Those of you who love food, music and Valletta will probably have already heard of the restaurant Aziamendi, the brainchild of British millionaire philanthropist Mark Weingard which has been set up in the heart of our capital city for 100 days.

But the food is not the only star feature of Aziamendi. Indeed, Aziamendi itself is not the only star feature of the many plans Weingard has for Valletta.

The entrepreneur is known for having set up a string of highly- successful businesses and charities. Indeed the charitable aspect and thinking of others play a key role in Weingard’s initiatives.

For example, five per cent of Aziamendi’s proceeds will go to Maltese charities. Also, in keeping with the idiosyncrasies of Weingard’s businesses, the aim of this and the many other projects he has planned for Malta will use local talent to its full potential.

This, of course, means that restaurants such as the Malta Aziamendi branch have a very authentic local feel to them.

The tables, for example, are covered in old letters, photos and documents that were salvaged from an old building Weingard’s team is currently doing up.

Maltese artists also perform regularly at the restaurant’s wonderful rooftop area which overlooks St George Square. Their works include the ephemeral photography of Ritty Tacsum, Elisa Von Brockdorff’s brightly-coloured photos as well as the wonderful and wacky installations of bent telephone boxes and a toilet/luzzu by artist Emmanuel Bonnici.

Head of design at Iniala, one of Weingard’s brands, Florencia Nahmad describes how she worked closely with Malta’s culture institutions in order to discover Malta’s talented artists.

She says how she believes that “art is something living” and this is something that she is constantly working with – the art at Aziamendi changes, it is not just put there as a stagnant object.

As to why Aziamendi was working with local artists, Nahmad says that “we always try to give back”.

She is now applying the same technique to a high-end luxury boutique hotel on St Barbara Bastion and the world’s first gastro hotel in St Paul Street, planned for 2018.

The plans for the Barbara Bastion hotel sound exquisite. Details are still being kept deliberately under wraps, and Nahmad says she cannot reveal much.

However, after some consult-ation, Weingard drops a few hints about the hotel they hope to launch towards the end of 2015:

“A transformed, beautiful old house, this hotel is going to comprise one building, featuring five suites designed by a mix of Maltese and international designers.”

One building, featuring five suites designed by Maltese and international designers

Weingard and his team have worked with local talent the world over, including in Barcelona for the eponymous love hotel that was created by Mark Brazier Jones, known for his exquisite chandeliers and baroque furniture. This is a “place to experience and explore”.

And in Phuket, Thailand, is one of Weingard’s biggest projects – the luxuriously-extravagant Iniala Beach House for which 10 world-class designers were given carte blanche to create different spaces with the brief that each room must be “out of the ordinary”.

Think mother-of-pearl walls, a gym with original Andy Warhol prints and handmade bespoke wooden furniture.

To put you in the picture of the level of extravagance, the Iniala Beach House was recently the vacation resort for the Kardashian family.

Although the beach house will continue to be run in Thailand, Iniala is now based in Malta. One can only imagine what the gastronomic hotel in St Paul Street will be like.

Secrecy is key again here but, of course, as the name implies, each room will have a very strong food and drink theme, complete with delicious snacks.

More exciting projects include a funky hostel and an Edra showroom, which will open in East Street.

Edra is a luxury furniture brand from Italy whose furniture pieces are so beautiful they are pieces of art themselves.

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