It all began with an idea. When visiting Milan for fashion week, we like many other people, enjoyed the small pleasures of life; food and fashion. We thought how it would be great to marry the two together in our boutique Gigi Bottega and create an immersive pleasurable shopping and dining experience.
Bar Gigi will be a sample of the cosmopolitan Milanese way of living. Enjoy a selection Italian inspired small plates in a casual fine dining setting or if you are just looking for an aperitivo this will be the place for that much needed Aperol Spritz.
“With the boutique, bar, cellars and caves all combined underneath the beautiful roof of the Flying Horse Walk, this will create an exciting concept which brings a rare and exclusive new way to experience the pleasures of life.”
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The Boutique - Gigi Bottega
When we opened Gigi Bottega nearly 5 years ago in September 2015 our aim was to become more than just a store. For five years we have been expanding our little boutique from just selling womens designer clothes and accessories at the start to introducing menswear, and stocking new exciting brands such as MSGM and Saint Laurent. Step by step we have built up our boutique to be a unique place to shop.
The Bar - Bar Gigi
When we cleared out our first floor 4 years ago we knew we wanted to develop it into a concept store and introduce a new element through food and drink. After visiting Paris and Milan for Fashion Week we noticed that in all the major fashion capitals this was the way retail was going, adding a bar or cafe creating an immersive shopping experience for the customer. After being inspired by what we saw the plan for Bar Gigi took way. We always knew we wanted it to reflect the same ethos as the boutique, which is quality, individuality and Italian spirt. We are creating a space which will be light and fresh, the cuisine based on the simplicity of Italian cooking, with love and the finest ingredients. Bringing a touch of Milan back to Nottingham with the traditional Aperitivo and enjoying a Spritz with friends. It will bring new excitement back into shopping and the world of retail. This has been years in planning, and we also have discovered another exciting opportunity within the building which has pushed back our opening schedule slightly.
The caves and cellars - Cantine Dell’Angelo
Gigi Bottega’s home is within a 14th Century building which is famously known in Nottingham as the Flying Horse Walk. As it is such a historical old building there is a lot of maintenance which goes into it. During the summer of 2017 we noticed a damp patch behind the till. To check everything was okay with the building we went into the basement of the shop which are cellars. (the Flying Horse Walk used to be a pub before it was converted into a shopping centre and kept the barrels of beer and cases of wine in the cellars) The beauty of the cellars and their natural brick work was what caught our attention and naturally curiosity kicked in. After discovering a hatch at the end of the cellars we soon noticed that there was a hidden gem underneath. Full to the top with rubble we started digging and discovered a magnificent set of caves. Thousands of bags of rubble later, 600 tonnes and three full years of digging, this will be home to our new project ‘Cantine Dell’Angelo’ also known as Angel Cellars. Cantine Dell’ Angelo will be a wine experience unique to the UK. With the perfect temperature to store wine it lends itself perfectly to this type of experience. Like the boutique we travelled all of Italy to discover and handpick wine which are high quality, independent all family owned. All of the wines will be natural, biological wines all with their own speciality.