the first place.
Jenny Cucuzza is a modern taste-maker in one of the postcard-esque villages that adorn the prima collina (first hillside) along the Tuscan coast. Her petit Madama Cafe is nestled in the center of her native Casale Marittima, a quintessential hilltop village overlooking the famed wine region of Bolgheri. Jenny’s joyful spirit is on full display in Madama’s colorful, boho-chic environment that is half fashion boutique and half cocktail bar, where she creates some of the most fabulously decorated and equally tasty libations this side of, well, anywhere. (I am still dreaming of the Coffee Negroni I had a few months back!)
“I try to bring my incredible love of color, life and fun into everything that I do. Everything should communicate color and playfulness so that every decoration, every recipe is created based on my clients so that it is the most effective and authentic. The idea of making “products” terrorizes me!”
The unique flair she brings to the vibrant drinks and small plates on the menu is born from Jenny’s background in fashion and textile design, as well as her adventures traveling the world “collecting experiences, fragrances and spices”. There is a beautiful connubio of whimsy and serious mixology at Madama. Cocktails may arrive to the table with a heavy dose of decoration but beauty here is not just skin deep. Pull back the flower blossoms and botanicals that embellish the glasses and you’ll taste true technique and innovation with flavor profiles that playfully lull you into her rose-tinted world.
“Beauty is a blend of elegance and harmony but I celebrate another type of beauty as well. Beauty that emanates from the celebration of everyday life! We are all beautiful when we’re happy, when we have fun and it repays us in return.”
Jenny views beauty as evolving from the two-dimensional to something more elevated that, in the context of her craft, comes from the interaction and response of her guests, the moments shared and the memories created. Jenny describes time as being the fourth dimension of beauty as it transcends the material into the everlasting.
Time spent at Madama Cafe is a technicolor adventure surrounded by decor of bold patterns and colorful textiles that speak the same language as her cocktails. It’s like a passage into an ever-so-skewed fairy tale. There’s humor and levity with a pinch of punk that can’t help but put a smile on your face. Aperitivo hour at Madama is energetic and jovial, as Italian cocktail bars are known to be. Laughter and positive energy bounce off the close walls where you’re likely to rub shoulders with a stylish Italian or two, or more. It only adds to the happiness and fun that Jenny exudes and preaches. Like being in Alice’s Wonderland or Dorothy’s OZ, what Jenny has created at Madama Cafe is a visual adventure and fantastical perspective of beauty as she intends it… all mixed up in a shaker!
Visit:
Via Don Pietro Nardini, 1, 56040 Casale Marittimo PI
Tel. +39 347 824 8346
Follow @madamacafeshop