Gastronomy
Restaurants
 Finding
an elegant restaurant to spend a pleasant night in a great environment,
with a perfect service, and a delightful meal, is not a difficult
task in Milan. Where world famous chefs pride themselves in charging
you for the pleasure of dining in their place. It is not the food
itself but the whole experience what is important in a city with such
an amazing cuisine as Milan.
Though many restaurants in the center of Milan are pricey, expense-account
places, there are a few survivors from a time when the city wasn't
dominated by the fashion crowd and business execs. Just outside the
immediate center, the Ticinese and Navigli areas are full of restaurants
and cafes selling food; there's also a fair amount of choice around
the Stazione Centrale and Piazzale Loreto.
Milan's restaurants are the kinds of places gastronomes dream about
and Milanese chefs are not at all humble. In fact, visitors to the
city will quickly learn that the chefs at some restaurants charge
enormous amounts for the privilege of eating at their establishments.
Prices in some of these places are so high that even most of the locals
do not dine at them, leaving them primarily to business people on
expense accounts.
Cuisine
 Unlike
most Italian regions, Lombardy exhibits a northern European preference
for butter rather than oil as its cooking
medium, which imparts a rich and distinctive flavor to the cuisine.
Alla milanese-style cooking means that the food is usually dipped
in egg and breadcrumbs
mixed with grated Parmesan then sauteed in butter.
 One
of the most popular specialties here, osso buco,
is almost always paired with risotto,
its
Milanese-style preparation enriching it with chicken
broth and saffron, imparting a
rich flavor and yellow hue. The Lombardy lakes are a good source of
fish, particularly trout and pike. Gorgonzola,
a strong, creamy, veined cheese, and Panettone,
a sweet yeast bread with raisins, citron, and anise, both hail from
the Milan area, although they are enjoyed throughout Italy. |
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