Eating BIG in Milan

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
- Eating and Exploring Milano  

As always I was sad to see summer go. It was an eventful one as always that started with a family trip to Italy. Me and Erica joined my mom and my dad plus my three siblings, my brother in-law, my two nieces and my nephew on a two week excursion to Italy (though I stayed for three weeks). It was the trip of a lifetime with lots of long lasting memories and of course some fantastic food. We flew from Chicago into Milan where we stayed for one night before making our way to Parma > Piedmont > Liguria. Erica and myself ended the trip with three days in Milan so I got to explore a nice chunk of it and I was surprised by just how much I liked it. Most people go to Rome and pair that with Florence when first visiting Italy and that’s probably a good way to do it but once you’ve been to Rome and seen all the history there’s really no reason to go back unless you just really like it which is cool but in my option I’d much rather live in a city like Milan and having been to both of them I’d rather make a return visit there too. Milan reminded me a bit of Paris with Italian culture substituted for the French. It was a fun city to walk in and there was always an energy in the air, the best big cities all give it off. My favorite thing to do in big cities across the world is to just walk around and explore as many different neighborhoods and little pockets of it as I can and Milan was a great city to do just that plus the public transportation is really well run. You can easily get just about anywhere using it including the airport. 

Sights from Milan (click pics to enhance)

Milan has many of the same vibes you’ll find in other European cities with some of the best food in Europe to go along with it. I was impressed with Milan as a whole from the old school trattorias to the new school ones plus a vibrant international dining scene anchored by what just might be the best Chinatown in Europe. I won’t waste too much of your reading time going into all of what makes Milan one of my favorite cities in Europe but as you can imagine the food plays a big part in that. We stayed near the main train station and it was a pretty central location that I would probably stay in again as there’s lots of areas you can walk to. The other thing I will note is Eataly is so much better in Italy which is pretty easy to believe but the location in Chicago is a shell of the one in Milan. It’s a good spot to visit right before you leave as there’s good pizza and other prepared foods you can bring to the airport which is what we did. I also brought about a hundred euros worth of dried pasta and nduja pastes back and I’m mad I didn’t bring more as my home inventory starts to dwindle down. I’ll share the rest of the Italy trip week by week following this report so do stay tuned. But first we visit Milan.

Sights from Milan (click pics to enhance)
_______________________________________

Mastro Tortello 

Mastro Tortelli was the winner of the closest restaurant on my food map to the hotel where we were staying which wasn't far from the Milano Centrale Railway Station. My family went to the train station to get a quick lunch since it was closer and the young ones needed to be fed but I had a lunch at Mastro Tortello planned before we boarded the plane to Italy. The name of the place implies they are masters of tortelli which is a type of filled pasta traditionally made in the Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Tuscany regions of Italy. It can be found in several shapes, including square (similar to ravioli), semi-circular (similar to agnolini), or twisted into a rounded, hat-like form (similar to cappelletti). Mastro Tortello is a hip and modern space where they make a tortellini like version that's served a variety of ways. I got the '33 Yolk Tortelli Carbonara' which is as rich of a pasta as I've ever had.  

33 Yolk Carbonara at Mastro Tortello
_______________________________________

Osteria dell'Acquabella

I picked a last meal type of dinner for our first sitdown meal in Italy. Ossobuco is my favorite Italian dish of them all and Milan and the Lombardy region is where it originates. Osteria dell'Acquabella has been braising up cross cut veal shanks since 1954. We also got the Veal Milanese aka cotoletta because that’s what they do in these parts and if it’s regional I’m having at it. “When in Milan” so to say. This would end up being the best Ossobuco of all those that we tried in Milan but it wasn't as good as my uncles version which is what made me fall in love with it. A delicious dinner nonetheless.  

Dinner at Osteria dell'Acquabella
_______________________________________

Panzerotti Luini

Breakfast isn't big in Italy like it is back home. Most Italians will start their day with some sort of baked goods to go with their espresso if they partake in the intake of caffeine. I'm not a big coffee drinker but I do like a savory type of pastry to start my day and Panzerotti Luini was said to be a great spot to stop before or after you go to the Duomo and or do some shopping in the area. This Milano institution churns out all sorts of pastries both sweet and savory but most folks are here for their signature panzerotti which are said to be the best in the big city with the recipe coming from Puglia. The store is run by the third generation of the family who uses the same dough recipe that was passed down. I tried a few and they were all great but it was a fried one with cheese and marinara that hit hardest.  

Panzerotti at Panzerotti Luini
_______________________________________

Ratanà

My dad wanted to check out Ratanà after seeing it featured on 'Stanley Tucchi: Searching for Italy.' Did you know he's Italian on both sides?! Ha. So my sister would end up booking us a table at this popular Michelin recommended spot for our only family meal in Milan. The menu was bigger than most spots of a similar stature. Since there was 11 of us we were able to try a chunk of the Milanese forward food options which do change with the seasons though I'm sure some stay on there year round. I really liked the space itself but I felt the food fell a little bit flat. It didn't hit like I was hoping it would and at first I started to question whether the food in Italy was going to be as good as I thought it was going to be but it most certainly was by the time we were getting ready to leave. Though Ratanà wasn't one of my favorite meals. The only thing I thought was outstanding was a terrific tomato risotto that had a deep tomato flavor with perfectly cooked rice. It was a dish I'll remember but the rest of the meal wasn't quite as memorable. The ossobuco suffered from a lack of tenderness and the sauce was lukewarm, the only saving grace for that plate was the perfectly cooked and extra creamy risotto. 

Crispy Ossobuco Meatballs with salsa verde

Pink Asparagus from Mezzago with butter, frozen asparagus cream, puffed quinoa fennel oil, pine nut milk and sea fennel

                                        

Vitello Tonnato: roast veal, tuna sauce made with Apulian palamita and Salina capers

Parmesan and saffron risotto with ossobuco

Tomato Risotto 2.0: risotto with tomato reduction, green tomato cream, tomato heart, block lemon powder, and marjoram

Tortelli with lightly smoked ham, warm sauce of fresh peas, Lodigiano cheese cream, raw peas and sprouts
_______________________________________



Nebbia 

Next stop is actually on the outskirts of the city in a neighborhood less visited by tourists. I booked Nebbia bc we would be driving back into the city from the Liguria region and it was on the way in. I also chose it bc it looked really good and kind of reminded me of a spot you would find in Paris. Both the ambiance and the wine list delivered on the modern day Parisian vibes. As is commonly the case with a place like this the chefs both worked in a Michelin starred kitchen before going more casual with Nebbia. All of the dishes were well prepared but as always a few stood out from the others and those were the grilled octopus which had terrific texture in that it was neither chewy nor mushy. It was plated with a carrot mousse plus creme fraice and a red wine sauce. All of it mixed together was outstanding. The chicken liver parfait is something of a signature dish and it too was a hit. I liked a spaghetti mixed with monkfish and mugnaia more than a tagliolini with fava beans and guanciale and I should've asked about the lamb kebab which I ordered thinking was chunks of lamb and not ground. 

Tuna, lime and coriander

Octopus, carrots, creme fraiche and red wine sauce

Chicken liver parfait, pan brioche and caramelized onion

Spaghetti, monkfish and mugnaia sauce

Aubergine parmigiana

Tagliolini, fava bean, guanciale and pecorino

Lamb shish kebab, cabbage and chili yogurt
_______________________________________

Maoji Street Food 

The food in the Piedmont and Liguria regions was flippin’ fantastic (reports coming soon) but they don’t have much outside of the traditional local recipes in those parts. Which is totally fine when the food is that good but coming from a big city in the United States I have a very diverse diet so I was psyched to get back to Milano, home to some really good Chinese food and what's likely Europe's best Chinatown (read on). Maoji Street Food is not in the Chinatown neighborhood but that just goes to show the city really loves it’s Chinese food as it’s the sister spot to a very popular Hunan restaurant called Mao. I tried to come here the day before but was turned away bc they were full for the night so go earlier in the day if you want to try some legit Chinese food with real deal heat. Hunan cuisine is said to be even spicier than Sichuan cuisine and this Hunan style soup labeled “Spaghetti en Brodo Piccante con carne” was the spiciest thing I’ve ever ate on the European continent. It was not for the faint of heart but it was exactly what I wanted, salty and sour and all sorts of fire. Well worth a stop. 

Spaghetti en Brodo Piccante con carne at Maoji Street Food
_______________________________________

MU Dim Sum

We got some Hong Kong quality dim sum at MU Dim Sum. It reminded me of the type of spot you’d find in HK or even Vancouver. Meaning it was a bit on the top end and also fantastic. It was also a nice change of pace after an all Italian diet the previous two weeks. They gave us an amuse Bouche of fried shrimp in corn flakes with an egg custard and some stir fried lotus root which I would’ve been satisfied with if it was a paid course. The siu mai, har gow, and the cheung fun were each perfectly done and a stir fried turbot, with artichokes, snowpeas and spring onion, fried leeks had a crisp tempura batter and as a bonus came with a crispy fish spleen. Made in-house rice Tagliatelle with beef, soy sprouts, chinese garlic was a top notch chow fun while dessert was a real stunner - Chinese date ice cream and a brown butter biscuit with hibiscus gel, meringue, fermented beetroot powder. 

Lunch at MU Dim Sum (click pics to enhance)
_______________________________________

Gelateria Paganelli

Next stop is right around the corner from the previous stop. Gelateria Paganelli is one of Milan's most well known gelato shops. Many Italians consider it to be Italy's best although I don't know how that could be determined with so many amazing options throughout the country. I didn't have a bad or even an average cup of gelato on this trip. Every single gelato that I tried was outstanding. That said I wasn't just trying random spots. I was hitting up places that come very highly recommended. Aside from the quality of the product itself this spot is also known for making some interesting flavors but at the end of the day I was all about the seasonal fruit options since summer was in full swing. 

Peach Gelato at Gelateria Paganelli
_______________________________________

Trattoria Trippa 

One of the nice things about the food scene in Milan is there’s some interesting Italian restaurants of the new school variety. Spots like Trattoria Trippa are tough to find in other parts of Italy. Trippa is often credited with taking the trattoria into the 21st century. It’s one of Milan’s most heralded restaurants so reservations can be tough to come by. They’re released four weeks in advance on a day by day basis and they sell out quickly each time as it’s in demand with locals and tourists alike. I snagged a spot after waking up at 4:45a Chicago time four weeks out and I’m happy to report it was worth it. The menu gets switched up regularly but the fried tripe is always an option as it should be at a spot with trippa in its name. They put to use some of the lesser used cuts of meat including chicken necks in a warm green bean salad with mushrooms, and pistachio pesto. It was one of the better dishes I had on this trip while a roasted onion with parmigiano fondue, sour cherries, hazelnuts, marjoram was equally outstanding. The Perlina eggplants "alla vaccinara" with dry ricotta and a Tomato Bread Soup with goat cheese and basil were both cleared off of the plates. Pastas were on point too with it being tough to pick a winner between the Tortelli with ricotta, cherries, butter, sage and parmigiano or the Tagliatelle with a deer meat ragout and parmigiano. For dessert we did Bone Marrow, Bread Pie with peaches, salted caramel plus yogurt mousse with chestnut honey, chamomile and pollen. A pretty perfect meal and thus worth the effort in the same way as scoring tickets to see your favorite band play in the melting pot of Milano. We would've returned for more if it were possible. 

Green beans salad with chicken necks, mushrooms, pistachio pesto

Roasted Onion, parmigiano fondue, sour cherries, hazelnuts, marjoram

Perlina eggplants "alla vaccinara", dry ricotta 

Trippa Fritta 

Bone Marrow 

Tomato Bread Soup, goat cheese, basil

Tortelli with ricotta and cherries, butter and sage, parmigiano

Tagliatelle with wild meat ragout, parmigiano

Yogurt mousse with chestnut honey, chamomile and pollen

Bread pie with peaches, salted caramel

_______________________________________

Royal Kebap

If you're a food forward person that's traveled around Europe you've probably had yourself a doner kebab sandwich or two at some point during those travels. The dish is Turkish in origin but European in identity in that it can be found in just about every pocket of the continent. The doner kebab is to Europe what the taco is to the United States. It's part of their cultural identity. Royal Kebap is a doner shop in the middle of a busy Milano street. They make traditional Berlin / European style doner kebap sandwiches filled with thin slices of spit roasted chicken and a bunch of fresh condiments like crunchy cabbage and garlic sauce. This is what Europeans eat when they want something quick and cheap. 

Doner Kebap at Royal Kebap
_______________________________________

Trattoria Bertamè

It can be tough to figure out which restaurants to eat at in Milan. Unless you have word from someone you know and trust you just kind of have to pick your spots based on whether or not you think you'll like the place. Trattoria Bertamè seemed like a place I would like based off what I found online and they had an opening on a busy Friday night so we decided to try it out. Upon our arrival we were greeted by the owner who turned his dads old auto repair shop into a full blown Italian restaurant that was packed with big groups of locals on our visit. We were all there for big plates of delicious home cooked Italian food served up by a very engaging owner at very fair prices. He actually suggested we cut out a few things from our order or there would be way too much food and he was right. But that which we did end up ordering was all pretty damn good. Highlights from this one were the tempura fried zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and olives plus a crispy octopus with mayonnaise, potatoes, cherry tomatoes and olives. The latter of which was one of the best octopus dishes I've ever tried. Both of the pastas were good but the four of us all agreed that the spaghettoni with a pistachio pesto and sardines was better than a fresh pappardelle with porcini mushrooms both sautéed and crunchy. Unfortunately the ossobuco wasn't nearly as good as the octopus or even the pastas. 

Dinner at Trattoria Bertamè (click pics to enhance)
_______________________________________

Chinatown

The history of Chinatown’s across the world are all similar. They’re areas where people of Chinese descent would migrate for better opportunities. There’s also racism involved as there wasn’t many other places they could go in cities like San Francisco which is where the first Chinatown in the U.S. was formed. The oldest Chinatown in Europe is in Liverpool, England but the best Chinatown in Europe might be in Milan. The history of Milan’s Chinatown dates back to 1920s when the first Chinese from the Zhejiang region, near Shanghai, came to Milan to work in the silk industry. Their presence would expand as the decades went by and today the neighborhood is home to more than 25,000 immigrants and 100’s of businesses. The neighborhood is located around the pedestrian street Paolo Sarpi which is where you’ll find most of the action. Walking up and down Sarpi you'll come across all sorts of spots many of which are walk up food stalls selling specific items. It’s not quite street food but it pretty much is in that you never go inside. I tried as much as I could over the span of three visits as it was only a 25 minute walk from where we were staying but it’s also easily accessible by street car and train. Most of the places I visited were stalls but I stopped into a few sit-down spots too. Overall I thought the food options were just as good if not better than home in big part due to all the stalls that specialized in specific dishes but likely also due to the fact it was all new to me. All of what I had was really good. Some of it better than others but all of it was stuff that I would get again if I lived in Milan and would be happy to have here in Chicago. This is what I tried…

Jianbiang and Pork Dumplings at Ravioleria Sarpi

Beef Pancake from Mr. Pie

Sheng Jian Bao (pan fried soup dumplings) at Sapori Shanghai 

Rou Jia Mo (Chinese Hamburger) from Mo

Zhejiang Dumplings at Ristorante Di Houjie

LiangPi (spicy cold skin noodles) at Ristorante Xian 

Pandan Jelly Dessert from Meijale

Pistachio Granita at Mancuso Gelati Italiani 
_______________________________________

Restaurante Ughetto

Yet another nice thing about dining in Italy’s big city is that you can find the cuisine of other Italian regions. We decided to check out Restaurante Ughetto for some Cucina Umbra. As the only Italian region that’s lacking a coastline, Umbrian food consists of a plethora of vegetables, legumes, and meat dishes. Ughetto sits on a busy and beautiful tree lined street with lots of other food and drink options. We sat inside and although it was a bit hot (no ac) we had a nice meal starting with a traditional panzanella with stracciatella and anchovies that was outstanding. She had a risotto with red prawns and scorzone (summer truffles) and I got the Pasta alla Norcina (sausage, cream, white wine, and Pecorino Romano, truffles). Both of us liked our dishes. My pasta was perfectly al dente and the sausage was Chicago quality. The only thing we didn’t like was a seasonal fig dessert that was the only thing we didn’t finish on this trip. Our especially friendly waitress asked about it and we were honest (it was hard as a rock) but all we got was an apology from her. Not a big deal, just don’t get the fig dessert if you end up here. I’m guessing the other options were better choices anyway.

Dinner at Restaurante Ughetto

_______________________________________

Spontini 

I didn't eat much pizza in Milan in part due to how much better the pasta is in Italy than the pizza, in my opinion. It's not that I don't think the pizza in Italy is good, it's really good. But the pizza in the U.S. is just as good if not better and most of the pizza in Milan is Neapolitan style which isn't my favorite. But I did make it a point to try Milan's most well known pizza. I became aware of Spontini the same way most people do who don't live in Milan - on social media. The local chain opened in 1953 and so they claim they were the first spot in Italy to sell slices of pizza. They've been making the rounds on TikTok and IG where users share content from one of Spontini's 20+ worldwide locations. The reason they're recording is bc the pizza here is different from everywhere else in Italy. First off it's cooked in a pan in a wood oven and as mentioned sold by the slice. The pizza is dressed with traditional ingredients (sauce and cheese) with just a few options for toppings including basil, anchovies, and spicy salami. Part of the lure of this place from a social media standpoint is the machine they use to slice the pizza. Not just that but they also slice your slice into little cubes. I tried one with salami and liked it way more than I thought I would. I guess I wasn't expecting it to remind me of the pan pizza back home in Chicago so much. It's thick and crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy from within. 

Pizza at Spontini 
_______________________________________

Loste Café

This slick coffee shop that triples as a wine bar and a bakery is the product of two friends. One is from the Piedmont and the other is from Tuscany and they met working at Noma in Copenhagen. Noma is a spot I'll never get to go (it's closing) and that's ok bc I wouldn't pay for it anyway. That said I've ate at some great spots around the world that were led by people that worked or staged at Noma and more times than not they were pastry places so why not try this one in Milan that got lots of praise in the online reviews that I read. We got a Danish pastry (A+), cinnamon roll (B-), and a cardamom (B+).

Pastries at Loste Café
_______________________________________

Michetta Porta Nuova

Michetta is a traditional Italian white bread distinguished by its fat and round shape and a hard crust with an airy, slightly hollow texture on the inside. So my research goes it was invented in the Lombardy region during the period of Austrian rule as it’s a variation on the Austrian Kaisersemmel. A Michetta can also be a sandwich made with a Michetta roll which is a popular street food in Milan so I wanted to try one. I found this little sandwich counter searching one out. There’s no specific set of ingredients that make up a Michetta sandwich other than the bread itself. So you can put pretty much anything in there like Italian deli meats or roast pork or just vegetables. There’s a ton of different options at Michetta Porta Nuova but I love mortadella and spied one made with that plus roasted artichokes, arugula and giardiniera. That made my decision an easy one. It was also a good one.

Michetta Sandwich at Michetta Porta Nuova
_______________________________________

Dongiò

Last meal in Milan. This was the lone sitdown spot that we ate at twice including our last dinner of the trip. Usually when traveling I don’t like to return to spots no matter how good they are but in this case the pasta was too good not to come back and get again. In my opinion you should eat all the pasta in Italy, it’s next level. The pizza is top notch too but I think there’s less of a gap when it comes to that. But pasta as a whole is so much better in Italy than it is everywhere else. I tried more than 50 preps of pasta and the Spaghetti alla Tamorro at Dongiò was maybe the best of the marathon. It was a bit of a surprise to me because I’m not big on tomato heavy pastas like much of what you find at an Italian American type of spot where most of the pastas taste the same. But this version was next level with a mix of pomodoro, spicy ‘Nduja, red chicory, ricotta cheese. It comes from a family run spot with roots in Calabria. Both times we visited it was full of locals who come for some of the best pastas in Milan at what seems like a steal of a deal at just 10 euros an order. Reservations are recommended but we did walk in later in the eve on our first visit. The pasta is cooked al dente in a way few places back home can match in part bc it’s made on site giving it the perfect bite. I also loved the Peperoncino Ripieno, an antipasto of chilis stuffed with tuna, anchovies, and olives that you can order by the piece for just one euro each (I got nine during our final meal). All of this paired up with a half bushel of the house wine plus wonderful service made it the type of spot everyone would enjoy which is also how I would describe Italy's food scene as a whole. It’s a simple cuisine that mostly lets the ingredients do the driving. You don’t have to be a great cook to make good Italian food. Italy is a regionally rich culinary landscape based on classic time honored traditions which make it one of the worlds best.  

Peperoncino Ripieno

Spaghetti alla Tamorro at Dongiò
_______________________________________

Sioli and Bissoli Gelateria

Our final stop in Milan was for gelato although it wasn't my final serving of gelato in Italy as I also got some the next day at the airport as we were leaving. All of the gelato I had in Italy was awesome. I'm sure there's some very average and even below average spots but I was doing my research before going into any of them. Sioli and Bissoli Gelateria was a short walk from Dongiò and online reviews had a ton of mentions for their pistachio which we tried and it was lovely but we also got a strawberry and it was the best strawberry gelato I've ever had. So good we got another before calling it a trip. Though we're just getting started over here so stay tuned. Parma, Piedmont, and Liguria still to come.

Strawberry Gelato at Sioli and Bissoli Gelateria
_______________________________________

Click HERE for a google maps guide to all the spots I hit up plus places I didn't get to check out.

See ya next time @chibbqking