Donuz

via NYTimes

Recently, I was back in Milan very briefly for a special occasion. More specifically, I was in Cusago, a municipality in the Province of Milan, about 11 km away –to the west- from the central commune of Milan itself.

From the couple of hours I spent there, what I have gathered about Cusago is that it is a less hectic commune than Milan, and that it is more like the countryside with a variety of farm houses turned either into local locandas / trattorias (restaurants) cooking home-cooked, authentic meals; or beauty farms –not spas-, offering solitude and health treatments to their clients. There are also many storage houses, as well as large logistic companies. Thus, it is a half industrial half solitary, silent commune.

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For me one of the unforgettable moments of Milan will be the Charcuterie (Delicatessen or a Gastronomia or a Salumeria) Il Salumaio di Montenapoleone on Via Monte Napoleone, 12 in Milan, Italy (+39 02 784 429).

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Before I actually arrived in Milan two years ago, one of my very good college friends had told me, that I had to do everything in Milan, which we cannot do easily in Istanbul. Like what? Like running in the park, riding a bike instead of a car, eating lots of pasta instead of dieting. I will get to write about the parks and the pasta later on, but today I really want to talk about the bikes.

Although the bike idea had sounded nostalgic and interesting initially, I never actually got around to owning a bike. Several reasons, wearing heels in this fashionable city to be among some, had kept me from getting a bike. Now, thanks to a new system in Milan, which already exists around other European cities, one can now rent a bike, rather than own a one. Furthermore, when you actually rent the bike, you never really have to return it to anyone or any station. You park at any of the existing bike stations, for some other member to come and pick it up.

This system is called “BikeMi” and the service is being managed by the American communication and advertising company Clear Channel.

Since the main idea behind the project is to reduce traffic, BikeMi is actually a new mode of public transportation that is based on bike sharing. The system is very simple. You go online and become a temporary or a regular subscriber. When you subscribe temporarily, that means you want to be a member for a week or a month or any other specified time slot. Once you have activated your membership and have received your membership card, you can pick up any bike from any BikeMi station. At each station, there is a service machine. With your card you can access this service machine, which will tell you, which numbered bike you can take. Then, you can return the bike to the nearest station at your next destination. Once the bike has been returned and locked, the rental fee will be charged to your card. As the project has just begun, the main BikeMi stations only exist around the center of the city, hospitals, universities, malls, parking lots and tourist areas.

The only limitation to the use is that you cannot ride the bike for more than 2 hours. The first half an hour is free of charge and then every other 30 minutes cost you 0.50 Euros until a maximum of 2 hours. After the first 2 hours have elapsed, if you still have not returned the bike to some station, a 2 Euros fee will be charged.

Below you will find the station and the route map. For more information click here.

Click on the image for larger view. (PDF File)

When someone asks me where they should go for dinner on their one and only night in Milan, it breaks my heart to think that those people will not be able to taste several other delicious and authentic Italian trattorias.

As with any big city, Milan has many good restaurants. So, the answer to the question on where to go is always “lacking”. However, many small things, from atmospherics to people, and the place, the region, come together to create an ideal dining place and experience for everyone.

Therefore, below is my exquisite diners’ list for Milan…

© La Briciola

On the end of the Via Solferino at number 25, just where Via Solferino crosses Via Castelfidardo, is the well-known La Briciola. Frequented by locals all the time, it is the natural gathering place for Italian families on weekends. The owner knows most of his visitors, greets everyone personally and makes himself comfortable at friends’ tables. Teenagers celebrate their birthdays here with a dinner. The owner attends to the children’s table as well and teases them since he apparently knows them from before as well. If the metaphor will serve itself right, it is almost like the “kebapcis” of Turkey in that sense.

Nevertheless, La Briciola is an interesting place… There are many reviews online that depict the restaurant as a place with a terrible service, which is not totally untrue. In fact, eventhough I have been to this restaurant several times, I feel that each time it is getting worse. Yet, the interesting fact remains that despite that feeling I also still feel like going back, I recommend it to friends and I cheerish the thought of the place.

I assume that my sympathy for the place has to do with its atmospherics afterall. The owner has created his home in this restaurant, keeps entertaining his friends and is very casual towards all others, but the restaurant is still indeed very cosy. There are pictures of frequent diners everywhere, the inner design of the place is somewhere between a Christmas carol and a kindergarten. There are lights everywhere, yet the place is dim. In other words, the place makes you feel warm in the inside despite all the justifiable bad reviews it gets on service.

As for the food, it is good, but I have eaten better… They start with a basket of bread and crackers, a plate of salami and meatballs, all of which are compliments of the house. Some servants tend to forget these compliments, so be ware and ask for them if you want. The risotto is delicious and so is the Cottelette alla Milanese (also called the elephant’s ear as the shape and size of the huge meat is reminiscent of it). If you will have coffee, you will also get a big, very big, box of cookies from the house again.

If you are not taking a cab, the easiest way to get here is to take the green line (metro) until the Moscova stop. From there walk down on Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi for about a few minutes only. You shall pass the Ice-cream store on your right (another delicious encounter for after dinner and I would suggest that you try the white-chocolate). Take the first right onto Via Marsala. At the end of this street you will spot La Briciola right on the corner. Phone number: 02-655-1012

The other place that I must mention is Il Verdi in Piazza Mirabello 5, which was not on Google Maps in 2007 and when you called the restaurant to get directions, you could not get anyone who spoke proper English on the phone. Despite this luminious picture, Il Verdi is a must for all those who cheerish over good food and local taste. In fact, Piazza Mirabello is near Brera and not far away from La Briciola. From outside, the restaurant looks as if it is in a vault or in a cellar. With its tiny windows and cute window panes, this lower ground restaurant is all that you can ask for in a typical Italian restaurant.

The waiters do not speak any English, the menus are all in Italian and apart from myself and my friends, there were no other foreigners in the restaurant. We had pappardelle with mince and meat with foi gras and a slice of prosciutto, each of which was a different paradise on the taste dimension. The phone number for the interested: 02-659-0979

© Guarda La Gallery

Next on my list would be Trattoria Torre di Pisa on Via Fiori Chiari 21. Located in the heart of the beautiful Brera -the region that is known as the Montparnesse of Lombardia- this authentic trattoria has been around since 1959. Made up of four small rooms, 5 little windows with hand-made country motif curtains, the smell of fresh food, stew, trip, rissoles, sausage, the herbs and the sound of the kitchenware and the dishes seduces the casual passer-by inside. However, despite the trattoria’s very inviting and seductive nature, it is hard to find an available table without reservations. The place has been packed with painters, stylists, industrialists, actors, intellectuals, models and great families’ offspring since the unexpected arrival of Giancarlo Baghetti, a famous Formula One racer, in the early 1960s. When Baghetti loved the food and spread the word, Torre di Pisa became “the gastronomic epitome” of the milanese “dolce vita”.

Although the menu is in Italian and the waiters cannot speak English, the waiters understand you and confirm whatever you may say with a nod -and they never fail! I would recommend anything from their menu, but I should nevertheless mention the gnocchi, ravioli and the steak. I would suggest everyone to do it the Italian way when they arrive at this little germ. Share a gnocchi or ravioli as the first course, and then order the steak or the steak Fiorentine as your second course. Ask for grilled vegetables with your steak. Drink a Chinati Classico Riserva and finish your final glass with an assorted cheese plate, which has the freshest parmesan cheese I have ever tasted in my life. All of this is for a maximum of 40 euros per person.