This place really is a surprise: it’s not just an excellent wine shop and restaurant with a pastisserie attached to it. It is part of a wider project that wants to divulgate to the world the beauties of Milanese and Lombard cuisine. It’s placed in the heart of Milan, in a cross street of via Torino and its name is Enoteca Regionale Lombarda.
It’s a place with a distinctive atmosphere with its barrels of barriqued wine, its tables of old wood, that once were used to spin cotton, and its cordial, warm vibe. The wine is poured directly from the wooden barrels at the entrance for a more authentic experience and the wines come from the best wineries of and out of the region.
You could drink your wine with hot or cold meals. The kitchen offers ancient traditional dishes but always marked out by a contemporary touch. If you wanna have a snack your options go from a tasting of typical antipasti, to polenta with fondue, to cotechino or smoked trout. The first courses are just perfect. The risotto is the star here, and very rightly so. Sautéed. cooked with barolo wine or, as tradition wants it, milanese-style.
There are also the daily soups, gnocchi or cappelletti. If you want to play it safe, order the spectacular veal ossobuco with gremolada (a special dressing made with parsley and garlic), that always has a reason to be eaten. Or maybe a scaloppa or a veal stew. No choice will leave you disappointed.
What matters the most is to leave room for the dessert: the almond crumble cake with mascarpone cream Milanese-style is fundamental or the dark chocolate moelleux with a liquid center of Bronte pistachio could very well tempt you, even if the latter isn’t exactly typical of Lombard cuisine.
In conclusion, the Enoteca Regionale is the ideal place to eat the best dishes of Milanese gastronomy. Try it out, the charm of tradition is all here.