Yes, Starbucks’ first Italy location is a big deal, but Milan has way more exciting tricks up its sleeve, one of which the newly inaugurated culinary hub: Identità Golose Milano.
Founded by Italian food journalist Paolo Marchi, Identità Golose is a gastronomic juggernaut that hosts a chef congress every fall in New York. However, its flagship three-day congress takes place every March in Milan, for which chefs from all over the world have flown in to participate including Rene Redzepi, the Roca brothers, Gaggan Anand, Virgilio Martinez, Clare Smyth, Daniel Humm and pretty much everyone in between. It’s honestly my favorite three-day event of the year! Identità Golose Milano, the organization’s latest undertaking, is in line with its core values that aim to provide a platform for chefs and hospitality professionals to share ideas and learn from each other.
Identità Golose Milano serves as a space for events and cooking demonstrations/presentations, but above all, it’s a restaurant! Beloved Piemontese Michelin-starred chef Andrea Ribaldone oversees the menu, handling weekday lunch and Monday and Tuesday dinner.
During lunch, guests choose from an à la carte menu or the nifty 35€ business lunch as well as a selection of pizzas–all cooked in an exquisite Moretti Forni pizza oven–from renowned pizzaiolo Franco Pepe of Pepe in Grani in Caiazzo, considered Italy’s best pizzeria. Pepe personally instructed resident pizzaiolo Gabriele Tangari, teaching him how to make some of his signature pies, occasionally dropping in on Milan from time to time himself.
Ribaldone oversees dinner on Monday and Tuesday. From Wednesday to Saturday, Identità Golose Milano showcases the talent of a stellar line-up of guest chefs both from Italy and beyond. The line-up from now through the end of the year includes plenty of Italian chefs as well as Paco Roncero of Terrazza del Casino in Madrid (two Michelin stars), Ana Roš of Hiša Franko in Slovenia, Ivan and Sergey Berezutskiy of Twin Gardens in Moscow and Alain Ducasse, who will cook alongside Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana.
The most thoughtful part? The idea is not just to bring the chefs’ food to Milan, but to make it affordable, so these four-course dinners all cost just 75€ per person. Make a res here.
On the beverage front, barman Luigi Barberis crafted a cocktail program that will be implemented by Rei Merollari, the restaurant’s resident barman. The ever growing wine cellar currently holds bottles from Dom Perignon, Krug, Veuve Cliquot, Moet & Chandon, Ruinart, Berlucchi and Ferrari.
And as for the ambiance…
Located in an exquisite historical building that once housed Fondazione Feltrinelli, the dining room, kitchens and event space juxtapose the original bone structure with a contemporary flair. I’ve got a thing for lions and rainbows so I took the lion’s head sculpture above the entrance and golden-rainbow-of-sorts logo as positive harbingers of what’s ahead….not only inside but for Identità Golose Milano as a whole.
My favorite spot is the verdant courtyard out back–I love me a Milanese courtyard–with an al fresco glass-enclosed patio covered by specially designed roof slats that open on weather appropriate occasions. Architect Edidio Tordera of Milan’s Digit&Associati studio created an accessibly elegant space by incorporating Cappellini furnishings, Davide Groppi lighting, a specially made screen installation from Samsung that incorporate digital elements from MCube and CMV, Caraiba plateware, Berto’s kitchen appliances and Valcucine for event space, cocktail bar, chef’s table and cellar.
I recently had the pleasure of dining here (more on that coming soon!), and it was awesome. I can’t wait to go back and I also can’t wait to see the 2019 line-up and what the future holds for this singular restaurant…in boca al lupo, Identità Golose Milano!
Via Romagnosi, 3
Lunch: Monday – Friday, 12pm to 2.30pm
Dinner: Monday – Saturday 7.30pm to 10.30pm
Website
