Gian-Paolo Veronese on Taverna Aventine

Founder and director of operations of Acqua di Roma spa and co-owner of Taverna Aventine.

GIAN-PAOLO VERONESE, 32. Founder and director of operations of Acqua di Roma spa and co-owner of Taverna Aventine bar and restaurant. Shot on location at Acqua di Roma in Jackson Square by Keeney + Law.

Gian-Paolo Veronese wasn't your average kid hoping to one day become a firefighter or astronaut. "My father was from Padua," Veronese says. "It's the home of the world-famous Abano Terme spa, where he'd often take me during our frequent trips to Italy. Since then, I've had this dream to create an Italian spa in the city." He did just that with the recent opening of the European-style Acqua di Roma spa in Jackson Square.

Launching the new business came naturally to Veronese, who had managed his family's namesake multimillion-dollar law firm for years before starting his own management-consulting firm, Vero Solutions, in 2003 to help incubate small businesses.

Given that he comes from an illustrious line of proud Italian American San Franciscans (his late grandfather, Joseph Alioto, was mayor from the late '60s to the mid-'70s, and his attorney mother, Angela Alioto, is a former president of SF's Board of Supervisors), it makes sense that Veronese's latest venture would infuse the Alioto family heritage into a piece of SF history. Last year, Veronese purchased the historic building his family leased for their law practice—which also once housed the Banca Italiana Colombo, one of SF's first Italian banks—and modeled it after Palazzo Benezzere, just outside of Rome, to create the travertine-marble–bedecked Acqua di Roma. Located in the basement level, the space boasts such historically preserved details as the bank's original 12-by-12-foot vault—now being used as a couples treatment room.

And Veronese is already hard at work promoting his other new venture: the adjacent Taverna Aventine, a rustic restaurant and bar inside another centuries-old historic building that he co-owns with Vintage 415. "There's history around every corner [of Jackson Square]," he says. "I'm completely infatuated with this neighborhood."

What are your favorite Italian picks around town?

I love Belden Lane and [Café] Tiramisu restaurant. When it's warm weather, it's tough to beat. Sitting outside, having their clams— they do a great job over there.

Favorite place to shop?
It's been so long since I've shopped for clothes! I can't remember the last time I shopped, but I'm a Gucci fan, big time. That's the place I'd go.

What's one thing we could all take away from Italian culture?
It's so deep rooted. There's so much pride in the people. From amazing food to how people treat each other. It's an absolute celebration of life.

All clothing, model's own.

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