Our Story

1880 — A lineage born in royal kitchens

It all begins in Milan, in the late nineteenth century. Roberto Carugati's grandfather is the personal chef of the King of Italy when he stays in the Lombard capital. Cooking is not a profession in this family: it is a vocation, passed down from generation to generation with the same exigence.

His son carries on this tradition by founding one of the first ristoranti italiani in Geneva, at the very beginning of the twentieth century. Italy slowly settles in Switzerland, at table.

1945 — La Madeleine, Geneva

In September 1945, Roberto Carugati opens his restaurant at the foot of the Old Town, in the Madeleine neighbourhood. Alone in the kitchen of this small family café-restaurant, he serves from day one the dishes that will become iconic: home-made ravioli, osso buco, saltimbocca. Recipes that can still be found on the menu today, unchanged.

Success comes gradually. The brigade grows, the menu expands, and regulars return — week after week, year after year.

1975 — Rive, at the heart of Geneva

The restaurant moves to Rive, the nerve centre of Geneva, where it remains to this day. A dining room with mirrors and woodwork patinated by the years, where brother-in-law, daughter and grandchildren have all lent a hand. Five generations, without interruption.

Alexandre Campa, Roberto's grandson, carries on this heritage in the kitchen. The same exigence, the same gestures, the same obsession with the right product.

GILDA — Italy to take home

GILDA was born from a desire to go further. To discover Italy differently: not only at the table, but also in the kitchens of those who love good food. To seek out rare specialities, exceptional artisan producers. To offer a range of house products in direct continuity with the restaurant's recipes: spaghetti from Gragnano durum wheat, tomato sauces prepared according to the house recipe, fleur de sel from Trapani.

Every product in the GILDA boutique is carefully curated according to one principle: quality. Bronze-cut pasta, olive oils from small estates, preserves from southern Italy, balsamic vinegars from Modena. Nothing industrial, nothing ordinary.

The name GILDA

GILDA is also a first name. That of the youngest member of the family, Alexandre Campa's niece and the last born of the fifth generation.

The GILDA logo represents this heritage: its four shoots form an ear of wheat, each representing the family generations, from Milan in 1880 to Geneva today, crowned by a heart — that of little Gilda, destined to grow as she does, and the brand she inspired. A symbol rooted in Italian tradition and in the history of a family.