Italian Culinary Adventure ~ Day Fourteen & Fifteen - Milan

Milan
Friday, July 5th. 2002

Upon awakening that morning, we realized that we had quickly moved towards the end of our trip, and that day we would be heading back to Milan for our last stop. We had planned on spending two nights there, to visit favorite restaurants and do some shopping before flying back home on Sunday. After a quick breakfast on the hotel's outdoor patio, we checked out and were once again on the road. The trip from Forte dei Marmi to Milan was only a couple of hours, and very soon we were back in the city, which seemed much busier than it had when we had arrived two weeks earlier. We had decided to visit our old home where we had lived for 8 years and so we drove south to Milano 3. The morning was spent stopping in at our old favorite coffee bar, grocery store, and commercial center and before we knew it lunch time had arrived. We stopped by what used to be our favorite pizzeria, to see if the pizza would be as good as we had remembered.

Although the waiters had remained the same from 7 years ago, the pizza man was new, and my pizza was just not the way I had remembered. It had so much cheese piled on it that I could not taste the hot Calabrian sausage they were famous for, and it was so filling that I was only able to finish half of it. Once we completed our meal, we headed north back into the city, and checked back into the Principe di Savoia hotel in Piazza della Republica. My husband gladly handed over his car keys to the hotel staff, not needing to drive again while we were in Italy. We were given a much nicer room than the one we had on our arrival, and were told it was in the new wing of the hotel. It was twice the size of our previous room, with a nice sitting area, and I was amazed that they could charge the same rate for both rooms. The hotel car was available, so we had the driver take us to the duomo, where we admired the duomo and galleria once more, and checked out the crowd of tourists milling around the Piazza Duomo. We walked through a few of our favorite stores, window shopped along via Montenapoleone where all the Italian designers had their stores, and finally stopped at an outside bar along Corso Vittorio Emanuel for a cool drink to cool off. Soon it was time to head back to our hotel, to shower and change before meeting friends in the hotel bar.

After spending a couple of hours enjoying our visit with old friends, we grabbed a taxi, and headed back towards the center to find a restaurant for dinner. We walked around the city working up an appetite, and finally decided to visit a restaurant we had frequented many times in the past called La Bruschetta, situated just behind the duomo. We were quickly seated despite the sign next to the door stating that those without reservations would not be served, and were brought a plate of their legendary bruschetta topped with a dollop of fragrant tomato sauce.

The restaurant was a mix of locals and tourists that night much as I had remembered it on previous visits, and we watched in surprise as the family who owned the restaurant loudly discussed one lone patron, who apparently spoke no Italian, and who had complained that his red wine was too warm. The owner and his wife did not smile the entire time we were in the restaurant, and it was obvious that people did not frequent the restaurant because of the friendliness of the owners, but instead because the food was so good. We ordered a nice bottle of Chianti wine ourselves, and spent a few minutes deciding what to order. As the restaurant was well known for it's grilled steak, my husband decided to order the Tagliata con Rucola (sliced grilled steak on arugula salad) for his main course and a nice plate of Prosciutto e Melone to begin his meal. I decided once again to order gnocchi, as the restaurant offered a spinach ricotta gnocchi topped with a fresh tomato sauce that sounded too good to pass up. One of my favorite dishes that Milan is famous for is Cotoletta Milanese, or fried veal cutlet, and once I saw it on the menu, topped with a fresh tomato relish, my decision was made. Sweet and fresh, the melon was a perfect contrast to the salty Prosciutto di Parma. My gnocchi was tender, the sauce full of flavor and since my portion was too large for me to finish myself, my husband helped. The steak was grilled just as my husband had asked, served on a bed of crisp, peppery rucola , drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, and my husband thoroughly enjoyed every bite. It was a nice change of pace from all the seafood we had been eating the past week by the sea. My cotoletta arrived, tender, crisp and golden topped with a mix of cherry tomatoes seasoned with garlic and fresh basil. To complete our meal, we each ordered mixed fresh berries, or frutta di bosco, which proved to be the perfect ending to our meal.

It was a beautiful evening, with a midnight blue sky that contrasted wonderfully with the white marble of the duomo as we walked through the main piazza. We walked over to the closest taxi stand, walking past Piazza Duomo which was still crowded with people, and took a cab back to the hotel. We had only one more day left in Italy, and had a busy day ahead of us the following day.

The Principe di Savoia
Piazza della Republica 17, Milan
Parking- 33 euros per night
Amenities - American style showers, hair dryers, security safe in each room, hotel bar and restaurant, health center and spa.
Cost- 350 euros corporate rate
Click HERE for more information!
Review - Our room here was small, and quite old which was surprising considering the price. When we returned to the hotel on our way back, we were given a room in the new wing which was much larger, and quite lovely, looking more like a jumior suite. Although hotels in general are very expensive in Milan, I certainly wouldn't pay this much to stay in one of the older rooms again.

La Bruschetta
Piazza Beccaria 12
Milano
Phone: 02/8692494

Buon Appetito!
By Deborah Mele 2002
Email
Recipe Request
Newsletter Signup

Choose from these categories: