I learnt how to make gnocchi when I was 9. The memories I have of that part of my life are almost all related to the steel kitchen of the hotel. Yes, you heard right, the hotel. I lived there for many years; it was my home, and this is what happens when you are born into a family of hoteliers and restaurateurs, but in the end, it is a bit like living in a block of flats with the only difference being that the neighbours change often and if they need something, they pay for it. It was not bad at all and right now, I would go back to that blessed condition: I always had ice cream at hand, I could decide what to eat by choosing from the menu and watched TV until late, and we can now add your fill of alcohol and it is Heaven on earth. My mother spent days in the kitchen and learning to cook was the only way to spend time together, and we used to cook with our hands in the flour on that huge table made of wood and Carrara marble. Can you picture when images are perpetually stamped in your heart? That was my first encounter with the kitchen, my first contact with stone and precisely because there are things that remain locked in one’s heart, such as the advertisement of Coca-Cola at Christmas, I have always loved marble. A first-class aficionado, I could have had a future as a PR for marble workers, then life’s experience showed me the evidence and, basically, I started selling. I started designing kitchens, proposing solutions that would last and who do you think told stories about the world of natural stone as if it was the fantastic kingdom of Oz? Who waxed lyrical about the wonders that nature was able to create?

Not without a certain theatrical flair, I have always been good at selling, and here I can admit it without seeming biased because obviously, I am!

When they first talked to me about agglomerates and their amazing features, I was sceptical just like when I read that Jay-Z had cheated on Beyoncé… let’s face it, these are things that do not happen in the real world! 

How was it possible that a material could look like natural stone but was not, it had the same features but was not the same and even looked better? In fact, clinging to my beliefs tooth and nail, l would have never relinquished my first love. Then I started having some problems… opacity, stains, limescale marks, rust that rose to the surface from the Medea Stone. In other words, what I considered normal and appealing, basically the natural features of a living and unique product, partly turned against me. It was, in fact, unrequited love; the needs of my clients were focused elsewhere. Therefore, I timidly approached that world that did not give any problems, that had a thousand shades, fine or more important mixtures that resisted stains and scratches but one feature convinced me more than others.

The quartz agglomerate is a non-porous material, which means it does not allow germs and bacteria to proliferate, and guess who is a hypochondriac? Well, I had a Carrara worktop, but now have a quartz agglomerate worktop; hypochondria wins over love… keep that in mind! 

Cristina Giorgi @SpazioMetodo