Contemporary Italian restaurants in Italy
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A
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…
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B
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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C
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.
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D
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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E
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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F
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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G
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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H
Lacerba
A homage to futurism, Milan’s most infamous art movement, Lacerba has dishes from futurist Marinetti’s kooky culinary manifesto (death to pasta!), as well as a less artistically strident repertoire of Mediterranean seafood. To counter all the violence, speed and surging machinery on the walls, there’s also an excellent wine selection.
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I
Sadler
Get ready for a serious tummy-cramming session and Claudio Sadler’s culinary wisdom: Sardinian fregola pasta with broad beans, pigeon ragout and cocoa, scabbard fish with borage-and-chickpea fritters or horse tartare, with crisped parmesan, peppers and fruity black truffles.
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J
Don Carlos
Alfredo Russo and Angelo Gangemi will impress the most jaded palate with new combinations (roasted duck leg on potato and cardamom puree with citrus caramel) and reworked classics (steamed artichokes with parmesan mousse and pistachio biscuits) in an old-world postopera setting.
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K
Cantiere dei Sensi
Part bar, part restaurant, part showroom, this corner of Isola is symbolic of the winds of change but retains a neighbourhood feel. Food is fresh and simple with regional touches and a flexible menu that works well with wine; ignore the design posturing and relax.
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L
Café Trussardi
Whether it’s for a glass of wine and root vegetable crisps at the bar, or a leisurely meal from a small, changing menu beneath Patrick Blanc’s beautiful vertical garden in the courtyard, this is one of Milan’s most stylish, low-key dining options.
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