TOautumn, we return indoors but without giving up the colour, the space, the liveliness of the atmosphere and menu. We report to you five new addresses (one, in reality, renewed”), very different from each otherbut all interesting, worth trying.
In the Bergamo area, the casual (but very elegant) dining of a three-starred family, the flagship store of an iconic brand in Milan coffee and lifestyle, the restaurant democratic contemporary which combines good Italian taste and the precision of great pastry chefs, the designer oven of ancient grains. And in Genoa, a nice “taberna” where you can have lunch “at popular prices”.
Brusaporto (Bergamo)
DaV Cantalupa
They are called “Non c’è scampo”, “Tonno tonnata”, “Marinara ligure” and “Oro nero” and are some of the amazing pizzas that come out of the large wood-fired oven of new DaV, at Cantalupa. Which is visible, like the barbecue design. The Cerea brothers always are the Cerea brothersthey don’t get a single one wrong. This time, even better, they “reopen” in the starting point of their stellar adventure, Brusaporto, with a DaV more special than the others, which brings together contemporaneity – in the sinuous architecture gold, oak and precious marbles by Joseph di Pasquale – and it casual dining spirit: pizza, barbecue and a conviviality that is difficult to replicate.
The central room of the DaV Cantalupa: focus on pizza, barbecue and the casual dining spirit.
All in the same estate and with the same care as the three-starred restaurant (since 2010) next door: you might notice that Bobo, Chicco and Rossella Cerea go back and forth between one and the other in an ideal relay of taste, assisted by a young, already high-ranking staff (opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday, from 12.00 to 15.00 and from 19.00 to 22.30).
Sea and land grid
There grill is seafood. Coaled mussels, prawns and scampi… as well as the catch of the day. Or earth: Turtle veal fillet, for example, but every morning it can vary with the best that comes from the market. The wine, always right, from the inexhaustible cellar. And then, the game of sauces: four for fish and shellfish and four for meat, to be combined as desired.
Naturally the first are Cerea doc: dal Half a packet at DaV to Pappardelle with porcini mushrooms. Like the starters, from dark Branzi to Josper to Vittorio-style tuna tataki. And like desserts, come on Mamma Bruna apple pie (Mrs. Bruna remains the undisputed big boss!) to the inevitable Cannoncini, now identifiable (and there is also a tasting menu at 110 euros per person).
Three DaVs plus one
The DaV Cantalupa arrives after the DaV of Portofino, Milano Citylife and Dav by Da Vittorio Louis Vuitton. But, in reality, it is the prototype, it started first: in 2020shortly after the first lockdown, when the family of restaurateurs decided to welcome customers outdoors, under the pergola facing the pool, offering pizzas and excellent barbecues. Great intuition, because today the space, closed and protected by imposing windows, accommodates comfortably 100 seats remaining “open” to events and happy hours. Last but not least: the soundtrack, an overwhelming anti-aging.
Info: https://www.davittorio.com/location/cantalupa.html
Milan
Nespresso Bar
Nespresso lovers, this is your address. A new flagship store with the first Nespresso Bar in Cordusio Square, that is, in the busy heart of Milan. For starters, you can have breakfast relax and sit back in the lounge area. Coffee paired with signature artisanal desserts and croissants Adolfo Stefanelli – the bar, also with seasonal recipes and Signature, is open from 8am to 6pm (weekends, 10am) – or take away something special for the office.
The Nespresso Bar in Piazza Cordusio, Milan.
Then, in this large, bright space, en rosewith the magnificent, very Milanese illustrations by the art director Francesco Poroli, you gain experience. Of taste and smell. Coffee Lab Masterclasses and Workshops they open new horizons: do you have a favorite blend? What if trying a new combination changes it? What if you discovered prodigious, unprecedented combinations? Strictly seasonal recipes also serve this purpose. Milk & Pear, Hazelnut & Almond, Pumpkin & Cinnamon.
“Designer” coffee accessories
The Signaturehow Nespresso-Mi-sù And Nespresso Tonic guarantee the balance of the couple: Ristretto and mascarpone cream, Ristretto and tonic. Here too, the discovery is worth it. And you don’t go home empty-handed, in the Accessories area there is a way to personalize your visit and objects: mugs, for example, with very exclusive writing. In short, the purchase of Nespresso “sticks” is only the grand finale, even in physical terms, of this ultra-aromatic journey.
Info: https://www.nespresso.com/it/it/milano-cordusio
Cardinal
Order the Beef in oil with Scottona meat, exquisite, and it couldn’t be more Brescian. Or start from the first and decide: yellow or Barolo risottoon the Milan-Turin axis? Or turn into the Triveneto for the Creamed cod, but at this point also consider other appetizers, courgette flowers, fried sage and borage leaves… There is no discussion about desserts, and it deserves attention to the coffee.
From Cardinale in via Freguglia, right next to the Courthouse, Italian cuisine is respected seriously, made more current from low temperature and ultrasonic cooking. The fast service (indeed, even smiling), the chromatically captivating, dynamic space, décontracté: antidote to the greyish vertigo of Milanese days. All at affordable, intelligently democratic prices.
A colorful corner of Cardinale, in Milan, next to the Court.
Opened a few months ago, only now also in the eveningCardinale boasts an important trademark, that of the brothers Debora and Nicola Massarichildren of great master pastry chef Iginio. In the passage of generations, the care for good craftsmanship continues and can be felt, like the precision that Debora and Nicola claim: «Pastry making teaches you how to measureto respect times, to build stable structures and balanced flavours. It is an almost engineering attention that allows us to achieve constant quality, dish after dish.”
It won’t be a coincidence then among the partners/friends there are two engineersLorenzo Benussi and Roberta Cioffi, and a metals entrepreneur, Paolo Coglio. And that Cardinale’s format (like the point!) is “scientifically” replicable.
Info: cardinalfratellimassari.it
Bakery perfume
Is there anything better than the smell of bread, the real one? Mother yeast, stone milling, ancient grains. A small one has just opened near Porta Nuova, in Milan bakery boutiquebecause it would be simplistic to define Bakery perfume a common oven. Even more so because Roberto Riccio, the entrepreneur who imagined it with his baker partner Abdelazim Fayedcomes from a long experience in the world of fashion and, more generally, design.
Fayed, a talented young Egyptian craftsman, makes Riccio’s dream tangible: sharing the passion for Sicily and for ancient grains like Tumminia, Perciasacchi, Russello, in a bright shop with soft colors and the delicate fragrance of fresh bread.
Breadsticks and loaves
A rustic loaf, a blond loaf, hand-rolled breadsticks to take home, perhaps after having tasted an organic coffee with a Sicilian style sweetlike the delicious puff pastry with figs and ricotta, or why not, one traditional “scaccia” (savory specialty of the island, discover it and you won’t forget it). At the counter, sit on a lovely sofa or open air. Profumo Bakery in via Vespucci is a confirmation, the second opening in Milan after the urban bakery in Porta Romana. Yes even for one lunch break snack.
Info: www.profumobakery.com
Genoa
Tabarca
Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, Cantabrian anchovies, white asparagus from Navarra, artisanal cheeses. Thirteen Spanish labels, sangria and Iberian beers, the flamenco evening once a month. And then, tapas, tapas, tapas. We are in Genoa, in Piazza Bandiera, but it feels like we are in Barcelona, San Sebastian, Valencia…
The executive chef, Carlos Garrido Castaño, Even as a boy he was responsible for the “exposed” cutting boards of a tavern in the Valencian area, he was still studying when he arrived in Milan with Erasmus in 2017. Since then he has been a pizza chef in Spain, a chef in Montevideo (in Uruguay) and in his country to become today, at the age of 28, “Genoese”.
The outdoor area of Tabarca, in Genoa.
Of his Tabarca Iberian Cuisine he created a colorful place, tiled and with constant references to the Mediterranean that unites and divides Italy and Spain, a real “taberna” where the menu changes twice a year, but every day is integrated with some surprises. THE’Arroz del Senyoret (seafood paella) is never lacking, if anything it can change version and become Arroz Negro with cuttlefish ink, squid, prawns and octopus topping. And as of now (the address is open from 2023), for lunchthe minimum price on the menu is tempting Sol de Mediodia. Ps. Why the name Tabarca? Because at the end of the eighteenth century some noble Genoese merchant families reached the small Spanish island of Nueva Tabarca, in the south of the Valencian Community. And Carlos is a true Valencian.