← Talk Shop with Ariel Okin: A Fenimore Lane Production
Talk Shop with Ariel Okin: A Fenimore Lane Production
Donna Lennard // The Visionary and Founder Behind il Buco, From Film to Antiques, and Building a Community
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- [00:00]
Donna Leonard
And as the place evolved, it was very Americana in the beginning. We had the old radios and still have like a huge collection of Pennsylvania Dutch quilts, old tools, and we had a little tricycle and then we went antiquing in Spain and brought back beautiful ceramics and furnishings from Europe so that like added a whole nother layer to the dining room. And it kept evolving until. Until it stopped. Until we were like, okay, we're done.
- [00:28]
Arielle Okin
Welcome to Talkshop. I'm Arielle Okin, a New York based interior designer, writer and editor looking to bring a little bit of magic into our homes every day. After years as a writer and editor in the interiors world, I founded my own editorial site, Fenimore Lane in 2020 and the Talk Shop interview series was born. Each week I delve into the personal experiences of the top interior designers and tastemakers around the globe.
- [00:54]
Unknown
This week, we're journeying to the storied.
- [00:56]
Arielle Okin
Past of New York's East Village as we welcome the founder and visionary behind Il Buku Hospitality Group, Donna Leonard. For the last 30 years, Donna has been at the forefront of ingredient driven Italian and Mediterranean cuisine, winning numerous accolades, including a rare three star New York Times review for Il Buco Alimentari. With the recent launch of Il Buco Vita, the group's first foray into the home space, Donna's impact on creating warm, inviting and lasting interiors is even more impactful. Donna began her career as an independent film producer and worked in restaurants all over Manhattan during her school years until she met Alberto Avale, a foodie from Umbria. In 1994, she and Alberto stumbled upon a storefront on cobblestone Bond street and created Il Buco, which was initially opened as an antique shop.
- [01:43]
Unknown
Il Buco catered to the tastes of.
- [01:44]
Arielle Okin
The artist living in the area who quickly discovered that Donna and Alberto not only had an eye for beautiful antiques, but also a refined taste for delicious food and wine. It didn't take long before the store transformed into the buzzy restaurant it remains to date, in a gorgeous interior setting to boot. Since the opening of Il Buco, Donna has opened three more restaurants in New York City, the Hamptons and Ibiza, along with their coveted tabletop and lifestyle brand, Il Bucovita. The common thread weaving each area of Donna's locations is an inviting atmosphere of luxury with an exquisite attention to detail. So please join me as we welcome Donna to the podcast.
- [02:23]
Unknown
Hi Donna, welcome to the podcast. I'm so happy to have you on.
- [02:27]
Donna Leonard
Nice to be here, Arielle.
- [02:29]
Unknown
Well, to kick off the conversation, we always ask everyone who Comes on. Can you describe your style in three words or less?
- [02:38]
Donna Leonard
I'd say intuitive, relaxed, comfort and warm and unschooled.
- [02:45]
Unknown
Unschooled. I like. I have frequented many of your restaurants since I've lived in New York. And I think that's a great description of what it feels like to be in them. And for those who may not know, tell listeners a little bit about yourself and where you are at this point in your life right now and sort of how you got to where you got.
- [03:05]
Donna Leonard
Wow, my whole life story.
- [03:07]
Unknown
You could give us the abridged version.
- [03:10]
Donna Leonard
I went to graduate film school at NYU and was working in the film industry for about 10 years and had, you know, quite a tragic story. I lost my fiance after eight years and we were about to get married. He had just finished a screen that I was going to produce and I took some time off and then I started working as a bartender at Arqua restaurant in Tribeca while I was pushing his screenplay. And I met a crazy Italian guy named Alberto Vale. You know, we had this kinetic connection and he wanted to move back to Europe or export Americana to Spain and Italy. And I was like, let's get out of here. And he's like, yeah, but I've been researching all these antiques and where to get them and all these fairs in Pennsylvania. So we get in our Suzuki Samurai and we start driving to Pennsylvania on the weekends and oh my God, that's amazing, buying all this Americana. And we had a, like a medium sized apartment on East 11th street between B and C. The things that we couldn't fit in our place, we started storing upstate with this couple that we had done a lot of antiquing with. And we came across, or I came across that space driving the Suzuki across Bond street one afternoon and I saw Spectra Photo Labs putting these mahogany doors on their new store. And I used to develop my photos at Spectra on LaGuardia Place. So I pulled over and next door to them was the storefront with those beautiful chandeliers, these whimsical chandeliers in the windows that are still there. We were looking for a space in New York, inexpensive to set up this export business. And this space was a studio for three artists, two of whom were ceramicists making lighting, and one was painting crop circles in the basement. Just really like old school New York. And it turns, Alberto knew the lighting designers and they were in dispute with the landlord who wanted to raise their rent from 1750amonth to 2000, which they thought was crazy for 2000 square feet of space. And they decided they were going to move to Philly where they owned a building. And they introduced us to the landlord and for $2,100 a month, we took the space with a five plus five year lease. And we, you know, scraped the paint off the floor and we repainted the walls. And they had a stainless steel big sink, you know, area for washing all the clay. And they had a refrigerator and a little four burner electric. We called Suzy Homemaker Stove. And we went up to this couple in upstate near the Finger Lakes, and we spent about a week and a half antiquing and going to auction. And we filled two 17 foot trucks with stuff and came back, opened an antique store.
- [06:23]
Unknown
That is absolutely wild just hearing the story. I mean, especially now knowing that that is the restaurant.
- [06:30]
Donna Leonard
Yeah, it would be impossible today to repeat this, you know, crazy idea. So with $70,000 and this idea, we opened the space and then we applied for a wine and beer license that arrived, dated Alberto's 40th birthday. And we invited our landlords for lunch to ask them if we could become a little tapas bar. And they were so bowled over by what we'd done with the space that we made them lunch. And they were thrilled and they were like, of course you can do it.
- [07:00]
Unknown
That's wild.
- [07:02]
Donna Leonard
So it was like that that it started and there were a bunch of little bumps in the road along the way and very funny stories, but I'm not gonna fill your podcast.
- [07:12]
Unknown
I'm sure that they're amazing though, like very old New York stories.
- [07:16]
Donna Leonard
We had Al Buco going that became this little restaurant tapas bar where you could buy the table or the chair or the cupboard until it became just too exhausting to go antiquing anymore with the restaurant business picking up and we stopped the antique sales.
- [07:34]
Unknown
That was so ahead of its time in terms of like the concept of an immersive retail experience where you're dining but you can also buy your surroundings. Like that didn't exist then. And that, that's so fascinating that that's sort of how it started.
- [07:50]
Donna Leonard
Yeah, it's one of those really crazy stories. Definitely would not be possible today.
- [07:57]
Unknown
And were you both interested in antiques at the beginning? Like, how did, where did the passion for, for interiors and antiques come from? And were you always interested in design?
- [08:07]
Donna Leonard
I think, you know, being a filmmaker and being a Taurean woman, I think I've always.
- [08:14]
Unknown
I'm a cancer. So yes, I'm with you on that.
- [08:17]
Donna Leonard
Love to be surrounded by beautiful things and love food and wine and you know, really, I'm a naturalist. I like real things. I like wood surfaces. I like beautiful old patinas. I've always loved those things and been drawn to them. And Alberto as well, coming from Umbria, from central Italy, that was part of his nature as well. I think we shared an incredible synergetic connection to aesthetics. You know, we really. We finished putting the place together. I remember walking outside with him and just looking at each other and saying, like, oh, my God, can you believe what we just did? And I think it was like both of us coming from our own direction and meeting in the middle had created this something that neither one of us expected.
- [09:07]
Unknown
Yeah, that's so beautiful, too.
- [09:09]
Donna Leonard
Thank you. And I think we both work very much from the gut, very instinctively, so it's just, you know, find the things that you love. And part of the reason we didn't keep the antiquing going is because we couldn't really hire somebody to buy for us. I mean, the process was going out, and, like, our eyes were always to the same things, you know, like, we knew what we loved, and there was a common language there that was unspoken. So I think that was the joy was choosing these pieces. And as the place evolved, it was very Americana. In the beginning, we had the old radios and still have, like, a huge collection of Pennsylvania Dutch quilts, you know, old tools, and we had a little tricycle, and. But then we went to Spain, and we went antiquing in Spain and brought back beautiful ceramics and furnishings from Europe, so that, like, added a whole nother layer to the dining room. And it kept evolving until. Until it stopped. Until we were like, okay, we're done.
- [10:13]
Unknown
That's so interesting, though, to know that it kind of started with, like, a shaker Americana vibe, because when, I mean, I first moved to New York and I remember, like, I think of it as being so, like, layered and eclectic and global. And so that's so interesting to hear how it evolved over time. How have you and the team looked to bring that sense of warmth and layering to all of your spaces through your design? Because you do have such a distinct point of view and a very distinct style that's so beautiful.
- [10:46]
Donna Leonard
Again, you know, it's like, what do you love to be surrounded by? You know, what are the things that inspire you, that make you feel good? And I think when you're dining or sharing a meal with friends, I think it's very important the way you feel and the ambiance that you're in. It really affects the flavors and the conversation. And everything, it's just a. It's a really like important, subtle and not so subtle ingredient. Look. It took 17 years to open the second one. So Il Buco Bond was like a collaboration between Alberto and I. And by the time I opened Alimentary, he and I were not together anymore. He was living back in Italy and helping with product from Italy and has his own life and his own family. And I had just gotten married. My son was about four and a half. And we took on this huge project at Alimentary and then it was really about how do I. Huge space, number one, starting from scratch, rebuilding the great Jones lumberyard. How do I bring in the warmth and the feeling of Il Buco in the space that's going to be much more light and airy. And what we considered the production studio, like Il Buco is home. It's the living room, it's home. And Alimentary is the studio. It's where we're baking the bread and making the salumi and making the pasta and all the desserts. And you know, it's. It's this three floored space that was a lumber yard. It has different history. It's a much younger building. It's a different whole feeling. But I wanted it to have the bones of Il Buco. Like I wanted it to have the feeling that this is connected to my brain brand, to what we represent. It's going to make people feel, even in this more industrial, airy space, you're going to feel that coziness. And to that end, you know, it was about the. Using the wood. We redid the building and we used the wood from the joists for the bar surfaces and the alimentary counter surfaces. My husband had this friend in, this is pretty crazy in Florence who was like a machine builder and he made that copper. It's a copper ceiling made with like a log algorithm.
- [13:18]
Unknown
Yeah. Oh, wow, that's so cool.
- [13:21]
Donna Leonard
It's just so neat. I mean, he came up with that idea. I don't even know how we got there. You know, we wanted to keep the old wall, which is the wall from the lumberyard. It's the only wall that we didn't have to rebuild. And it has like the old, you know, writing from the lumberyard on it about the different beams that were on each piece of the, of the lumberyard. So there's like this spray painted writing. And then we replaced the other wall with old brick. We brought the old brick in because we had to redo the wall. So it's still that Warmth. So using all those elements, using the old tiles from Italy in the kitchen and in all the bathrooms. And the bathrooms have all the old marble sinks.
- [14:05]
Unknown
Yeah, the bathrooms are gorgeous. One of, the first. One of the first dates I ever went on with my husband was actually there.
- [14:10]
Donna Leonard
Nice. Well, I think, you know, also my. My partners from Vita at that point were very dear friends of mine and grew up in the same town as Alberto, and they helped me source all the antique pieces for the restaurant. So they sent me like photos of a bunch of different antiques and furnishings and tiles and whatnot. And then I went to Europe and went to Italy with them and chose things and shipped them over. So, you know, the tiles on the dining room floor are really old terracotta. And you know, all the. For that big table in the middle is from an old ceramic studio. And the beautiful cupboards upstairs and that big long bar piece, you know, in the upstairs room with the turquoise cabinet underneath, you know, and all the large antique jars. I mean, all those pieces came from them. And I think that combined with the steel rails and all the other pieces just give, you know, a really beautiful, eclectic feeling.
- [15:14]
Unknown
Absolutely. And there's, there's a tension in all of the restaurants and also now with your lifestyle brand of sort of this beautiful warmth layering feels very global and collected. So let's talk about your lifestyle brand because I'm a huge fan of it personally and have it in my house and I think it's just so well made and stunning. But how did that come about and how does that fit into the overall brand DNA now?
- [15:43]
Donna Leonard
Very good question and very important one, because I think right now it is the direction of my brand. It came about through these, my Fratelli Umbri, my two really dear friends from Umbria who grew up, you know, in the same town as Alberto and Roberto, who's my 28 year wine director, godfather of my son, who's, you know, still stands next to me in the restaurant and helps out even though he's passed the torch to a new beverage director.
- [16:11]
Unknown
I love that.
- [16:12]
Donna Leonard
But Antonello and Lorenzo Roddy are cousins. They're kind of connected at the hip and they have been coming to Ilbuco since the early days. And we, for a million years, we're fantasizing about, we need to make a line of artisan. Artisan home, line Il Bucco home. We have our hands connected to all the artisans in central Italy and so many of their crafts are being lost by commercial industrial production. And we have to do something about it. And so Much speaks to Il Buco and everything you do. And we just were like, plotting, plotting. And when I opened elementary, they were, you know, sourcing. And suddenly, you know, I was overwhelmed with this opening of this project that, you know, grew enormously in its budget. And suddenly they were sending over a container of homeware goods. And I was like, oh, my God. And they were also supposed to finance this new little project. So in comes this container. And I'm like, oh, my goodness. And we decided to do a pop up upstairs at Alimentary and got a lot of nice attention. And ABC was there and all these different people, and we started negotiating with them, but then we found we didn't really like the way the negotiation was going. And we found the second floor space next to us on Bond street was available above the salvage company who we lived over.
- [17:46]
Unknown
Oh, wow, that's. I feel like that's like kismet.
- [17:49]
Donna Leonard
It was amazing. And a friend of mine's sister in law came to help us and we. And it was like old Il Buco. It was like this, you know, tin ceiling. There was an old fireplace inside and the old wood floors with some holes in them and had a little kitchenette in the back. We moved in there. There was one flight up in this dingy, gray, walled, you know, stairwell and created this beautiful little shop up there. And that was the initiation. And of course, you know, it got financed out of my back pocket pretty heavily. You know, we just kept growing it and shifting it and we moved to the Basquiat space next to us on Aliment at Alimentary before COVID for a year. And then the space came. John Darien, who's a very dear friend, told me that the space next to him, that was an art gallery eight steps up in the. In that storefront next to him on Second street was available and the rent was super reasonable. So we ended up moving in there and then a few years later opened out in Amaganset.
- [18:57]
Unknown
It's amazing. I mean, all the locations are. It's. It's so inspiring how you guys have grown the brand, but very fiercely guarded the brand DNA, which I think is very hard to do. I actually was at a private dinner recently in the show showroom.
- [19:12]
Donna Leonard
Oh, nice.
- [19:13]
Unknown
It was just so gorgeous. I mean, everything like you said, it's, you know, the atmosphere is an ingredient and it's part of the meal experience and makes everything that much more fabulous. Yeah, it's special. It is. What is your favorite thing about being a restaurateur? And also at the same time Translating that into your home brand, I'd say.
- [19:36]
Donna Leonard
It'S a sense of community that we've built. That's number one. You know, the people who have been coming since day one to number of regular clients, guests, you know, who have become friends. And I think connecting to the broader community is wonderful. I'm. I'll say. You know, until I opened Alimentary, I never considered myself a restaurateur. You know, I'm Il Buco. Like, this is my thing. This was this pet project that I did, and it's grown to be from this to this, and it's so satisfying. And, you know, my son grew up above it and it's just like part of my life and my. And my family, it's an extended family and it's like a. Like a film project.
- [20:24]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [20:24]
Donna Leonard
Once we opened elementary, it was like the whole, you know, the plot thickens. Suddenly it's like you're like thrust into like the real restaurant world, you know?
- [20:33]
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, and you also have Hamptons, you're in Ibiza. I mean, you have a lot of locations.
- [20:39]
Donna Leonard
But even that by itself, you know, we got the three stars in the New York Times five months into the opening. It was like a dream come true. And suddenly we were really thrust into the media. Whereas Al Buco had been this quiet, you know, word of mouth, location alimentary became this, you know, a little bit of. More of a PR pump, you know, Justin. And it was much more in the eye of the public. And then of course, after Covid, we opened out here. And before that, Alberto, the famous originator of the story, brought me this project in Ibiza, which has been very difficult, but somehow it's still hanging on. Stay tuned for the future.
- [21:26]
Unknown
I would imagine running a restaurant from New York when you live here and it's over there is probably very difficult.
- [21:35]
Donna Leonard
It's crazy. It's. It's insane.
- [21:37]
Unknown
Although it is good excuse for lots of travel, which is nice.
- [21:40]
Donna Leonard
It is. But, you know, I'd rather travel for more relaxed. But it's been, you know, and I think that's the reason why at this point, I didn't expect to have all of these locations. Amaganset only happened because during COVID we took pop up for my friend Fernando Troca, who's a Argentinian chef with restaurants in Uruguay, who I'd come to know well through my relationship with Francis Maumon and traveling to Jose Ignacio and Garzon. And he had opened a pop up the year before and they couldn't bring the team over because of COVID So he asked us to take over the space for that season.
- [22:22]
Unknown
Oh, wow. I didn't realize that's how that happened. It's such a great space. We've been there also. It's so great.
- [22:28]
Donna Leonard
Maram.
- [22:29]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [22:30]
Donna Leonard
Yeah. So we took that for the summer and got a dozen people out of the city, you know, living at the beach and it's right on the ocean. My son had his first job there and I was finishing my first cookbook. So it was a really. It was a wonderful kind of entree into doing something out here. And I had been offered the space in Amaganset almost more than a year before by some friends. And I said, no way will I open the space, you know, in my happy place.
- [22:58]
Unknown
It came to find you anyway, though.
- [23:02]
Donna Leonard
After. After that season at Maram, my team was like, let's just go see that space.
- [23:08]
Unknown
That's so funny. As I'm hearing you talk about your career, I mean, you've had so many things kind of come to you almost. It feels like, like that were just meant for you, like they were just going to find you one way or another.
- [23:20]
Donna Leonard
I think, you know, the spontaneity of my life and the way that it's, you know, my path has unfolded something really fascinating to me that I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about. But my marketing director, Annette, was with me in LA about six or eight months ago and, you know, things just started happening, they would happen and she's like, your life is incredible. Like things just happen. And she just said it again to me when we were talking about doing this podcast and I was like, you know, it's true, I don't think about it that much. So, yes, that is my kind of from the gut instinctive way of moving through my own journey.
- [24:04]
Unknown
Do you feel like you've had a mentor in your career at all? And if so, how do you think they have helped to shape your trajectory.
- [24:12]
Donna Leonard
As far as a mentor? I don't normally think about myself as having mentorship, but when the person that came to mind was a very special person in my life named Jake Phelps, who was the head of the student union at Duke University where I spent my sophomore until senior year. And he was a really unusual 60s throwback journalist, super progressive activist in the 60s who really helped create the artistic programs at Duke.
- [24:51]
Unknown
Oh, wow.
- [24:52]
Donna Leonard
Really supported the creatives at the university. You know, he's not. I would not describe him as a classic mentor, but I think he was the first person in my life that Made me realize that I was a creative.
- [25:07]
Unknown
That's so beautiful.
- [25:09]
Donna Leonard
And we lost him a few years ago, which is very, very sad. But he built this log cabin in the woods outside of Durham, and it was on a pond. And, you know, all the people in the arts used to like, gather there on the weekends or, you know, whenever, and hang out at the pond and go skinny dipping and smoke pot and just hang out and chat. A really interesting part of the Duke community, which was pretty amazing. And the last. My last year there, I actually worked on the first film project of Jared Harris.
- [25:44]
Unknown
Oh, wow.
- [25:45]
Donna Leonard
Is Richard Harris's son a sweet friend and you probably know him from the Crown and I think Mad Men.
- [25:52]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [25:52]
Donna Leonard
So I worked on his first feature film.
- [25:56]
Unknown
Oh, my God, that's so crazy. I mean, it makes sense. Thinking about it almost kind of comes full circle because some piece of making movies is really creating a world. And what you've done with El Buco is sort of create that world. It's an atmosphere, it's a feeling. It's a world that people come into and, you know, create memories in. And there's something really beautiful and special about that, you know.
- [26:21]
Donna Leonard
And I think Duke was really, you know, I created my own major called Visual Communications. A documentary approach had to, like, apply to. To do that. I started as a poli sci English major and I got very involved in documentary photography and working with, you know, a farm family in the community. And then this restaurant, which was an old, like, old school Durham restaurant where the, you know, the waitresses had their hair up in bouffants and they wore these like, you know, black little outfits with the white aprons and.
- [26:58]
Unknown
Yes.
- [27:00]
Donna Leonard
And so I think even back then, you know, my interest coming into photography and film was very much about. It was more documentary, more about community and community building and then moving into more narrative and going to film school to really study narrative film and then ended up in the restaurant world.
- [27:21]
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, community and narrative both kind of tie very much into what it is that you do now with running all of the restaurants, plus the home business. What do you think your home says about you?
- [27:35]
Donna Leonard
Everything. I think it's very.
- [27:38]
Unknown
Whatever little glimpse I got before we started recording, it's very beautiful behind you.
- [27:43]
Donna Leonard
It's so funny because when friends of mine come here, the first thing they say is, oh, my God, this place is so you.
- [27:49]
Unknown
It's beautiful.
- [27:50]
Donna Leonard
That kind of shocked me at first. I didn't know how quite what that meant.
- [27:54]
Unknown
I feel like that's the ultimate compliment when someone says because it's personal.
- [27:58]
Donna Leonard
Yeah, it's very personal. It's filled with the things that I love, from the marble sinks from Italy, to Jill Plattner's faucets in my bathroom, to the terracotta tiles that my Vita partner found for me in Umbria, to, you know, lots of pieces of furniture that I brought back from a trip to Bali. I have one of Jill's sculptures hanging. I have these beautiful keelum rugs that were in my dad's house before he passed. So there's like a piece of my family and two sculptures from my dad's house are coming next week. So that's special. That's a really beautiful feeling. The kitchen is very kind of whimsical and a little mid century feeling, kind of after a beautiful console that I have at home mixed with a beautiful stone sink and just like different textures and woods. And a friend of mine connected me with an incredible carpenter in Slovenia. So my doors are made from this beautiful Slovenian oak. So there's a lot of beautiful tiles and textures.
- [29:11]
Unknown
And I think the restaurants kind of reflect that as well. And the Homeware brand, it's sort of. You've got like the bubbled recycled glass, you've got the kind of patinaed woods. It all sort of feels like something that has lived a life in a very nice way and feels like something that could have potentially been antique or found or inherited. And I think there's something really special about that.
- [29:37]
Donna Leonard
Yeah, it's very comfortable. I mean, the house is very easy. You know, it's easy. It's not fussy.
- [29:43]
Unknown
The best interiors are, if you can describe them as warm and easy. I think that's the best compliment you could give. What are some of your favorite places to shop for?
- [29:51]
Donna Leonard
Home, you know, definitely John Derry and I are really good friends, so I'm always popping into his store. I have this beautiful antique table at the back of my sofa from him and the coffee table that my. My computer's sitting on right now. These two little low antique tables of different heights, you know, are from him. Todd. Nikki helped me build Iluco. So, you know, when I've bought a number of little things from him. But I just really, my shopping is like usually within, you know, a small parameter of where I live or out here because I've been so busy in my life that like going and antiquing or shopping usually has to be convenient or I'm passing by. There are a few shops that I love out here. There's a kind of little antique store called Marie Christine in East Hampton and R.E. steele Antiques. They pop in there or Wyeth is fun for, like, looking around. Yeah, but I really, I don't, you know, I collect things in my travels and kind of find things.
- [31:00]
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. Do you find a lot of your inspiration from travel? I mean, as you were opening each restaurant and creating the homeware collection, where did you pull inspiration from for those?
- [31:13]
Donna Leonard
Absolutely traveling. I mean, to be very honest, the initial sourcing of all the pieces for Vita came from Antonello and Lorenzo. I mean, they really brought the first artisans in and it's just working together with them on redefining the line and redesigning the line and working on different pieces, you know, this or that. Let's choose this. Or do we want to go in this direction or that. Antonello is the one most active on the ground working with the artisans directly. Lorenzo Design is an architect and he designs all the new stores for Brunello Cucinelli worldwide. So he's traveling road a lot of the time, but super talented and also, you know, a painter. And Antonella wakes up every morning at five in the morning and is painting or gardening or collecting. So they're, you know, the two of them are incredibly inspired and inspiring and it's really fun to work together with them. And they come to New York quite a bit, or I go and see them in Italy. Antonella's also spent time in Morocco and I've gone to Morocco and we talk about, okay, do we bring in some rugs? Should we do this? Where's the next spot? Where's the next inspiration? So it's really kind of an open dialogue that keeps going.
- [32:34]
Unknown
As I hear you talk about your whole experience, it's just amazing that it really seems like intuition has played such a huge role from A to Z in terms of just how you've found yourself where you are, which is so fascinating. And I always like to talk about the importance of listening to your gut and listening. We've talked to people on the podcast before who've, you know, made a career, pivot from something else into design or. And just sort of listening to that inner voice and that inner intuition and seeing where that brings you. Your story is just so, so cool in that context.
- [33:09]
Donna Leonard
I think, you know, you travel and like, even just a walk on the beach for me is inspiring. Like, I need to be around the water. But I also was just yoga retreat in Puglia and stayed in a, you know, 16th century villa. And it was being in that space and sleeping in those Walls is inspiring. Then I went and discovered Paola Lenti, you know, who's making this incredibly colorful, extraordinary, sustainable furniture from weaving recycled materials together.
- [33:41]
Unknown
Wow.
- [33:42]
Donna Leonard
So there's. There's like so many different sides that are completely discordant. Like not from the same idea at all, but they're all inspiring.
- [33:51]
Unknown
You're just open and receiving and it's coming to you. I love it. To that end, I mean, do you collect anything? Is there anything that you, if you happen upon it, you're always like, this is. I have to add this to my. To my collection.
- [34:04]
Donna Leonard
Maybe ceramics are the things that I are most drawn to, but I'm not a big collector of one thing. I'm gonna have. I'm gonna have this collection. No, I don't. I don't think that way. Maybe when I stop working so hard and I'm just traveling and relaxing, I'm gonna.
- [34:18]
Unknown
Yeah, exactly.
- [34:19]
Donna Leonard
I feel like I'm moving too fast to be collecting.
- [34:22]
Unknown
That's so funny. But that's the best way to be. I feel like being busy and loving what you do is such a gift that every day is just a joy.
- [34:31]
Donna Leonard
Right now I'm sitting here looking at this enormous shell collection that Antonello put together from his last visit here. And we went for a walk, and every time we take a walk on the beach, he comes back with like loads of shells and rocks and, you know, he washes them all and he oiled them all and he laid them all out on this little John Day table and he left them for me. And that was like a real joy.
- [34:55]
Unknown
That's so sweet. Okay, so you collect shells by proxy. Towards the end, we always ask. We do our take 10, which are our rapid fire questions. And they kind of have nothing to do with design, but we always like to ask them because I think it gives people a little bit more of a window into who you are and what you like. So what is your favorite food?
- [35:18]
Donna Leonard
Delicious home baked bread slathered with fresh butter and anchovies.
- [35:22]
Unknown
Oh, my God. Yum. There's nothing better than that.
- [35:25]
Donna Leonard
Favorite drink right now it's the alimentary Negroni made with a blood orange amaro instead of the Campari.
- [35:33]
Unknown
Oh, wow. Oh, my God. I have to go try. That sounds amazing. Actually, a Negroni spagliatto has become my new favorite drink. Favorite film.
- [35:43]
Donna Leonard
Wings of Desire. Vim vendors.
- [35:45]
Unknown
Favorite hotel.
- [35:47]
Donna Leonard
Wow. Three came into my mind.
- [35:50]
Unknown
That's okay.
- [35:51]
Donna Leonard
There is a beautiful little hotel outside of Parma called Lentica Corte Palavicina in Italy. Another, like, dreamy Place in Morocco by the desert called Dar Alam. And then a very unusual place in Bodrum, Turkey called the Machakazi.
- [36:13]
Unknown
Oh, wow. Oh, my God. I have to. I always love getting hotel recommendations. And then I. I have a whole running list from all of our guests.
- [36:20]
Donna Leonard
And I want your list.
- [36:23]
Unknown
We should actually publish it. That would actually be really helpful.
- [36:27]
Donna Leonard
Chaka Z is M A C A K I Z I. You should check it out. It's very cool. And then I. Of course I love the Francis. Little tiny hotel in garcon. Almost like a little home away from home.
- [36:40]
Unknown
Favorite city?
- [36:41]
Donna Leonard
Rome.
- [36:42]
Unknown
That's a good one.
- [36:43]
Donna Leonard
Even though I haven't been there in way too long.
- [36:46]
Unknown
Favorite bedding. We always ask people in the industry this because people have very particular answers that I always love to hear.
- [36:52]
Donna Leonard
You know, it's interesting. I'm like, right now I'm. I just bought a bunch of cultivar sheets and. And I have a lot of society linen from my. My friend Dylan at French Press. So those are the two in my house at the moment. But I'm not. I'm not fixated on any one brand thing that I love at the moment.
- [37:13]
Unknown
I love that. Tea or coffee? And how do you take it?
- [37:16]
Donna Leonard
A cortado every morning with my manual. Preso Coffee press.
- [37:23]
Unknown
I love that.
- [37:24]
Donna Leonard
And then tea during the day. I like the luxury of a cup of tea.
- [37:29]
Unknown
Me too. I'm a big tea person. I've been really into Reishi.
- [37:32]
Donna Leonard
Yeah, I have a lot of Reishi in the house right now.
- [37:35]
Unknown
It's so good. What is your favorite playlist or just music to listen to?
- [37:41]
Donna Leonard
I'm a big Brazilian fan. Marissa Monche and Bibel. Gilberto. Gilberto Gilles. I love Italian. I love Zucchero and Mina. Those are my go tos. When I'm relaxing alone at home, I.
- [37:57]
Unknown
Feel like those are good dinner party atmosphere playlists. Favorite weekend activity?
- [38:04]
Donna Leonard
Riding my horse.
- [38:06]
Unknown
Oh, heaven. It's amazing.
- [38:09]
Donna Leonard
Galloping through the fields of Amaganset or just, you know, relaxing at home by the water.
- [38:15]
Unknown
That's so nice. It's. There's something very special. I grew up around horses a lot. My dad actually trained horses when he was really young and like left high school to go train horses. There's nothing better than being around them. They're so special.
- [38:33]
Donna Leonard
They really are. The energy of a horse can change your day.
- [38:36]
Unknown
Yes, it's true. They're so wise. What is your favorite design book?
- [38:42]
Donna Leonard
Well, I always keep John's book on my coffee table at home in New York. It's fun to just go through it feels like a meditation. And I love the commune design book anything. Noguchi spent some time in Marfa, Texas last year. And I love the Donald Judd books. So, you know, not just one thing.
- [39:06]
Unknown
I love that you have layered, eclectic answers because it just reflects who you are and I love it. Well, a final few words. What are you working on right now? Are there any new projects you can tell us about?
- [39:17]
Donna Leonard
Everything right now is much more Vida related, I think at this point in my career and my personal life, I think no more restaurants. You know, it's getting each of the restaurants fine tuned to the place where they're being run by my team and really focused on the lifestyle piece of the brand. We have a potential really large project in California, in the Montecito area that we're considering or something like it. So we're developing a business plan right now around this concept. A larger store with an expanded Vita selection and combining Cafe from Il Buco with Vita.
- [40:07]
Unknown
Oh my God, that would be amazing.
- [40:09]
Donna Leonard
And maybe designing some of our own outdoor furniture for that.
- [40:13]
Unknown
Wow. And also Montecito would be the perfect place for that, I think.
- [40:17]
Donna Leonard
Could be cool. Yeah, it's all a lot of work and it's just, you know, getting all the. The ducks in a row be an ambitious project, I'm sure.
- [40:27]
Unknown
But it would be gorgeous. I know that.
- [40:31]
Donna Leonard
Absolutely. So I think about that and I think long term, maybe, maybe some sort of little boutique hotel project. But right now I'm just enjoying my house being finished. I hopefully she'll have my CFO in the next week. My son's happily away at college, and I'm just getting the team set up for the next phase of my life and career.
- [40:56]
Unknown
It's amazing. I love that. Well, the last question we always ask everyone is, do you have advice for someone looking to define their own interior style?
- [41:06]
Donna Leonard
I like that question. I think my best advice would be take a lot of pictures of things that inspire you. See something in a magazine that you like, tear it out. Create a scrapbook of images of things that make you feel good inside, that you feel in your gut or connected to you. I think I've never done this. When I was read this question, I thought that would be a wonderful way to get to know who you are design wise. Running book that you can just flip through and tear things out, get rid of them, add new things. Maybe not take anything away. Just leave it all and let it evolve. And see at the end of a certain period where you are and I think, you know, that will speak to your most gut felt aesthetic.
- [42:06]
Unknown
Yeah, it's so true. And I think in some people it's really innate and in others it almost needs to be teased out and people don't have the confidence to sort of find it. And that's such a great way to go about looking for it.
- [42:22]
Donna Leonard
I think we live in a world where honestly, those things are not taught unless somebody's looking for that direction. Yeah, I think what you say is true, that people don't have that confidence to say, I am a creative, I a designer. I am this, you know, getting quiet and exploring, you know, your visual landscape and what appeals to you is the first step to getting there.
- [42:51]
Unknown
I love that. What a good note to end on. Donna, thank you so so much for coming on. This was such a cool episode. I had so much fun hearing about your career trajectory and how everything came to be and, and it's just such a great story. So I'm so grateful that you shared it with us. Where can listeners find more about you and your brand?
- [43:12]
Donna Leonard
Well, I guess the most obvious is on our website. You know, ilbuco.com that has all everything and then all of our Instagram channels. You know, each of the companies has its own and can search Il Buco for all of them.
- [43:28]
Unknown
Well, thank you. And this was such a delight to get to chat with you. And I'm still thinking about that Negroni you described. So my next place to go is to go experience that with my husband one night soon.
- [43:40]
Donna Leonard
Let me know when you're in town, either in New York or out at the beach and I'll meet you for an elementary Negroni.
- [43:47]
Unknown
Yes, I would love that. I definitely will. Thank you so much, Donna.
- [43:51]
Donna Leonard
Have a great afternoon.
- [43:52]
Arielle Okin
That's a wrap for this week's episode of Talkshop. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week with more thoughtful discussions and amazing guests. Follow us on Apple Podcast, podcasts, Spotify and YouTube so you never miss an episode. And of course, follow me at arielokun. See you next week.