Chiarella brings alpine spring water from Lake Como to restaurants, hotels and other spaces shaped by intentional hospitality.
The hospitality industry is known for its careful consideration of the consumer experience. Restaurants and hotels, for instance, purposefully select details ranging from menus and glassware to silverware and wine lists. Water itself is often overlooked, as the choice is often limited to mass-market brands that have long dominated the US market. Chiarella offers another option for venues and individuals who curate their ingredients, tables and spaces with intention.
Chiarella: Bringing a Regional Italian Story to the US
The premium Italian mineral water brand Chiarella draws on a tradition familiar across Europe, where regional water brands can reflect the landscapes and communities from which they originate. Bringing those smaller regional stories to the US can be challenging, but Chiarella’s connection to the mountains above Lake Como gives hospitality venues an authentic alternative at a considered price.
To address this sizable gap in the industry, cousins and entrepreneurs Nick Spiekhout and Dominic Purpura, along with newcomer Achilles Bezanis, partnered with Chiarella CEO Andrea Vaccani and his family to bring Chiarella’s distinctive balance of nature and design to the US.
Specializing in small-batch Italian mineral water, Chiarella produces water intended to complement food and wine through its balanced mineral profile and light taste, which the company attributes to its single alpine source.
Chiarella’s water is drawn exclusively from one alpine spring on Mount Grona, a location that sits approximately 1,000 meters above Plesio, Lake Como. According to the company, the water acquires its mineral profile as it is filtered through ancient dolomitic rock over time. The Vaccani family does not blend the water or remove its naturally occurring minerals, preserving the character of the source it has bottled since 1964.
A Bottle Designed for the Table
Further adding to the Chiarella experience is its design. Today, the brand leads with the Symposion bottle designed by architect Lorenzo Palmeri. Engraved at the base of each bottle is a glass-molded relief of Lake Como, making each water bottle recognizable by touch. The redesign was inspired by the ancient Greek symposion, a gathering centered on drinking, conversation and shared ideas. That concept became the foundation of a bottle intentionally created for the table, with Palmeri bringing an artist’s perspective to the design process.
To date, Chiarella’s Symposion line has earned several design awards, including the Good Design Award 2021, the iF Design Award 2021, the Good Design Award 2024 from the Chicago Athenaeum, and the iF Design Award 2025, among others.
Chiarella is served at restaurants and hotels including Passalacqua, Villa d’Este, Grand Hotel Tremezzo and, in the US, Miami venues such as The Joyce and The Standard Hotel. Its still and sparkling water is available in 700 ml and 920 ml glass bottles, offering formats designed for service at the table.
Expanding the Choice Available to US Hospitality
Having already found success in Europe, Chiarella began its US rollout in Q1 2026, introducing the brand to Miami before expanding into additional markets, including NYC and Chicago. Its US growth reflects broader demand for an elevated, authentic water option rather than widely available mass-market options.
The Italian alpine spring water brand aims to serve a broad range of intentionally curated occasions, from welcoming restaurants and hotels to private tables where the ingredients, setting and presentation have been thoughtfully selected.
Restaurants and hotels already devote considerable attention to what they serve and how guests experience it. Chiarella gives them another water option: one connected to a protected alpine spring above Lake Como and presented in a bottle designed specifically for the table. Rather than replacing the care already present in these spaces, the brand intends to complement it.