Bar entertainment in Lombardy & The Lakes
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Diana Garden
Seasonally updated to keep you guessing, the bar is secreted by a vast leather curtain at the back of the Sheraton Diana’s lobby. Grab a freshly crushed peach Bellini and lounge beside the magnificent windows - the perfect possie to see who’s making a tit of themselves in the lush, low-lit garden. The aperitivo buffet is one of the city’s most rich and varied, though with drinks nudging €15 you’d be hoping for more than bruschetta.
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Noy
With its uptight-housewife-gets-her-groove-back-at-the-ashram decor, only the corrugated roof gives this former garage’s past life away. A poke at the fresh and generous aperitivo spread starts the night right. Cocktails, perfect for retoxing after a wellness treatment at Habits Culti (Corso Magenta, Sant’ambrogio & the West/Play/Habitus Culti Spa) next door, come next.
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Da Claudio
Fishmonger by day, Claudio is Nobu's archrival by night. Once the floors are hosed down, corks pop and crowds arrive for spumante and a sampler plate of the sliced carpaccio (raw) catch of the day (around €10). This Milan-style sushi is drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, pepper and lemon atop raddichio, and served with crusty bread instead of rice.
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Light
All extraneous detail has been stripped away from this former woodworking factory, drawing your attention to the exposed brick archways, fuschia walls and the person positively glowing on the spotlit sofa next to you. The illuminated alabaster bar inspires a reverence usually reserved for altars, though you'll hardly see it for the aperitivi crowds around 19:00.
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Milano
This popular bar shares owners with Roialto. It’s smaller and starker than Roialto (though still huge by any other standards), but bears many Roialto trademarks. There’s vintage ‘60s and ‘70s furniture in black, white and orange, stacks - literally - of interiors magazines and the ‘too much is never enough’ aperitivo, with many items cooked to order.
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Caruso
The living is good and the people-watching even better at this sidewalk café in Milan's most fashionable piazza, with the best-dressed parade hauling designer booty and little dogs along Via Manzoni, gingerly descending Montenapo Metro steps in staggering heels, and pretending not to be flustered by the pulchritude of Emporio Armani Caffé waiters.
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Boccascena Café
An 18th century palazzo, with a charming courtyard and clocktower. Actors and artists mill around tables, anticipating or reviewing the evening's entertainment at Teatro Litta. In the Teatro's grand foyer, drinks are presented with a flourish and dramatically lit by mod chrome chandeliers. Unscripted dialogue and much levity ensues; the end is up to you.
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Roialto
This high-ceilinged former market is strewn with ‘70s sofas, interiors magazines and bright young things. The aperitivo here is famously unstinting, though the international hotel buffet breakfast vibe conjured by uniformed staff at twee stations (doling out oysters, artisan cheeses and whatever you damn well want) can hardly be cool, can it?
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Noon
The finance crowd spilling out onto the footpath terrace of NooN’s big-windowed, corner bar don’t hint at the sprawling proportions within. (Though the surreal number of scooters strewn about via Leopardi come nightfall might.) Upstairs, downstairs, and halfway in between, there’s a cigar bar, basement club space and a large à la carte restaurant.
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Kineo
Cross a fashion week runway with a 1930s Cimitero Monumentale mausoleum, and you've got the perfect setting for high-drama drinks and devil-may-care disco. Lights dance around the room clad in floor-to-ceiling shiny black marble, though ultrasoft black leather banquettes make mobilising to the downstairs disco on weekends most challenging.
reviewed
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Art Café
Along with Bar Jamaica across the way, Art Café’s tables take over this pedestrianised part of Via Brera making for a lively street scene. There’s a certain relief in Art Café’s recalcitrant lack of style, though it can’t quite do authentic grunge either. But there’s free wi-fi, cheap aperitivo and a blessed lack of attitude.
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Bar Basso
This elegant corner bar is home of the sbagliato, the Negroni made with Prosecco instead of gin, as well as the brilliant concept of mangia e bevi (eat and drink), involving a supersized goblet of strawberries, cream and nocciola (hazelnut) ice cream and a large slug of some kind of booze.
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Frida
The jumble of tables in the heated courtyard and comfy couches inside make it easy to bond over beer or regional wine with an arty crowd. The aperitivo spread is continuously replenished and sports plenty of veg dishes. No pretensions, no entourages, just good music, good value and good times.
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Chinese Box
A small, friendly WYSIWYG bar that lets you face off with the Radesky crowd when you’re not in the mood to dress up. Run by hip Chinese-Italian twins who know that sometimes a cold beer, a bowl of patatine fritte (crisps) and a smile is all you really need.
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L’elephante
The arty-alternative crowd here is as mixed as its killer cocktails: gay, lesbian and straight, locals and visitors. The setting is equally eclectic: no two chairs are alike and the dominating colours are black, metallic grey and shades of deep purple.
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Bar Jamaica
Bar Jamaica may no longer be the Bohemian dive that gave Milan a fleeting reputation for brains as well as style, but it’s still an unpretentious watering hole. Students from nearby Accademia di Brera nurse drinks for days on coveted sidewalk seats.
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Plastic
Friday’s London Loves takes no prisoners with an edgy, transgressive indie mix and Milan’s coolest kids. If you’re looking fab, club art director Nicola Guiducci’s private Match à Paris on Sunday mashes French pop, indie and avant-garde sounds.
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Volo
Set behind a large iron gate in a typical Milanese house, Volo’s courtyard is a pleasant place for a summer lunch (a €10 buffet makes it even more attractive) or aperitivo and excellent cocktails with a suited after-work crowd.
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Bar Magenta
Grab a seat in this historic bar and let Milan come to you. Drift in during the day for espresso, sandwiches and beer, or join the students during early evening for wine from a tap and a pavement position under the Liberty signage.
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Yguana
It's a jungle out there during happy hour, when trailblazers lead expeditions to the packed buffet and back out to coveted kerbside wicker chairs. Head to the rainforest-themed balcony, where seats aren't such an endangered species.
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Just Cavalli Café
Roberto Cavalli has never been one for subtlety, and, from the lift trip downwards, his basement cafe is no exception. Part padded-cell, part octopuses garden, it’s best to grab a brightly coloured cocktail and go with it.
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Nordest Caffé
So laid-back you might have trouble getting served, this sunny cafe-bar invites long, lazy afternoons. The young, local crowd have that down to an art, especially for Sunday brunch from midday, when the live jazz begins.
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Bar Bianco
Perennially popular, Bar Bianco is the most down-to-earth of the Parco bars. The patio seats are good for people-watching, but securing a seat on the upper terrace is the aim; it’s like having a cocktail in a treehouse.
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Wagamaga
Tucked away on a quiet street, Wagamaga can seem like an apparition with its New York diner facade. No homefries and brewed coffee on offer though. Just a nice local scene, simple snacks and well-priced drinks.
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Siddharta Buddha Cafe
You can easily get lost under a pile of cushions in this big old hippy fantasy for those that were definitely not there first time round. Very chilled, except when the aperitivo platters appear.
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