What does contemporary dining mean? Not in the sense of what lands on the plate but in terms of how, where and with whom we choose to eat. Over the past few years, a quietly radical idea has been gaining ground: the Social Table. The premise is straightforward and, when you think about it, rather wonderful. Strangers are brought together around a single shared table, over a meal worth talking about, in a setting chosen with as much care as the menu itself. The seats tend to fill with people who are open, curious and looking for something that a restaurant reservation alone cannot provide. We spoke to Matteo Susanna, founder of Table Nexus, to understand this surge and why his project, launched towards the end of 2024, has struck such a chord so quickly.
Matteo is a Chef, by all means. Born in Prato and raised in Florence, with southern roots that run deep, he spent his childhood in the kitchen with his nonnas Elisa and Giuseppina while other children were outside playing. It is the kind of culinary upbringing that was anchored since a young age. What followed was a career built across some of the world’s most demanding kitchens: Geranium in Copenhagen, Pierre Gagnaire in Paris, Borgo Santo Pietro in Tuscany, Australia and New York, each posting adding a new layer to a vision that was already brewing. Rather than channelling all of that experience into a restaurant, Matteo chose a different format entirely. Table Nexus, which literally means “the table of connection”, is an itinerant concept built around the idea that food is the most powerful way of bringing people together. He chose to create a project centred around food, in unexpected spaces, working with artists, designers and creatives who share the same instinct.
So how does Table Nexus work?
Each Table Nexus event takes the form of a lunch or dinner, but the setting is never incidental. Finding the right location is as fundamental as the menu itself. For example a recent collaboration with a textile artist who works with extraordinary hand-woven hemp fabrics produced a long table set in the Tuscan countryside, draped in fabric that made the whole thing feel like a scene from another era. That kind of encounter, discovering a talent I didn’t know before is precisely the point of what I do.
The format is intimate: a maximum of twenty guests, a single shared table, and a four-hands kitchen that brings me into creative dialogue with another chef or collaborator for each event. The thread connecting every dinner is the table itself: the idea that sitting down together, eating well and talking to strangers who turn out not to be strangers at all.
How would you define the cuisine ?
The cuisine is rooted in Italian tradition, but carries the traces of each place I have worked. From France came the attention to technique and to the quality of raw ingredients that underpins everything else. From Copenhagen came an understanding of fermentation and acidity. All of it is held together by a strong sense of aesthetics. Sourcing is local wherever possible, and vegetables occupy a central place in the kitchen’s thinking. When you have a truly great vegetable, the less you do to it, the better. You look for the purest expression of what it already is. This same logic applies to tradition: the goal is never to revolutionise, but to understand a dish deeply enough to know how to accompany it.
Any room for expansion?
The dream is that Table Nexus ventures beyond the boarders. I would love to expand around the world with the support of people that believe in this project. We already organised our first social table outside of Italy in Champagne with Maison Tarlant to celebrate the Cuvee 96 so who knows what the future holds.
What is one ingredient you cannot live without?
The one ingredient I could never do without is olive oil. Beyond that, I am currently, somewhat obsessed with asparagus and have been finding a way to work it into every Table Nexus event I can.
How did the collaboration with Numeroventi come about?
The collaboration with Martino (founder of Numeroventi) began in the way the best ones do: organically. He understood what Table Nexus was trying to do: create authentic experiences around the table where food is not the only protagonist, but part of a wider artistic direction. In turn I recognised in Martino an exceptional eye for detail and a genuinely rare organisational intelligence both in the spaces he creates and in the way he thinks. It was a natural match. Hence we created The Resident Wine Club.
Tell us more about The Resident Wine Club.
Martino and I are bound by a shared love of wine and, more specifically, of the stories that wine carries with it. This led to the idea of bringing producers directly to the table in a setting that feels more like being invited to the producer’s home. Except, in this case, the home is Numeroventi. The producers invited are almost always from different regions, deliberately so. The point is to bring different approaches, visions and traditions into conversation with one another. The menus are not designed to achieve a perfect pairing on paper; the starting point is to capture the energy, spirit and personality of the winery itself. What tends to happen is that the dishes end up pairing beautifully with the wines almost of their own accord. The common thread in every producer they choose is that they bring something beyond the wine to the table, such as a story or a tradition and that, for Table Nexus, is non-negotiable.
How can travellers come to your events?
At the moment I have a fixed residency at Numeroventi in Florence called The Resident Wine Club. We organise a series of dinners about twice a month. Tickets for these, as with all Table Nexus events, are available online via links shared ahead of each dinner on @tablenexus. The best way to stay across what is coming up is to follow along and book early; the format is deliberately small, and places tend not to last.
Eat, Drink, WALK: Florence
Matteo Susanna of Table Nexus shares his city
Favourite coffee-stop ?
I’m a coffee lover. For me, coffee is the foundation of a good day. No doubts about it. Manly The office always brings me back to Australia, where the level of coffee shops is simply unbeatable.
Where do you go for aperitivo & what do you order ?
For aperitivo, I love Enoteca Spontanea. I enjoy speaking with Nicola, the owner, and letting him guide me towards a new bottle or a producer I have never discovered before. If we are talking cocktails instead, I love the energy of Rasputin. I always like to challenge them with their interpretation of a Milano-Torino — obviously with an orange peel twist.
Your cultural must-visit ?
As for cultural must-visits, the Museo del Bargello is definitely one of them, then Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia, And why not, a visit to Magno Gaudio; an exceptional perfumer who creates fragrances by blending history, stories, and traditions… every time I visit him, I always learn something new!
When you’re not working, how do you like to spend your day off in the city?
When I am in Florence, I love going to Villa Bardini, especially on a sunny day, to read a good book or write in my journal.
Favourite restaurant for a casual dinner with friends ?
For a casual dinner, one of my favourite places is Molino Trattoria, just outside Florence, where you can experience authentic cuisine with great technique: tradition done properly.