Christian Bazzo
Pasta at a Michelin-starred spot near Piazza Duomo, paper-thin “mountain pizza” from a second-gen Dolomite pizzaiolo, Negroni sbagliatos at an aperitivo bar popular during fashion week, and more of Milan’s best meals
Milan is a city that’s both local and global at once. It’s well known as Italy’s fashion and design capital, a reputation that has attracted visitors from around the world and restaurants serving international cuisines (as well as dishes from other Italian regions); the city has a storied Chinatown and introduced items like sushi to the country long before Rome. But Milan is also steeped in Lombardy’s culinary traditions, including dishes like cotoletta Milanese and creamy risotto all’onda. Agricultural regions, like the fertile Po Valley (home to carnaroli rice perfect for risotto) and Olrepò Pavese (where vineyard-clad rolling hills burst with clusters of pinot nero), thrive just beyond the outer ring of the dense metropolis.
You can still enjoy the city’s Old World culinary charms, from boxes of artisan panettone around the holidays to retro market food stalls in the summer. But Milan’s food scene is increasingly embracing new concepts alongside its boundary-pushing fashion scene, even as the city’s world-famous amaro distilleries, Fernet Branca and Campari, continue to fuel an explosion of craft cocktail bars. The city’s chefs put creative spins on local ingredients, while new restaurants, many of them women-owned, celebrate social inclusion and vegetable-forward menus. Bubbly Campari sodas, traditional osterias, avant-garde pizzerias — Milan has more than looks.
Elizabeth Thacker Jones leads food and drink tours in Milan via Risotto & Steel. She writes about food and culture in northern Italy, where she has lived since 2015.
