Bottega Storica Odilla BastoniGabriele Maiolani’s shop was born of an idea by his mother, Odilla Bastoni, who was also a painter with a love France. It was also France that inspired Gabriele’s passion for the art of chocolate-making and in France that he trained under Lapalisse-based maître chocolatier André Sauvadet, whose praline recipes he brought home to Italy with him. He also makes other typologies such as his recent invention Ventietrenta – a fine plain chocolate wafer with a mint filling – his way of deseasonalising chocolate and give it added freshness by exploiting the delicate flavour of Piedmontese. With the same aim in mind Odilla sells eight flavours of ice cream in summer. Diversification is the name of the game for this, an impressive and dynamic, quintessentially Piedmontese enterprise: with the arrival of Gabriele’s wife Barbara, the range has been extended to include cakes and biscuits: hence torta tenerina, made with chocolate and without flour, and crumbly, melt-in the-mouth baci di dama ((“lady’s kisses”, semi-spherical chocolate-coated shortcrust pastry cookies with chopped almonds or hazelnuts) made according to a traditional recipe.
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