The people behind
Alessandro Catenacci, owner and CEO of the Nobis Group
Alessandro Catenacci was born in Rome, the oldest of five siblings in a family of restaurateurs. Both his father and his grandfather were chefs, moonlighting as variety artists, touring the Italian countryside in the summertime. The family moved to Stockholm in the late fifties, where Alessandro’s father Enzo worked in various restaurants. In 1980, Enzo and Alessandro together opened the groundbreaking Italian restaurant Caina in Stockholm’s Södermalm district, still considered by many to be the best Italian restaurant ever in Stockholm. Here, four generations of Catenaccis worked in the kitchen and in the dining room. This tradition is now renewed close to three decades later, when Caina restaurant reopens under a brand-new guise in Nobis Hotel. See restaurants & bars
In the mid eighties, Alessandro Catenacci operated a couple of other restaurants and bars in Stockholm. Then, in 1987, he generated tremendous publicity and extensive speculations when he, at a mere twenty-nine years of age, bought the great restaurant empire of Tore Wretman. The group included the Opera House restaurant complex, complete with Operakällaren and Café Opera, Sweden’s most famous restaurant and nightclub, respectively. It also comprised Riche restaurant and the Stallmästargården inn, all legendary establishments in Stockholm’s and Sweden’s restaurant history. (Riche was subsequently sold, in 1993.)
Today, The Nobis Group, of which Alessandro Catenacci is owner and CEO, has expanded to include, in addition to The Opera House restaurant and nightclub complex and Stallmästargården Hotel & Restaurang, a number of other hotels, conference venues and business operations in other fields, in Sweden and abroad. See the Nobis Group
Stefano Catenacci, Gastronomic Director of the Nobis Group
Award-winning star chef Stefano Catenacci began working with his father Enzo in the kitchen at the age of 13, when the Catenacci family ran a restaurant in Corfu, Greece. He started at the family’s restaurant Caina in Stockholm at the age of 14, and has worked as a chef in various restaurants ever since. He served his apprenticeship in the star eateries L’Albereta Di Gualtiero Marchesi near Bergamo, Italy, Carré de Feuillant and Le Divellec, Paris, France, and Comme Chez Sois, Brussels, Belgium. In 1992, Stefano took over as restaurateur at Sweden’s most famous restaurant Operakällaren, awarded with one star (1998) and five red couvert symbols in the Guide Michelin. Stefano took his exam as a sommelier in 2002. Stefano Catenacci has been awarded with numerous prizes, including first prize in the Nordic Championships, silver medal in the Chef of the Year competition in Sweden, and fourth place in the European Championships (all in 1999). Operakällaren has frequently been ranked Sweden’s number one restaurant in various media. Stefano Catenacci is the official Executive Chef of the Royal Court of Sweden.
Claesson Koivisto Rune, architects and designers
The world-renowned architect and design studio Claesson Koivisto Rune was founded in Stockholm in 1995 by Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune, after the three had graduated together from Stockholm’s University College of Arts, Crafts and Design. The studio works with both architecture and product design, for Swedish and international clients. The Sfera building in Kyoto in Japan is perhaps the most famous of Claesson Koivisto Rune’s many acclaimed buildings. Manufacturers such as Cappelini, Ittala and Boffi are just three of the studio’s many prominent design clients. Claesson Koivisto Rune have won numerous international awards for their architecture and design, and been extensively exhibited and publicized worldwide. For the Nobis Group, Claesson Koivisto Rune have previously designed Operakällaren’s main dining room’s renovation with the new terrace bar (2005) and Hotel Skeppsholmen (2009).
