After 30 years in the food industry, Paolo Colzani decided to pursue his second passion: interior design. The director of Nicoline Italia tells us how he made the successful career shift
How I’m Making It is a weekly series in which Tatler speaks to influential individuals about their unique journeys and what keeps them going.
Paolo Colzani, the director of luxury sofa brand Nicoline Italia Singapore, first stepped into a restaurant at the tender age of 15. Over the years, the Italian native would go on to work in multiple Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy and later, Singapore. A familiar face to some of the finest chefs in the world as well as other members of the restaurant scene, it didn’t take long for Colzani to rise through the ranks as he began winning awards and pushing the restaurants he managed to achieve great things.
When he made the decision to turn his attention to luxury furniture after over three decades in the food industry, it was certainly a shock to those who knew the ambitious man. Here’s how he did it.
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“I stepped into the culinary world at the age of 15 at a one-star Michelin restaurant, Ristorante Pierino Penati in Viganò Brianza,” Colzani shared. “However, it was at the second restaurant I worked at that really sparked my love for the industry. After a short stint, I moved into Ristorante Gualtiero Marchesi which had three Michelin stars and was run by Italy’s first three-star Michelin Chef, Gualtiero Marchesi.”
“More than a job, it was a lifetime experience to be exposed to his brilliant mind. His approach to life and food was definitely an eye opener for me, especially considering that I was merely a young boy fresh out of hotel school,” Colzani said with a smile.
It took just two years under the wing of Chef Marchesi before Colzani was leading the restaurant’s pre-opening and opening teams at the restaurant. “Together with the team, I opened a few restaurants in Italy, Japan and the Bahamas,” Colzani said proudly. “Concurrently, I also worked in Munich, Germany with another three-starred Michelin restaurant, Tantris Restaurant, for a year. During these years, I acted as a consultant to many restaurants in Italy and Japan, always under the wings of Gualtiero Marchesi, including the catering services for Bulgari all around Europe.”
“Since then, everything I do is always with a different lens. Nothing in my years of career was about budget, revenue or profit. It is only about the essence of achieving the best and how to push even further. That is what Marchesi imparted to me and I’ll be forever grateful to him,” continued Colzani.
