Restaurants in Milan
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Ex Mauri
Go to this contemporary, stylish Venetian bacaro (bar) on Milan’s urban island when you need a little Lombard-free time. Pull up a school chair at a lovingly scuffed table for imaginative seafood cicheti (Venetian-style tapas) : baccalà fritters, sardines in saôr (sweet-and-sour onion jam) and braised baby octopus. Smart but hearty mains take their cues from both Venice and further afield, while the gelati and cakes are house-made.
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Antica Trattoria della Pesa
A recipe for instant nostalgia: take the landmark building where Ho Chi Minh stayed in the ‘30s, add literary types from nearby publishing houses, mix with comfort food - osso bucco on polenta topped with gremolata, bollito misto (boiled meat) and cotoletta (crumbed veal cutlets) - spice it up with some red, and finish with a sigh and smooth, boozy zabaglione.
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Luini
Stockbrokers and student radicals, models and their harried hairdressers might get together here and sing Kumbaya, if they didn't all have their mouths full. Panzerotti is Milanese for yummy at this popular purveyor of pizza-dough pastries stuffed with cheeses, spinach, tomato, pesto and prosciutto.
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Princi
Equally delicious for an early-morning cornetto (Italian-type croissant) or stracchino (Lombard cows-milk cheese) -filled focaccia on the way home at midnight, Princi is perfect for a filling bite on the run.
reviewed
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Pizzeria Spontini
Munch standing up at this busy little joint, which has cooked the best pizza in the Stazione Centrale area since 1953.
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Pane e Acqua
Super-stylist Rossana Orlandi has transformed a former corner tabacchi (corner shop) into Milan’s most original and intriguing restaurant. Stark oversized clocks and raw concrete walls are softened by terrazzo floors and an ever-changing explosion of seasonal colour and texture. (For spring, shocking pink blowsy roses decorate the bar, and farmhouse chairs are painted to match.) The food is complex but never modish: a basil-scented cereal and seafood soup is served in steep-sided beaten pewter bowls, hand-cut spaghetti with baccalà (dried cod) and Taggiasche olives is laced with a rich, briny stock. Desserts are equally simple and spot-on: a rich splodge of buffalo ric…
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D’o
When you’ve got a Michelin-starred restaurant and a cool, young Marchesi-trained chef-owner who charges a paltry €11.50 for a 2-course lunch, there has to be a catch, right? Well, there are two: D’o is in a small suburban village around 12km from the centre, and the restaurant has been known to be booked out four months in advance. But it’s worth it. Davide Oldani’s cooking is an ode to ‘poor’ ingredients and simplicity, his aim, to serve ‘humble food made noble by technique’ cheaply. Dishes might include tripe three ways, his signature caramelised onion tart with a parmesan sorbet and a warm parmesan sauce or risotto with Jerusalem artichokes and vanilla. It’s arou…
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Gold
Dolce & Gabbana’s shiny paean to excess will either enthral or appal depending on your mood (and perhaps who’s paying). Mirror- topped tables mean you can, as the (British) Beat once bitterly suggested, watch yourself while you are eating. There’s a ‘healthy’ menu for those that find the eating part of the above equation tricky, though it reads like an import from an old fashioned fat farm, all wholegrain spaghetti and steaming. Pastas in the bistro, on the other hand, are both interesting and reasonably priced - gold!
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Zero
Is this the ultimate in Milan-style Japanese dining? The dramatically designed space puts the spotlight on the kitchen which prepares traditional sashimi but also a variety of creative raw and rare dishes. Japanese technique dominates, while the menu flirts with Italian flavours and ingredients (including a carpaccio -style Angus beef). Meanwhile, shōchū cocktails appear to be the new negroni. Bookings are hard to come by; if you miss out, opt for some stylishly got-up takeaway.
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Il Marchesino
Gualtiero Marchesi, Italy’s most revered chef, presides over a modern dining room in that other Milanese institution, La Scala. Chairs upholstered in deep crimson evoke the neighbouring concert hall, as do musical notes cascading across white china. The menu is similarly traditional but infused with a creative spirit. Earthy handcut spaghetti is served with mussels and a verdant tangle of zucchini, foie-gras-scented roast pigeon is scattered with pinenuts and raisins atop the freshest baby spinach.
reviewed
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Obika Brera
Milan’s main branch of the Obika empire is stylish, with glass-box displays and French army chairs. Ordering is simple. Take your pick of mozzarella di bufula (buffalo milk mozzarella balls), from sweet to smoked, then choose an accompaniment (ranging from salads to prosciutto). The €8 aperitivo here is a shockingly good deal, an all-you-can-eat array of bufalastrewn salads, cold meats, salmon and simple, delicious pastas, and a sbagliato (a sparkling wine, Antico Rosso and Campari cocktail).
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Grom
This Torinese chain’s gentle attempt at world domination (there are branches on Broadway and Bleecker) is no reason to dismiss its wares. The pale and fragrant pistachio is made from nuts sourced from the slopes of Etna, a rich gianduja mixes roasted Piedmontese hazelnuts with Venezuelan chocolate, and all sorbets and granita come from organic, seasonal fruit. Don’t be afraid to ask for a taste, and do upgrade to Battifollo biscotti in lieu of spoons.
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Cracco
Despite the split with paternal Peck, baby-faced charmer Carlo Cracco can seemingly do no wrong as the Milanese lap up signature dishes like salt and sugar marinated eggs with asparagus puree, a salad of intensely flavoured seafood ‘leaves’ and a risotto of Szechuan pepper, ginger and anchovies. Cracco’s thoughtful, deconstructive style may polarise, though it’s rarely as shocking as others from the Ferran Adriâ cabal; this is Italy after all.
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Trattoria degli Orti
The menu is just a formality; dishes come along without prior consultation. Get ready for platters of gratined mussels, sardines in saôr (a sweet-and-sour onion jam), whitebait fritters, anchovy-stuffed zucchini flowers, homemade fish ravioli and crispy fried octopus. The lunchtime crowd of silver-haired, ties-off businessmen don’t seem in the usual hurry to get back to work; the kitchen might have one more surprise in store.
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Trussardi alla Scala Ristorante
Gualtiero Marchesi alumni, Andrea Berton, runs the kitchen in this subdued, sexy dining room, with windows looking out onto La Scala. The Trussardi touch is a light one; the parquetry and leather combo is far from stuffy. The food too has a directness, with seasonal dishes like grilled scallops with ginger powder and peanut cream or roast spring lamb with potato, avocado and lime, mixing it up with earthier Milanese favourites.
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Joia
Known for seasonal produce and light, clean flavours, the menu at Joia is also imbued with drama and poetry (a winter dish of globe and Jerusalem artichokes, sweet black salsify and pomegranate is entitled ‘Beneath a snowy white carpet’). There’s the odd overwrought clanger but after one too many servings of leaden cotoletta, chef Pietro Leeman’s green realm is nothing short of delightful. The €40 lunch deal is great value.
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Armani Nobu
A dozen plus years and as many restaurants later, chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa still mixes continents and cuisines with a certain flair, though one wonders how far the franchise can stretch. You might have seen it all before (and with a lot less hooha), but the Milanese aren’t listening. The prices and the people-watching are better in the sultry bar downstairs, where the orange glow turns the overbronzed into Oompa Loompas.
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Caffé Cova
It can feel like feeding time at the zoo at Cova’s ever crowded bar but the relentlessly charming and attentive baristas won’t overlook you, and the surroundings are so soothingly pretty. The sweets case will tempt but a thick-cut smoked salmon on rye is far more fortifying. If you’ve resisted the temptation to max out your credit card, celebrate with a glass of Cova’s own label prosecco (sparkling).
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Al Pont de Ferr
Navigli’s osterie (restaurants/bars) can often disappoint on the food front, but Al Pont de Ferr lifts the game. Its casual charm can make you wonder if the prices aren’t tourist-inflated. Look again; you’ll see attention to detail and interesting regional ingredients, such as rabbit stews, fonduta piemontese (fondue), purée of cardoons and baccalà (dried cod) on a soup of fennel.
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Chocolat
As this slick-interiored gelateria’s name suggests, it plays flavour favourites. Variations on the chocolate theme include milk, dark, white, chilli, gianduja (chocolate- hazelnut) and cinnamon. People have been known to eat a crusty smoked salmon panini or a slice of fragrant home-baked almond cake here, but the crowds that queue out on the road come for the cups and cones.
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Cantina della Vetra
This country-style place with big windows overlooking the Piazza Vetra sports gingham tablecloths but otherwise underplays the rustic element. The salumi (mixed cured meat) platter includes a mortadella tartufata, lardo and a pancetta coppata as well as regional salami. It’s known for its wine cellar as much as for the hearty regional staples, and books out most nights.
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Il Coriandolo
Like a little black dress, Il Coriandolo is the classic choice to accompany gallery openings or business meetings - and in the right company, it hints at other possibilities. The house spumante is a worthy prelude to house-made truffle ravioli with butter and crispy sage, whether you've come for a power lunch in a leather banquette or scintillating dinner conversation in the covered garden.
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Maio
With the Duomo as a backdrop, a glass ceiling and a scattering of classic Eames chairs and Bertoia bar stools, the menu at this 7th-floor restaurant is a simple, tasty bonus. The riso venere (creamy black rice) with crab, salmon eggs and peas pleases all the senses, and pasta dishes, such as a squid ink ravioli, are far from timid. Maio does pizzas and club sandwiches too.
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Emporio Armani Caffé
Ne cotton ne’ crudo (neither cooked nor raw) is the signature dish at this diffusion line cafe in the Armani mothership. It’s joined by a simple menu of ‘70%’ organic vegetables, seafood and meat served by male-model waiters. Dine on quiche or club sandwiches or do a long lunch of bigne di carciofi (artichoke in choux pastry), followed by beef cheek in aromatic red wine.
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La Cozz
Moules et frites (mussels and fries) get a Milanese makeover in this rollicking temple to the mollusc. Have them done a number of pan-European ways, from cream and Pernod to rocket and saffron. Fines de clairs or Breton oysters come raw or gratined for starters while desserts bring you back to Via Savona for a lemon gelati or a cup of grappa-laced hot chocolate.
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