G “WHEN GIANPAOLO AND OUR PARTNERS SAW HOW SUCCESSFUL TUTTO IL GIORNO WAS, THEY WANTED TO OPEN ANOTHER ONE IN SOUTHAMPTON. HE ALSO FOUND THE CHARMING HOTEL IN BRIDGEHAMPTON, WHICH ORGANICALLY BECAME OUR NEXT PROJECT.” —GABBY KARAN DEFELICE
abby Karan DeFelice never has just one thing going on. Take this summer, for example. She and her husband, Gianpaolo DeFelice, are in the planning stages of creating a 12-room deluxe spa hotel at the former Enclave Inn in Bridgehampton. They are also about to open their third Tutto Il Giorno restaurant after the success of their Sag Harbor and Southampton locations—this one their first in New York City, located in Tribeca. (Tutto partners include Maurizio Marfoglia, who is also managing partner and executive chef; Maurizio’s wife, Holly Zierk Marfoglia; Larry and Maria Baum; and David and Gally Mayer.) The raw, few-thousand-square-foot Tribeca loft has been a year in the making and will be opening in September. And there’s a fourth Tutto Il Giorno on the horizon—its location yet to be announced. This keeps them busy, not to mention raising two young children and finding time to have family barbecues and boat rides. The source of calm in the couple’s busy life is their recently completed East Hampton home, which they built from the ground up. It was a three-year labor of love inspired by Gabby’s family home in Parrot Cay, in Turks and Caicos. Who better to discuss juggling the passionate, the personal, and the professional than with the ultimate multitasker, her mom, Donna Karan? We caught up with mother and daughter at their home in East Hampton as they talked about managing a growing business and how home is where the heart is.
GABBY KARAN DEFELICE: Mom, do you realize what it took to set up this time with you? A village—a million e-mails, calls, rearranging appointments—and that was just on your end. DONNA KARAN: Welcome to my life. Everyone thinks we’re so alike, but we’re so different. You like quiet. I’m at home in chaos and crowds, and you like control and solitude. GKD: It’s true. I’m a homebody. That’s why it works so well with Gianpaolo. He’s so much more social than I am. DK: Isn’t he the reason you got into the restaurant business? GKD: Yes, he wanted a place to hang out in the Hamptons. He’s Italian and wanted to spend his summers in Italy on his boat, going from Naples to Capri to the Aeolian Islands. So I said, “Let’s create that feeling here. We’ll bring your boat— an old wooden one he grew up on—and open up a restaurant.” It works because he does his part and I do mine. DK: You do the décor, and he attracts the people because he’s so handsome. Stephan [Weiss, Karan’s late husband] was the same way. It’s scary how many parallels there are between them. Gianpaolo’s a Virgo like Stephan. They both have the warmth, the personality, the smile. Everyone gravitates toward them. GKD: Gianpaolo’s being in aviation and the hospitality business makes sense with his personality. He’s genuinely interested in everyone. He’s made me a more social person. I also think his being a pilot is the reason why he loves having so many destinations. I’d never leave home or even open new restaurants, but he’s got that need to spread out. He pushes me forward. DK: Like the Southampton restaurant and the one in Tribeca as well as the inn you’re doing.
GKD: Yes, when Gianpaolo and our partners saw how successful Tutto Il Giorno was, they wanted to open another one in Southampton. He also found the charming hotel in Bridgehampton, which organically became our next project. We’re still working on permits with the zoning board, but the idea is to have a luxurious 12-room inn with juicing, wellness, and spa treatments. DK: That’s so my kind of thing. I have a feeling we’ll be renting out all 12 rooms ourselves every weekend. That was—and remains—my dream for Urban Zen: to create a one-stop wellness residence. It seems we do have a lot in common. But you’re more the businesswoman. GKD: I see myself as creative. DK: You are, but you’re good with budgets. You’re happy to work with restrictions, even in your personal life. You take the subway, you take the Jitney.... GKD: That’s only because I don’t like flying with my husband! I love the Jitney. It’s quiet, and I’m with my work, my e-mails. We should really customize buses. DK: We talked about that—juicing, massaging, making it a whole wellness experience. I want to do that on a plane, on a boat.... You really weren’t into any of this stuff growing up. It’s just so surprising. I thought you’d be the mother I had always wanted to be, do the whole stay-at-home mommy thing. Now look at you. GKD: I’ve always loved interior design. When you got me the first loft when I went to NYU, you were like, “What are you going to do with all this space?” And I wound up renting it out as a location shoot and doing the styling. I did a lot of magazine work at the time. I would do food, entertainment, and interior stories—never fashion. Our homes are so important to us. They’re an expression of who we are. They’re everything.
HAMPTONS-MAGAZINE.COM
092-097_H_Feat_Coverstory_FathersDay_14.indd 95
95
6/10/14 3:28 PM