Epicurea at the Bulgari Hotel in Milan is one my most favorite things about the city. Firstly, I love anything and everything Bulgari but that doesn’t make me biased. In general, Milan’s food scene diverse and forward thinking, and I find Epicurea to be one of the scene’s most thoughtful components, mirroring my sentiments for Bulgari in general: I love anything and everything that Epicurea stands for.
Currently finishing up its third consecutive year (going on to its fourth year in 2017!), Epicurea is a culinary festival organized by the Bulgari Hotel’s executive chef Roberto Pinto and renowned food curator Andrea Perini, where seven of the world’s best chefs are invited to cook at the Bulgari Hotel and bring a taste of their homeland and show off their chops to Milan. This year’s line-up included Matt Orlando of the one-star Michelin Amass in Copenhagen (a restaurant I love!), Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, the first woman chef to be awarded two Michelin stars and Leonardo Perreira of the restaurant Areias do seixo in A dos Cunhados, Portugal, which is the chef whose dinner I had attended.
Perreira trained at Noma and you could see the influences in his presentations, which were refined while paying homage to the flavors of his homeland. He played a bit with bitterness, which was evident in his sea urchin, bitter almond and apple plate. Other highlights included mantis shrimp and radishes and his signature halibut, kohlrabi and caviar.
Now if you’re not a Milan/Italy inhabitant, why would you want to travel to Milan just for this dinner when you can fly to the chef’s home base and experience the meal there? Easy. It’s about Milan! It’s the most exciting city to eat in Italy and not only does Epicurea best reflect and embrace what Milan is today, it’s a perfect reason to get you to the city. While you’re here, you can take advantage of your time here to sample some of the city’s most respected and memorable restaurants like Ratana, Trippa and Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia, to name a few. I swear that once you get to know Milan, you will love the city just as much as I do!
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