“Sem ammò al camp di cènt pertigh!”, used to say my grandfather to his farmer helpers. It is a Milanese proverb that was commonly said by the grandfathers or the elderly men in the neighbourhood. And if you have never heard (because of no grandfathers, of being adopted Milanese but not born here or maybe you are not at all Milanese) it does not matter, as you are surely curious to understand its origins and meaning. It rapidly became a dilemma. But one day you found the solution. “And where?” would you say.
Note it on your plan, or directly on the GPS: that field, which measures even hundred rod, is situated in Carate Brianza, along the viale Trento e Trieste, at the civic 63. You are in Caràa, in the Brianza dialect, at the Camp di Cent Pertigh restaurant. An expanse of fields reaches the horizon in front of you, your eyes are lost in a variation of emeralds and precious golds. Woods with hornbeams, oaks, elms and planes define and point the ingress: you find yourselves in the Parco della Valle del Lambro, in an old isolated farmstead, nowadays turned in a restaurant.
The past is rural and it is also the common thread in the Camp di Cent Pertigh restaurant: a regional Italian cuisine, distinctly Lombard, signed by the chef Silvano Zappa and its sous-chef Daniele Caleffi, where are proposed local and seasonal dishes, with the aim to rediscover old smells and all the taste of the tradition. A wine list reminds winner and defeated, with labels from Italy, Europe, overseas and even the other hemisphere. The furniture, both the interior and exterior, highlight the rural style of the restaurant, with old wooden tables, hay bollocks, caned chairs, field flowers, linen, cotton, bone china hand painted, shelves and coffee sets made in archaic metals.
What about the service? It is five starts: impeccable and unforgettable. Culinary homage at the beginning, glasses topped up, priority to women, the right respect and attention as much as needed. Followed step by step and satisfied in any desire and ambition. Comfortably seated in the inner courtyard on hay bollocks, equipped with cotton and jute cushions, you will understand that proverbs and dialect here are reigning. Light glares light up not only your faces, but also the menu, which tells stories about food, wine, men and women who, in a hundred rod field, lived, believed and invested.