Gourmet Ventisette

Feb 13, 2011 by Pyrophilly    4 Comments    Posted under: Footwear

I’m a big supporter of hiking boots and sneakers inspired by them. Gourmet is known for drawing inspiration from a variety of shapes in footwear. The Quadici gives streetcred to the duck boot, the Cinque being a redo of the Clark Original Ashcott. The 27 is staying true to the brands approach and looks like a close relative of the Nike Magma.

The upper is for the biggest part done up in brushed full-grain leather, with smooth leather strip around the eyelets. Interesting is the choice for mesh on the inner of both shoes, allowing your feet to breathe which the leather obviously isless suited for. The tongue carrying the brands logo conists of the same three materials as the outer; brushed leather, smooth leather lining and mesh inner. The 27 has a rubber “deck” sole, which is also used on the Cinque. The waxed cotton laces are kept in place by heavy iron eyelets, that hold a ball joint which nicely moves along when the laces are tightened. The inside has a canvas lining and foam insole, which I must say doesn’t feel as high quality as the insole found at other Gourmet models like the Quadici & Cinque.

All in all I think the 27 is a great shoe, with a really nice shape. Keep in mind that despite its off-road looks, it really is a street shoe. This winter I tested the decksole on the frozen sidewalks and had a hard time staying up. When going for a pair, buy a at least half a size down as they run big. Hopefully Gourmet will keep focussing on producing quality shoes, as these retail for $150 I was a bit disappointed by the lack of refinement on the inside. Also, bring back the Italian names for your models, Ventisette sounds about twenty-seven times sexier than ‘the 27′…

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