going to be in milan for a couple of days in the beginning of october with my 14 yo son
his diet is limited to say the least
while i’d like to eat and drink well, i’m going to have to temper it an awful lot for him
i’m thinking a pizza place with a nice list (like emma in rome) or a place serving roman specialties like cacio e pepe or alla gricia, carbonara etc but would love some milanese for him to try
suggestions?
Daniele Cazan https://danielcanzian.com/home/ is really good with some deconstructed takes of traditional recipes. Ratana’ is great but you have to reserve well in advance (though sometimes you can get in at lunch). And count me as a long-time fan of Rovello 18 (from when that was its actual address!).
Hi Faryan,
I’m gonna add on Rita (wouldn’t want to bad mouth them or be misunderstood). It’s a solid place, a staple for milanese mixology. When they venture into new stuff I think they miss quite often (for my taste). They’re presenting a new cocktail list in september that might be better than others I’ve experienced in the past, they’ve been on the street for a long time. It’s an high volume bar and if crowded it might feel a little busy around you, not the greatest of the layout. Navigli is the most famous area for bars and stuff in Milan but the average level is kinda low in my opinion. Good places are Rita, Rita’s Tiki (but you might want something different from your travel) Iter (which focuses on a different country as a theme every few months, I think USA is the current one, once again its an high volume bar and can get very loud for my taste, better to go outside weekend) and also Backdoor43 which is the smallest bar in the world, very whisky focused. You can go by yourself but depending on who you get from the other side of the counter the experience might be a bit cringe if they’re not in the mood for chatting much. There’s also Mag Cafè, which is also an historic place in Milan (in this context i mean “several years” as historic) but it’s become a bit too generic for my taste, I won’t bother with all the behind the scene details and stuff.
If you’re aiming for 28 posti I guess this is why you’re targeting Navigli area to drink as well so I won’t bother mentioning other places around the city, but if you’re a bit into advanced level mixology and want to really step up the level while being very close to 28 posti? CA-RI-CO hands down.
It’s a hole in the wall and doesn’t have the right to deliver good mixology and impressively good food as well, yet it does.
My suggestion? Go to Rita for a Martini or Negroni or whatever (Carico has a special Martini Room, a unicum in Italy and maybe beyond, but you have to book 1 hour slot at a fixed rate with unlimited martinis and some food so not the best if you want to have a good dinner after it) then go to 28 Posti and then go after dinner to have a fancy drink at Carico
EDIT: wording
Canzian is great, also offers something quite unique you’re not bound to find easily anywhere else
If your son is limited in his taste I’d advise against most old school milanese stuff.
For simple Milanese stuff (regular saffron risotto, cotoletta) Osteria Brunello is a good choice imho. It’s not the best but if you’re not going to delve deeper there’s no reason to go to more acclaimed places far from the city center.
You are a pasta head? If your focus is on Carbonara some might say Da Oscar (seen it mentioned above) but beside the food is a place run by fascists filled with fascism memorabilia, you could care less ofc but It should be said.
I think you’d be better off with Pastificio Urbano created by one Matias Perdomo (chef of Contraste, 1* michelin).
Their menu is focused on many variety of pasta, they have a Carbonara made in collaboration (don’t tell me on what degree) with Pipero which is 1 * michelin in Rome that’s said to have the best Carbonara in the world.
I’ve tried both Pastificio Urbano carbonara and then carbonara from Luciano Monosilio in Rome which is the chef who was at the head of Pipero when they recieved the star and acclamation for the Carbonara, so that has taken the spot for the so called “best Carbonara in the world”: Monosilio’s one is better to me and have actually not many similarities with the one from Pastificio, which is still better than 99,5% of Carbonara made in the country every day. Full disclaimer: I’m not the biggest fan of Carbonara in the first place.
Pastificio Urbano is good nevertheless, altho a bit pricey, and they have good wine.
I much prefer Gastronomia Urbana tho, from the same group, where there’s no pasta at all and has a even more intresting wine offer (on of the top places for me in Milan if you want to eat well, intresting and have good pairing with by the glass wines. They used to have Gravner Ribolla 2003 Magnum poured with Coravin for example and there are not many places where you could find it, ofc I took advantage of it).
thanks daniele!
i’m not a pasta head but know my kid loves those roman pastas so my life will be easy
we are staying at aethos so will probably spend a little time along the canals, but will make very good use of your suggestions
grazie mille!
The Carbonara at Da Oscar was the best I’ve had and the Milanese was not far behind. We loved the atmosphere there (chaotic and fun!) and though there were Mussolini and other fascist photos on the walls it didn’t faze us one bit. It was good that you pointed this out though, some people may be sensitive to it.
Tom
I’ve seen it mentioned many times during the years but never tried it (I’m not exactly looking for Carbonara when I go around ofc) so wasn’t talking bad about it, just wanted to be clear about the Mussolini stuff which wouldn’t bother me at all as well.
Tom,
Thanks much for the recommendation of El Brellin. I made a reservation there after reading your post, then had two other people suggest it - our Airbnb hosts, and our taxi driver! The food was excellent, classic Milanese (I even had the risotto). We ate inside the restaurant, which is lovely, and the service was terrific. Also, Navigli was a revelation - what a cool area and neighborhood. We only had two nights in the city and I wasn’t so impressed with central Milan, but Naviigli has real life and energy and changed my opinion much for the better.
Happy to hear you liked El Brellin and the Navigli. Agree that much of central Milan is nothing special.
When we travel to foreign cities we always include at least one interesting or “locals” type restaurant or area.
The last thing I want to do is fly halfway around the world to have a meal I could have 10 miles from where we live.
Tom
Only intresting places in Milan’s very city center imho are Camparino in Galleria (Upper Floor), Marchesi caffè for some stuff if you menage to get a seat (no reservation during weekend so a line forms).
Arengario is also not the big tourist trap you might think it to be, even if there are dozens better place to eat from and you do pay for the view.
Oh and then there’s Cracco ofc which is a higly regarded fine dining restaurant, hard to properly discuss these kind of establishments tho I’d like to say that my “foodie friends” (journalists, restaurant owners) don’t seem to go out of their way to eat @ Cracco and they’d rather drive 5 hours to Hisa Franko for example.
Edit: also Park Hyatt had its say before going into renovation, haven’t tried it yet since it’s re opened
Navigli area in general make my skin crawl, literally, but this does not invalidate Zachary and Tom (and many other) opinions one bit. I still go there regularly because there are several good places and I can’t teletransport there 
We had a rather nice meal at Cantina Piemontese that was just a few minutes walk from where we were staying in Brolo. Very good wine list, too; I discovered a Valtellina producer new to me, Scerscé, which was exciting. I ordered the 2017 Scerscé Valtellina Riserva Cristina Scarpellini and really enjoyed it.
You went straight for their top product 
I did do a little research beforehand.
They’re a very regarded winery, I was offered to buy the Riserva Cristina as well but I had other things in my plate. It wasn’t a gamble at all 
Thanks everyone for your input on this thread! Very useful. My better half is currently in Milan at a biz conference so the reccos are quite helpful.
I also solicited some advice from a young woman who’s a lifelong resident. I met her maybe 15 years ago while she was a grad student there. She now works at the University and is raising her own family.
With the caveat that I’ve tried none of these restaurants, she’s not a wine geek and her foodie preferences may be more emotional than gustatory…her suggestions for good Milanese fare:
Al garghet (https://algarghet.it) it is in the south area of Milan and you will definitely need a car/cab to go there but if you want to try real Italian old style food in a country and yet sophisticated atmosphere this is the place. It is always fully booked but she might give it a try.
Osteria del binari (https://www.osteriadelbinari.it), this is in the Navigli area, you might remember having been here, it really good food in a superb location, they also have a splendid patio.
Trattoria del nuovo macello (https://www.trattoriadelnuovomacello.it), this is a very historic place (it’s been there since the beginning of the past century), it’s in the porta romana area, the atmosphere is probably more rustic and less sophisticated here compared two the other two places above but the food is excellent
Antica trattoria della pesa (http://www.anticatrattoriadellapesa.com/#home) garibaldi area, again, more rustic and less sophisticated and again great food for this historic place, it is really old but gold.
Trattoria Milanese dal 1933 (Redirecting...), the name says it all, it is close to the duomo but definitely not a tourist trap, if you go there try their zabaione.
Trattoria Aurora (Facebook), this is in the solari area, they have a very beautiful liberty room and a grand patio that makes you forget you are in Milan, If you go there, try their risotto con ossobuco.
RT
Besides many of those already mentioned, I had a nice dinner at Acanto in the Principe di Savoia. Nice wine list with decent prices.
I heard reccomendations for all those places, minus “Aurora”. I think she’ll do ok anywhere.
They (several co-workers) ate at Exit - Gastronomia Urbana tonight. Thumbs up. Imaginative fare and a respectable wine selection.
RT
Hi Richard!
I love Exit Gastronomia Urbana, I think I’ve talked briefly about them around here.
They also have the Pastificio (where they offer mostly pasta, compared to the gastronomia that don’t have pasta at all). I like gastronomia better, expecially because I believe that when you don’t have the traditional menu structure (starter, “first dish” and “second dish”) wine pairing can get more intresting.
The “by the glass” from Gastronomia is very well thought, it’s not just " let’s have some cheap and crowd pleasing bottles available for the people who don’t like wine much". the second last time I went there (was in spring IIRC, I planned to go in August since they’re always open but then I had some issues) they had Gravner Ribolla 2003 magnum served with coravin