Restaurants have been opening up here in Milan at a wildly rapid clip, and it’s been a challenge keeping up with all of them! About a month ago I made it to Nebbia–and I can’t wait to go back!–where I ate a risotto that razzle-dazzled the bejesus out of me. (Yes, I watched “Chicago” the night before I wrote this.)
So to start, Nebbia is a labor of love between chefs Federico Fiore and Mattia Grilli, who have honed their talent under Enrico Crippa (one of Italy’s three-star Michelin chefs) and David Chang respectively, and Marco Marone, who oversees the wine list and dining room. The inviting minimalist decor is bright and spacious with white walls and bare wood tabletops.
Its name is so quintessential Milanese that it’s not SEO friendly! Nebbia means fog in Italian so if you google “Nebbia Milano”, you’re likely to get lots of news reports relating to fog. But fret not…I included the link below so you can reach the site, no questions asked.
While there, I enjoyed one of the best dishes I’ve had in a while: Risotto with Montoro onions, capers and bergamot, an amalgam that couples the delicate sweet taste of the Montoro onions, typical of Campania with the zing of Salina capers and the potentness of Calabrese bergamot, which gives the dish a delightfully tart backbone that persists delightfully after each bite.
I, of course, couldn’t resist asking how they made this, just in case I ever have the drive to make it at home, and they explained that the desalted capers are dried for a few days in a dehydrator and then smoothed in the spice mill, while the onions are finely chopped and left to dry with only salt and pepper. After hours of slow cooking, the onions are blended then reduced to a cream. The rice is toasted cold and cooked without a soffrito or broth, but just with some hot water and a little salt. Two-thirds of the cooking time is passed by adding two tablespoons of creamed onions and, in the mantecatura, butter, Parmesan cheese, bergamot juice and rind, sherry vinegar and, at the end of the cooking, a dusting of dehydrated capers.
Something tells me that even if I tried to create this at home, it won’t be the same, which means I gotta get back to Nebbia stat.
Nebbia restaurant
Via Evangelista Torricelli, 15
+39.02.827.815.57
Monday to Friday: 6.30pm — 1am
Saturday and Sunday: 11:30am — 3:30pm; 6.30pm — 1am
Kitchen closes at 11pm, but there’s plenty of great wine to drink during those two hours
Website
