Interview with Guido Martinetti
"Rest your Soul"
November 2023
one of the messages that is written in capital letters at the Boutique Hotel Relais Le Marne. A personal interview with former GROM ice cream founder Guido Martinetti.
First a winemaker, then in 2003 founder of the Grom ice cream brand, then in 2007 the opening of the Mura Mura farm and now owner of a beautiful boutique hotel in Piedmont.
LA ESPLORA: What was your personal motivation, your inspiration to open this beautiful boutique hotel in Piedmont?
Guido Martinetti: My main reason for building the Hotel Le Marne is to give my children the opportunity to get to know great and different people, people who have achieved great things in their lives – regardless of whether they were a shoemaker or a famous US basketball player. My wish for my children is that they can get to know many different facets of people and ways of life, in addition to being and working as farm owners and winegrowers.
Getting to know the many different ways of life and people opens up their horizons – developing a sense for nature and a sense & respect for the different ways people live. This will give them the chance to go through life with an open mind and do the things in their lives that they would like to do with all their heart. To do the things they dream of in their lives, but also to go through life with courage. These were my overriding goals and values when I founded Relais Le Marne.
It is also important to me to be physically close to my children. For example, if you have to forbid your children to do something, saying “no” in person is a different “no” than if you only tell your children this over the phone. Saying “no” in a physical meeting is perceived as being conveyed “in love” – saying “no” on the phone always seems more impersonal. My goal is to be with my children in person as often as possible.
Relais Le Marne gives me the opportunity to live and work with my children in the future – for example in the vineyards.
And this place also enables them to have their “first small negative experiences”. This will help them to become strong for life in a positive way.
LA ESPLORA: What was particularly important to you?
GUIDO MARTINETTI : My passion is agriculture – nature. Although humans are very intelligent, I always see them as animals. We are all part of nature, we are not the master of nature.
The hospitality aspect was only added later. I created everything at Relais Le Marne based on my personal approach to life. By way of background, I myself come from the world of triathlon. I was part of the national triathlon team as a young adult.
The chance to wake up in the morning and swim to good music with a view of the vineyards. That’s incredible for me, that’s quality of life!
The concept of Le Marne is to combine the beauty of nature and the vineyards with sport and art. I have a great passion for nature, sport and art.
The sale of my former company Grom to Unilever a few years ago enabled me to make a dream come true with the construction of Relais Le Marne.
La Esplora: Guido, you’ve also traveled the world a lot. Have you incorporated ideas from your own hotel visits and travels into the Le Marne hotel project?
GUIDO MARTINETTI: There were three important places that inspired me the most and gave me the direction for Le Marne.
The first place: Kyoto in Japan. The attitude of living carefully, consciously and wisely – just as we do on my farm / winery Mura Mura. Consciously – not in the sense of slowly – but mindfully. The concept of mindfulness is a key element of Le Marne’s creation. Mindfulness in the sense of “I am here, in this moment. I am present”. I realize in the here and now that everything around me is valuable. And of course the Japanese way of appreciating the ancestors as we do here on the Mura Mura farm.
Second place: Hawaii. I lived in a special property at the time and was allowed to swim in a pool surrounded by jasmine flowers every morning. I woke up every morning at 6 a.m., enjoyed the sunrise, swam and enjoyed the blooming jasmine. Back then, I told myself that if I ever had a real swimming pool in the future, it would not be surrounded by jasmine but by vineyards. That would be fantastic. And now I have this pool with a wonderful view of the vineyards.
The third place of inspiration was Paris. A small hotel with only seven rooms, each room was personally designed and had special features. Each room was dedicated to a great personality.
These were the three most important places of inspiration for Relais le Marne: Kyoto, Hawaii and Paris.
LA ESPLORA: What kind of experience would you like to offer your guests here at Hotel Le Marne? What special impressions do you want your guests to take away from this place?
GUIDO MARTINETTI
: My overriding goal of a guest experience is based on the concept of the “unforgettable”. Especially in this day and age, in our world, we can experience many special moments and make many things possible. Nevertheless, many people often forget what they have experienced.
Sometimes you experience a special moment – a unique place with a special beauty, a special scent, a special taste. But then you forget this moment. Maybe it was because you weren’t present with all your senses at the place you visited or the experience wasn’t personal enough. My wish for Le Marne is that guests experience this special moment with me and take it home with them as a wonderful memory.
So what I’m trying to do is give this place a “personality” that derives from the personality of the founder, me, and the Italian heritage of the vineyards. I want people to come home with something “unforgettable”.
You go to Venice to see beautiful buildings, or fly to New York and are impressed by the skyscrapers. That is certainly fantastic. However, Le Marne is a place that can be unique due to its peculiarities – the vineyards, the swimming pool, the playground, the surroundings. This place can create precious memories. For example, when the guests enjoy a beautiful & intense moment with their family here in Le Marne, playing together in the pool, spending time together, I am happy. That’s all I want. Andrea, I am a family man. I appreciate the happiness of family life. Also shaped by my own painful experiences, the divorce of my parents. I have great respect and value family life.
The overall concept of Le Marne is that guests can experience the essential factors – being active, doing something good for your body and health, consciously opening your mind to perceive your surroundings in the here and now and taking care of your family. That’s all I need and all I want to offer my guests in Le Marne. And of course the culinary delights, which are not to be missed with our Radici restaurant.
Le Marne offers these unforgettable moments and thus becomes part of our guests’ lives. Every person is unique. And here at Le Marne we can adapt to our guests. For example, I tell my employees at reception that some people like to be hugged as a greeting, others prefer more space and distance. We respect the uniqueness of each individual and accept them as they are. It’s like giving people the opportunity to relax and unwind in Le Marne.
The famous philosopher Socrates said that the most important thing is to know yourself! And if a visit to Relais Le Marne helps you get a little closer to yourself, that would be great.
LA ESPLORA: The rooms were furnished by different artists. Are you also artistically active yourself?
GUIDO MARTINETTI
: I am not an artist myself, but I am a very aesthetic person. I love the beauty and the delicacy. Another element of inspiration for this place was the Japanese flower Sakura with its incredible beauty. It flowers only briefly, so you have to enjoy the moment of flowering. It’s just like our concept at Le Marne: enjoy the beauty of the moment!
I love putting beautiful things together to create something beautiful like Le Marne. I choose from different materials and, as a winemaker, create tasteful wines from Mura Mura. If you look at it as artistic, then I also have an artistic side to me. While the production of ‘gelato’ back then was rather technical, the production of wine is more of an art.
LA ESPLORA
:
Is it possible to rent this special place exclusively, e.g. for weddings?
GUIDO MARTINETTI
: We have already had many beautiful weddings here. We can host larger events for up to 70 people – including beautiful weddings.
In Relais Le Marne we have 14 rooms. We can also accommodate guests in some nearby partner hotels.
A nice place for this is the terrace of the main building, which is actually the roof of the swimming pool. Andrea, this is a wonderful place for a wedding – unforgettable forever.
My own wedding also took place here in the summer of 2022. I got married in the small church of St. Michele on the hill near Relais Le Marne. Unfortunately, we had one of the only rainy days of the summer – it rained on our wedding day.
The theme of our wedding was “the kiss”. Eight pictures of the most famous kisses are displayed in front of the entrance to the hotel reception. We had a very special sofa at our wedding that was designed like a big kissing mouth – the famous Italian “Bocca” sofa from Gufram.
We couldn’t dance outside because of the rain, so we went into the swimming pool area. It was a lot of fun, we had a great pool party.
The song we opened the dance party with was “Kiss” by Prince. The song for the cutting of the wedding cake was “Hold my Hand” by Lady Gaga. Unbelievable. I still get goosebumps when I think back to that special moment.
LA ESPLORA:
Do you still grow all the fruit varieties on the Mura Mura farm?
GUIDO MARTINETTI
: We have an experimental garden in Mura Mura with 100 different trees of all types of fruit that can grow well here in this area.
LA ESPLORA:
I read that you planted 28 strawberry varieties here alone, right?
Guido Martinetti
: We have strawberry bushes that we use for one or two years; after three years they are no longer suitable. And melons. We don’t grow raspberries in Mura Mura because they need acidic soil, which we don’t have here.
If we were to test a strawberry sorbet in a blind tasting, you would recognize the difference. 50% of the top quality comes from the pure fruit – no flavoring, no additives. The whole sensation comes from the fruit itself.
LA ESPLORA:
Do you continue to grow the fruit to make the grom ice cream here on Mura Mura?
Guido Martinetti
: After the sale of Grom to Unilever, we supplied the fruit for Grom for another four years. Then we stopped. Now let’s make a nice liqueur from apricots. Guests can also enjoy this liqueur here in our Radici restaurant. You won’t find anything comparable. It has a fantastic, unique taste and is inspired by Umesho from Japan. In Japan, the liqueur is made from plums. This fruit is also known as the “big sister” of the apricot.
LA ESPLORA:
What is your personal source of inspiration?
GUIDO MARTINETTI
: I love biographies of great personalities. In my life, I have been inspired by different people for different reasons. Mainly because of their professions. For me, the most important were Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan, Michel Angelo and Lazlo Plogar, the father of the first three female chess champions in the world. Lazlo Plogar from Hungary impressed me with the way he brought up his daughters to achieve great things in chess. This is not a question of intelligence, but a question of motivation and attitude. Plogar is the least known, but for me the most inspiring personality.
LA ESPLORA
:
Where in the world can you recharge your batteries?
GUIDO MARTINETTI
: One place where I can really relax is Hawaii. Another place is Noli in Liguria. This is the place where I spent my childhood before my parents divorced. There is a small bay there, the food is wonderful, there are nice restaurants run by families. If you go into the nearby hills, there are great routes for running.
I also enjoy running and working in Valentino Park in Turin, a large historical park near the River Po, the largest river in Italy. It is a place where you can find nature in the middle of the city.
LA ESPLORA: What are your top 3 restaurants?
GUIDO MARTINETTI
: Besides our restaurant Radici in Le Marne, which is my “heart”, my favorite restaurant in Piedmont is the “Ristorante Da Bardone”. A 140-year-old family business. The restaurant serves typical Piedmontese dishes and is only a 15-minute drive from Le Marne.
Another favorite restaurant is the “Ristorante Consorzio” in Turin, which follows a similar concept to our restaurant Radici in Le Marne and uses all parts of the animal. They serve excellent sweetbreads, which I really like.
Another restaurant I would recommend is “Osteria Veglio” in the small town of La Morra, which is located in the Barolo area in the countryside. It is only 25 minutes by car from Le Marne. The best restaurant-made fiori di latte in the world is served there. Fiori di Latte is a rather difficult ice cream to make. It only has the taste of milk. This gelato is always served at the end of dinner. This is a real experience. I always get a big smile when I say that I only come here to eat Fiori di Latte. Me, the famous Grom ice cream maker.
LA ESPLORA: Do you cook yourself?
GUIDO MARTINETTI
: In times of Corona, I also cooked for myself, but only for me and my wife Martina. I’m usually very busy at work and don’t have much time to cook at home. Cooking is not my passion, I also enjoy eating out.
LA ESPLORA: What are Guido’s absolute favorite dishes?
GUIDO MARTINETTI
: For starters – pata negra and a salami from Tortona in south-eastern Piedmont. It is not made from the pork shoulder, but from the leg, which is normally used for cured ham. And San Daniela ham with a little butter and salt.
For the main course – tagliolini with rabbit leg. It’s a strong flavor, but I love it. And I also like sweetbreads as a main course. It is a very tender part of the beef. And for dessert – Gelato Fiori di Latte, of course!
Dear Guido, thank you very much for the personal & inspiring interview.
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