"Kindness is always the answer," says Cosimo Gheradini, one of the family members behind the beloved restaurant group Sant Ambroeus. Here, in a conversation recorded at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in Knightsbridge, Cosimo discusses Milanese roots, the ingredients that make a truly great dining room, upcoming plans in Miami — and why the first ten seconds of any restaurant experience are the most important.

“The first 10 seconds when you walk into a restaurant define your experience”

Sant Ambroeus began its life in Milan in 1936 – a local café situated just a few steps away from the city’s Teatro alla Scala opera house. As the restaurant group has expanded steadily over the past 90 years, it has always embodied something of this original site: at once homely and grand; a place of both sophisticated sensibility and enveloping comfort. This is really down to the people who run it, says Cosimo Gherardini, a Sant Ambroeus family member and the group’s director of operations – true artists of hospitality who believe, he tells us, that “kindness is always the answer”. Here, Gherardini discusses growing up in New York, the importance of lighting and the brand’s upcoming plans for Miami – and perhaps even London.

For the longest time in Milan, Sant Ambroeus was a meeting point for the most influential people in the city – celebrities and industrials alike. Milan represents quality. It represents a sense of refined precision without showmanship. And I think you see that in the Sant Ambroeus brand today through the pursuit of excellence, through products, through hospitality and consistency.

Sant Ambroeus is more than just a restaurant. It represents a way of living. Which obviously comes with a lot of different

responsibilities. People come frequently

because of the consistency that it offers – from the coffee to the greeting. There’s a sense of community that people feel, a sense of belonging. It is truly more than a restaurant – it has been ingrained into people’s quotidian way of living.

I grew up in hospitality. From the age of 15, anytime I had a moment off in the summer, I’d be working. I would be in the kitchens, or I would be in our location in Southampton all summer working as a busser, as a waiter. One of the first jobs I did in Southampton was serving the gelato. So I grew up in the business. I grew up working. But even before then, I was part of a family that has a deep, deep appreciation for food, of raw materials, of ingredients.

Every summer as a kid I would go to Tuscany, where my grandparents have a place.

I remember they had this marble table in the kitchen, and my grandfather would invite the fishermen to come over in the mornings. And this fisherman would bring in this huge tuna that he caught that morning, and my grandfather would inspect it and speak to him about it.Just observing that appreciation for a tuna that was dropped onto the table was formative.

There are a lot of different facets to making a room have the right energy. The lighting needs to be warm. It needs to feel inviting. It comes down to the staff, and how they move. It needs to feel natural. It needs to feel like they know what they’re doing. I think it also comes down to the greeting. Those first 10 seconds when you walk into a restaurant define your experience.

I’ve been very lucky to have many mentors that have guided me and taught me so much about the industry and about myself – from my uncle, to my mother, to Alireza Niroomand, who’s the creative director of Sant Ambroeus. I was actually on the phone with Ali the other night and we were talking about hospitality, and he pulled out a phrase: “Kindness is always the answer.” Which is a truth that doesn’t only apply to hospitality, but to every facet of life. So that stuck with me.

New York is a special place. I still consider it the best city in the world just because of how dynamic it is. You see a little bit of everything. Growing up there was a privilege, because you’re exposed to so much. In the dining scene, you have every different culture representing what they grew up with; every different nationality bringing to market their own food. Not to say that other cities don’t have that, but in New York, it’s really embedded within the city.

Sant Ambroeus in London is a conversation that makes sense. But London’s tricky. It’s a matter of finding the right location. Because in London, one street changes everything. And it’s important that it feels inevitable rather than opportunistic. So it’s all about finding that right space. But we’re looking.

Our new opening in Miami is the next challenge for me and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a whole new dynamic; a whole new place for me, and I’m going to have to adapt and learn, and I’m extremely curious. But it’s all about representing the brand – being a custodian to its values, to its operational standards and making sure that we execute and continue to make people feel at home.