In 1856, Giuseppe Sambonet — son of a Vercelli nobleman and holder of a Fine Arts diploma — received his Master Goldsmith patent from the Turin mint and established a company that would define the language of Italian professional flatware for the next century and a half. By the early twentieth century, Sambonet was the official supplier to the Duchess of Genoa and the Count of Turin. In 1932, the company became the first in Italy to build an industrial factory for both sterling silver and galvanically silver-plated tableware; in 1938, it pioneered stainless steel flatware production; and in 1956, when selected from 53 international competitors to supply the Cairo Hilton Hotel, it entered the global hospitality market in the most direct terms. Collaborations with Gio Ponti, Anna Castelli Ferrieri — whose Hannah collection won the Compasso d'Oro in 1994 — and Gianni Cinti produced flatware of such design significance that three Sambonet patterns are in the permanent collection of MoMA in New York. The Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La, and Ritz-Carlton are among its current clients. At Pastry Chef's Boutique, Sambonet represents the highest expression of Italian design intelligence applied to the professional table.