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South Africa-born, Turin-based designer Yaniv Chen first visited the Italian city 10 years ago, having been intrigued by stories of its beauty. What he found was "something beyond aesthetics, beyond culture; it was magic...the deep, decadent, esoteric darkness that envelops the city." Yaniv shares a brilliant insider's guide to his adopted city, offering fellow visitors - and future Turin devotees - a beauty and culture-rich itinerary, from Casa Mollino to a red-velveted restaurant rooted in tradition. 

BY YANIV CHEN | CABANA TRAVEL | 28 FEBRUARY 2025

I first visited Turin 10 years ago. I had read about its beauty for years and was intrigued, but what I arrived to was something beyond aesthetics, beyond culture; it was its magic. By “magic” I mean the deep, decadent esoteric darkness that envelops the city.

As an atheist of Jewish descent, a sense of spirituality felt somewhat elusive, but when I arrived, the city took hold of me. I now live in a Liberty apartment in San Salvario, a few meters from the river Po. It’s rather picturesque. 

My Favorite Hotel: Casa Del Pingone 

I’ve always been partial to a medieval home. Something wonderful about a dungeon and keeping your enemies close, I guess. It’s surprisingly difficult to find a pretty hotel here, to the tastes of a Cabana reader, but, after years of somewhat underwhelming hospitality experiences, I found Casa Del Pingone. A restored medieval house from the 15th century. Original timber ceilings and murals juxtaposed by modernist Italian furniture, say less. The hotel offers only six rooms so book well in advance. 

My Favorite Restaurant: Ristorante Del Cambio

When a waiter opens with, “we do things a little differently here,” it is my cue to back away slowly. Del Cambio is the antithesis of those nightmarish establishments; it is an institution rooted in tradition. Grand, with large volumes and repetitive red velvet upholstery with white lace detailing. It’s quite something.

I am realizing in my mid-thirties that I find routine quite comforting. When I find a café, restaurant or bar I like, I usually stick to it. Have a cocktail afterwards at Bar Cavour, upstairs, and ask to sit in the Green Room. You’ll see.

My Favorite Cozy Bar: Bar Vermuttino

This bar encapsulates everything that is right with Turin. It's a city where you can stumble upon a space and be transported to another world. The bar has been created inside an apartment portico and spills out onto the quaint, cobbled street. 

Its botanical vermouth-based cocktails somehow taste restorative. Whether this has some scientific bearing or is completely psychological I don't know… well, it’s psychological. Nonetheless, have their martini; stirred and dirty of course.

My Favorite Cafe: Caffè Mulassano

It’s very difficult to feel chic for €4, and the only place I have managed to accomplish this is Caffè Mulassano. There are, perhaps, grander cafés to have a Bicerin, but none more beautiful than Caffè Mulassano. The highly intricate wood and bronze work is hypnotizing.

My Favorite Museum: Museo Egizio

Here they have the largest collection of Egyptian plunder, outside of Egypt. The extensive collection of clothing, decorative objects, jewelry and sarcophagi are an endless source of inspiration for me. It turns out that I find being surrounded by centuries-old mummified bodies quite peaceful.

My Favorite Place of Architectural Significance: Casa Mollino 

One can’t discuss the architectural significance of Turin without mentioning Carlo Mollino. He exemplified everything that it means to be Torinese. I have visited Casa Mollino many times over the years and always see something new: a detail, a finish, an object. Mollino spent eight years furnishing and decorating the house in secret, even from his close friend, artist Carol Rama, who lived opposite. Mollino never lived there, but built it for his body to go when he died.

Fulvio Ferrari, the house’s custodian, is one of the most fascinating people I have ever met. I can listen to him speak for hours about Mollino, and he loves nothing more than doing just that. I love paging through the nude photographs taken by Mollino in books that are no longer in print; ask to see them when visiting, you’ll make a good impression. I guess there’s just something about paging through old pornography surrounded by strangers. 

My Favorite Antique Shop: Alessandro Macrì – Liberty and Deco

The Liberty movement, Italy’s answer to Art Nouveau, was perfected in Turin. Its architecture, interiors and furniture are all highly ornamented in a somewhat calligraphic style. We managed to find an apartment from the era which we are currently decorating, and a great place to source period-specific furniture is Alessandro Macrì, a wonderful resource for Liberty furniture, lamps and décor. 

My Favorite Green Space: The Fountain in Giardini Reali di Torino 

As palace gardens go, I wouldn't say it’s the most spectacular, however it has a circular fountain surrounded by trees and sculptures where I find great peace. This is where I go when I begin every interior project. The world somehow stands still when I am sitting there, and I can sketch interiors and furniture with deep focus. I am there every week.

My Favorite Hidden Treasure: Villa Scott by Pietro Fenoglio

It’s my dream home, Villa Scott by Pietro Fenoglio (1902). Liberty style intertwined with neo-baroque. I pass it every morning on my run and stop and stare in awe. If you want to capture what Turin is, it’s this. A gothic, highly ornamented lens into a parallel universe.

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Yaniv Chen is a South Africa-both, Turin-based interior architect and furniture designer with studios in Cape Town and Turin.

Follow Yaniv on Instagram @yanivechen | www.masterinteriorarchitecture.com