Local hero
Tommaso Capozzoli’s Insider’s Guide to Florence
By Aleks Cvetkovic
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Tommaso Capozzoli is a man of many talents, and a man with many interests. A self-made entrepreneur, he splits his time between running a high-end travel company, Florentine tailor, Sartoria Vestrucci, and famous shoemaker, Stefano Bemer. What unites all these enterprises, though, is an interest in bespoke, carefully curated goods or experiences. His travel brand is called Inventing Itineraries, and organises custom travel itineraries for high-net-worth clients.

 

“We started the company in 2010 and everything happened by chance,” he tells us. “I co-founded Inventing Itineraries with my then partner, because travel has always been a good way to satisfy my curiosity. We only send clients to places we’ve been and tested for ourselves – I have to try things before I recommend them.”

When Tommaso’s not city-hopping or scouting new destinations for clients, you’ll find him in the joint-HQ of Vestrucci and Bemer, on the south side of the Arno in Florence. “I love going through the process of matching colours and materials together,” he says. “I’ve always liked to wear tailoring; I’ve been wearing suits and ties since I was 18-years-old. My father always liked to be properly dressed before me, too.”

 

So, perhaps it’s only natural that Tommaso decided to work on his very own bespoke tailoring businesses with Loris Vestrucci, his long-standing tailor. “We saw an opportunity to create an authentic Florentine tailoring brand a few years ago, Vestrucci didn’t even have a website at the time,” he explains. “It was the same with Stefano Bemer, when I joined Stefano was an incredible maker, but he was totally focused on the product. I thought I could help to really develop the business.” The rest, as they say, is history.

 

Today, as we leave his atelier, cross over the Arno and start to stroll through central Florence with him one thing is for sure: Whether in travel, tailoring or in shoemaking, Tommaso has excellent taste.

Tommaso’s Florence

My place for dinner is Sostanza. I love old-school restaurants with authentic dishes. Fancy restaurants? Well, I’m not interested in those. I love trattorias, like Sostanza, with simple recipes and very, very good ingredients. It’s the place to go for Bistecca Fiorentina.

 

I don’t drink coffee, but if I’m in the centre of town on a Saturday and I want to relax for a while, I’ll stop by Caffe Gilli, or else by Rivoire in the Piazza della Signoria.

 

The nicest view of Florence is from the top of Bellosguardo in the south of the city. There’s a hotel there called Torre di Bellosguardo and it’s as close as you can get to the city without the suburbs in-between. You get the feeling up there that you can almost reach out and touch the centre of the city itself.

 

I really love the Opera del Duomo and the Uffizi. You can’t come to Florence without visiting either one of these. They are destinations in their own right. Plus, the Uffizi has been recently updated by its new curator, and I think he’s done a great job of reorganising the gallery.

 

My favourite spot in the whole of Florence is the rowing club, which is literally just below the Ponte Vecchio. It’s situated in the former stables of the old grand duke of Florence, but it’s not posh. It’s like a very historic gym, but you need to be proposed by two current members in order to join. Rowing is an amazing sport, I quit it for 12 years, but I returned to it this year and I really enjoy it.

 

For street food, head to the Mercato Centrale. The first floor is all fresh food vendors and it’s impossible to eat poorly there. You don’t need a supermarket in Florence – it’s all about supporting your local neighbourhood artisans.

You can follow Tommaso on Instagram at here

(Photos by Tom Griffiths)

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