It’s that time of year again: Design Week! In honor of the occasion, I thought I’d round up some new restaurants in Milan that opened from April 2023 onward. The list is by no means exhaustive–if I were to include all the new spots, I’d still be working on it. I tried to stick mostly to straightforward restaurants, but I do want to give a shout-out to the bakery and matcha-haven Pan, which is just around the block from me. You should definitely pop in for breakfast or a kombucha-fueled merenda.
So, following the newbies below (which are in no particular order), I included some significant revamps and new outposts of beloved locales. And if I may share one tidbit of advice for Milan dining: if you were traveling to Paris, London, or New York, you’d make your restaurant reservations in advance, right? Approach Milan the same way.
Silvano Vino e Cibo al Banco
Backed by Ratanà’s chef Cesare Battisti, Silvano was one of 2023’s buzziest openings. And it didn’t just live up to the hype–it surpassed it. Chef Vladimiro Poma inherited the massive oven from the space’s former inhabitant (a panificio)–there’s no stovetop, so he cooks everything inside it. The focaccia and bread are exceptionally dreamy–especially the ooey-gooey toast packed with prosciutto cotto and stringy cheese. Other dishes might include Venetian-style veal liver pâté , tripe with mussels and pecorino, pizzoccheri; or tongue with salsa verde. To drink, choose from over 100 labels of natural wine and several craft beers. Distressed walls frame the narrow dining room, which features glass doors that open onto the sidewalk. The 14-meter-long bar seats 15, and the eight (potentially communal) tables can seat another 30. The decor, crafted to evoke “old Milano,” incorporates a 1920s tram door and a 1950s street lamp from Piazza del Duomo.
Wednesday – Friday: 6pm to 12am
Saturday – Sunday: 12pm to 12am (set menu only at lunch)
Closed: Mon and Tue
Website / Reservations
Metro: Pasteur
Opened: September 2023
Rosticceria Palazzi dal 1992
The new incarnation of this 32-year-old rosticceria merges two local hospitality forces: Michelin-starred chef Matias Perdomo and his Contraste camp (Simone Press and Thomas Piras) with Marco Magnocavallo and Juliette Bellavita, the founders and former owners of Tannico. The rosticceria’s bones remain intact (including its wood-fired oven), and the new management has upped the food and wine ante. Chef Arianna Consiglio (formerly of Exit Pastificio) oversees some comfy, crave-worthy classics like lasagna, whole-roasted chicken, cacio e pepe supplì, stuffed squid, parmigiana, and even “Milanese-style” pizza al padellino on request. To drink, start with a Bicicletta (Campari, white wine, and soda), then carry on with one of the smartly curated 80 wines on offer.
Tuesday – Sunday 10.30am – 9.30pm
Closed Monday
Website / No reservations
Metro: Lima
Opened: February 2024
Trattoria Sincera
In a city where it’s easier to find sushi than decent Lombard food, Trattoria Sincera has tipped the scales in the latter’s favor. In fact, chef Federico Bono, formerly of Sottobosco in Brenta, is so committed to Lombardia that he keeps the pasta to a minimum and prepares minestrone according to the recipe in Giovanni Rajberti’s 1851 book, L’Arte di Convitare. The menu combines dishes of the day, like cream of asparagus with crispy pancetta, with classics, including the costaletta two styles, thick and pick and the center, and the thinned-out l’orecchia d’elefante that spills off the plate. Assorted Lombard meats and cheese are sliced at the deli counter near the entrance, and even the wine list keeps to the region, as do the bitters, some of which hail from the local Tripstillery. Dark wood dominates the cozy ambiance, appearing on the floor, tabletops, and chairs
Website and Reservations
Tuesday – Saturday: 12pm – 2pm / 7:30pm – 11pm
Sunday: 12pm – 3pm
Closed Monday
Metro: Lambrate
Opened: April 2023
Via Stampa
And speaking of places that tip the scale in favor of Lombard cuisine, Via Stampa, the brainchild of Liguria-based winemaker Marco Guzzetti, is another welcome addition to Milan’s food scene. The ever-changing menu looks to Lombard tradition–keep an eye out for classics like sciatt (cheese-stuffed buckwheat fritters) from Valtellina, ossobuco, risotto alla milanese, costoletta alla Milanese, and other dishes that incorporate local ingredients, like taglioni with coregone (lake fish) tartar and its bottarga in beurre noisette. The modern bistrot spans four rooms and is particularly luminous during the day. The first, a cozy wooden bar, gives way to airy white windowed rooms finished with parquet floors, darker wood tables, and even darker wood chairs.
Wednesday – Saturday: 12:30 – 3:30 pm; 6:30pm – 12am
Tuesday and Sunday: 12:30 – 3:30 pm
Closed Monday
Website / Reservations
Metro: Duomo
Opened: September 2023
Gloria
Tommaso Melilli, Rocco Galasso, and Luca Gennati have taken over a classic Milanese trattoria in the Navigli, keeping much of the original fixtures in place while serving up intensely flavorful Northern Italian fare. Dishes may include riso giallo (rice with saffron), minestrone (hot or cold depending on the season), and savarin di riso, a Parma specialty comprising ring-shaped buttery, Parmigiano rice coated with paper-thin veal tongue and complete with meatballs cradled into the center. The wine list focuses on small producers. Reservations are strongly suggested, but seating at the distinct zinc bar is reserved for walk-ins. Note: this is NOT the SEO-prevailing Gloria Osteria on Via Tivoli from the UK-based Big Mamma Restaurant Group that also opened last year. The Gloria I’m referring to is at Via Mario Picchi 5.
Book here
Wednesday – Friday 7:30pm – 12am
Saturday – Sunday 12:30pm – 3pm / 7:30pm to 12am
Metro: Porta Genova
Opened: September 2023
Polpo
I’ve loved Viviana Varese’s food since my first visit to Alice, her former Michelin-starred restaurant, on Via Adige—in fact, I ate there before I officially lived in Italy. Alice moved to Eataly in 2014 and became Viva in 2019, upholding a Michelin star. Last fall, she and partner Ritu Dalmia, chef of Cittamani, opened Polpo on Via Melzo in the former Spica space. Cobalt blue dominates the 80s-inspired design, evoking a beachy ambiance and even embellishing the custom-designed lamps with loopy squiggles. The trattoria-style fare includes razor clams, scallops with Tuscan pecorino and bread crumbs, and fried bomba stuffed with octopus ragu. Or you can just have some tapas in the bar area. The only thing missing is the sea–Polpo’s would be perfect for a post-beach repast.
Website / Reservations
Tuesday – Friday: 6pm – 12am
Saturday and Sunday: 12pm-3pm and 7pm – 12am
Closed Monday
Metro Porta Venezia
Opened: September 2023
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Ultra
Dom Carella of Carico, a food and beverage consultant, is a force to be reckoned with on the city’s restaurant scene, and he teamed up with entrepreneur Fabrizio Margarita for this pizzeria and cocktail bar occupying a former bank. The minimalist design incorporates natural elements like wood, stone, concrete, and iron into the dining room, where the mixology and kitchen teams shake cocktails and fire pies in full view. Most of the clever cocktails feature alcohol-free counterparts. The Ultra Flowers, for instance, mixes Aka Jasmine Kombucha, Hendrick’s, banana, Yamagata Umeshu sake, and osmanto (devilwood), while the alcohol-free option uses just the Aka Jasmine Kombucha, banana, and osmanto. Imbibe and enjoy a selection of pizzas, focaccia, cured meats, and “cucina” foods that include appetizer-sized portions of dishes like mondeghili (milanese meatballs) and vitello tonnato.
Website / Reservations
Monday – Sunday: 6pm – 2am
Metro: Porta Romana
Opened: February 2024
June Collective
Mythila Shilke and Ilze Sire’s breakfast and lunch joint warrants a schlep to the burgeoning Certosina district. The Scandinavian minimalist aesthetic is enhanced by a kaleidoscope of international flavors, cheery staff, natural wines, and (my personal favorite drink of all time!) sweet-tart fresh lemonade! Kupcha, a soft, flaky Indian flatbread, is slathered with keema (minced pork and spices), drizzled with avocado cream, and finished with cilantro and pickled shallots– simply dazzling. In fact, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since my recent Saturday lunch/brunch. Chive-sprinkled eggs benedict come atop a slab of bread topped with mortadella concealing a generous blob of ‘nduja. And don’t even get me started on the hot dog – you’ll just have to taste it for yourself.
Website
Monday – Friday: 9am – 3pm
Saturday: 10am – 2pm
Getting there: S5 or S6 Train to Certosa or 12 tram to V.Le Espinasse Via Palizzi
Opened April 2023
Soot
Korean chef Kim Minseok started his career at an Italian restaurant in Seoul and eventually found his way to Milan via the ALMA culinary school in Parma. He worked for some of the Lombard capital’s finest chefs, like Pietro Leemann (Joia), Antonio Guida (Seta), and Daniel Canzian (Daniel). At Soot, he takes a refined approach to his native cuisine, and it’s said to be sensational. So, I haven’t been there yet, and I’ll update this post once that changes, but I wanted to show it some love since the most trusted palates I know recommend it.
Website / Reservations: +39 02 35983 550
Monday: 7:30pm to 11:30pm
Tuesday – Saturday 12pm – 3pm and 7:30pm to 11:30pm
Closed Sunday
Opened: September 2023
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Lafa
And another reason to head to the Certosa district: Lafa, restaurateur Hippolyte Vautrin’s Middle Eastern eatery. The name, a humble bread that’s a mealtime staple, embraces the restaurant’s underlying philosophy, embodying the idea of conviviality evident both on the menu and in the ambiance. Another spot that everyone’s raving about, and I’ll update this post after my lunch there next week.
Website
Monday – Friday: 12pm – 2:30pm
Closed Saturday and Sunday
Getting there: S5 or S6 Train to Certosa or 12 tram to V.Le Espinasse Via Palizzi
Opened: February 2024
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Confine
This superb pizzeria from pizzaiolo Francesco Capece and wine authority Mario Ventura, both Salerno natives, garnered three spicchi, the highest rating possible from the prestigious Gambero Rosso guide just a few months after it opened. The uber-modern dining room blends shades of black, gray, and white and is warmed up by the occasional wood chair. If you’re, say, two people, the tasting menu is the way to go. For larger groups, though, it might be simpler to share a few pies. Don’t miss the four-cheese Botox Pizza (which is part of the tasting), so-called because it’s so delicious, that your face relaxes as soon as you bite into it. When discussing pizza, it’s easy to wax poetic about the toppings, but let’s be honest: pizza’s really all about the dough. Confine’s comprises type 1 flour from Molino Quaglia near Padua and salt from Trapani and is leavened for 72 hours. There’s also plenty of scientific stuff happening that’s a bit beyond my purview, so I won’t attempt to get into it. But I can confidently state that the divine dough is light and perfectly—as the Italians would say—digistibile.
Website / Reservations
Tuesday – Friday: 7pm – 12am
Saturday and Sunday: 12pm – 3pm / 7pm – 12 am
Metro: Cordusio
Opened: April 2023
Bicchierino Bar
This pretension-free newbie has completely revitalized southwest Milan’s relatively overlooked Giambellino quarter—it’s one of the places to eat and drink in the city right now. The bare-bones backdrop is accented with dim lights, twinkling candles, and plush plants while the food, wine, and energy of the staff and patrons take center stage. Snack on (or make a meal out of) small dishes like horse tartar, which uses meat from the nearby historic Macelleria Vito horse butcher shop, feta in phyllo dough, and roast beef sandwiches, and sip both natural and traditional wines, craft beers, and cocktails. Make sure you call and book so as to not render the journey to the neighborhood an exercise in futility.
Website / Reservations: +39 02 9124 0133
Tuesday – Saturday: 6pm – 12am
Closed Sunday and Monday
Take the 14 tram to Via Giambellino Via Vignoli
Opened: November 2023
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Autem
The name has nothing to do with the season. It’s Latin for “however,” a fitting conjunction for the transitory nature of chef Luca Natalini’s whimsical, ever-changing menu–which you’re never presented with. Instead, you glimpse into a drawer near the entrance, which happens to be right beside the kitchen, displaying the ingredients comprising the daily offerings. Once seated, you choose from four tastings: the omnivorous La Carta Bianca or its fish-, meat-, and vegetable-focused alternatives. One constant, though, is the unforgettable pasta in bianco prepared with a bay leaf decoction and plum vermouth.
Website / Reservations
Thursday – Monday: 12pm – 2:30pm / 7pm – 10:30pm
Wednesday: 7pm – 10:30pm
Closed Tuesday
Metro: Porta Romana
Opened: May 2023
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Revamps/Changes of Scenery
Shiro
Minoru Hirazawa, also known as Shiro, opened Poporoya, Milan’s first sushi bar, in 1977. Thirty years later, he inaugurated Shiro across the street–which he completely redesigned and reopened last fall. The minimalist new look recalls a typical Japanese ryokan with clean lines and wood enhanced with shades of green and beige. And the food is just incredible! In addition to sushi, there are plenty of udon, soba, wagyu options, and more. Locals say that la cucina giapponese is the new la cucina milanese, which renders Shiro a must for encountering this aspect of the city’s culinary landscape.
Metro: Lima
Website / Reservations
Monday – Saturday 12:30 – 2:30 and 7:30 – 10:30
Closed Sunday
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Manna
After 15 years, chef Matteo Fronduti closed Manna at the end of last summer and reopened with a new look that includes a dark green and earth-toned color scheme, a windowed-in kitchen, and a striking bar, complete with a cocktail program overseen by Mattia Mizzi. I love Manna. I haven’t been to the new version yet, but I would bet my life that Fronduti’s clever contemporary fare is as spot-on as ever.
Website / Reservations +39 02 2680 9153
Metro: Turro
Monday – Saturday 12:30 – 2
8:00 – 10
Closed Sunday
Jin Yong
One of the best Chinese restaurants in Milan left its long-time home on Via Paolo Sarpi, the heart of Milan’s Chinatown, to welcome guests in a new space on Porta Ticinese, just about 10 minutes south of the Duomo. You can read more about it here.
New Outposts of Beloved Places
A second outpost of Matanē, an excellent Japanese street food joint in Piazza XXV Aprile, opened across the street from Wagner’s communal market. I recently dropped in for a splendid aperitivo, which I’ll write more about soon. Metro: Wagner or Pagano
Crosta, Loste Cafe, and Apecesare have opened new outposts in the revitalized Certosina district in far northwest Milan (also home to the previously mentioned June Collective and Lafa). Getting there: take the S5 or S6 Train to Certosa or 12 tram to V.Le Espinasse Via Palizzi
Denis Pizza di Montagna opened up a location on Via Melzo. Metro: Porta Venezia
