If you need a further testament to Milan’s awesomeness, perhaps Michelin-starred chefs can convince you as many have opened bistros here in the Lombard capital. I wrote about them for Here Magazine and you can read about them here. But before you do, there’s a couple of other establishments I’d like to pay homage to that I couldn’t shout out in the article.
The first, LadyBù, the first bistro from the Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia team, a collaboration with a DOP mozzarella producer that was helmed by my dear friend Riccardo Orfino. He set sail for New York where he’s now the executive chef and partner of Osteria 57, and then the brilliant Nico Rizzo took over. Nico’s now running the show at Il Bistrot di Aimo e Nadia (mentioned in my article) and sadly, LadyBù is no more.
The other is Rebelot del Pont. It opened in 2013 with Mauricio Zillo at the helm beside Al Pont de Ferr, which at the time was under the tutelage of Matias Perdomo who earned the decades-old restaurant a Michelin star. Rebelot, however, fell more into the Parisian neo-bistro realm—the menu didn’t feature pasta or anything particularly “Italian” for that matter. Instead, patrons chose from a selection of wildly inventive small plates with the most incredibly nuanced flavors. I’d always go for the gastronomic tasting menu, six courses of surprises.
Mauricio left to open a restaurant in Paris in 2015 (where I just so I happened to be his first customer as I happened to be visiting Paris the weekend of his friends and family!). He stayed here for a few years and is now the chef of Barcelona’s Doping Club.
Rebelot is still on the Naviglio Grande, but has changed ownership and now operates completely independent of Al Pont de Ferr. When Mauricio left, he was succeeded by the brilliant Matteo Monti who has since returned to his native Turin to open Edit. (If you’re in Turin, go there!)
