apéro in milan!

and bar basso—home of the negroni spagliato

my hotel - 21 house of stories città studi

i remember sleeping really well on my second night in milan. the previous night i had been really suffering with my rheumatoid arthritis—i was in the middle of a pretty bad flare and it had kept me awake all night.

i’ve not talked about my RA here before, and will go into more detail in a separate post. but just know, despite being at the start of a trip of a lifetime, i was in immense pain. anyone with autoimmune things or chronic pain will understand how hard that is to comprehend.

regardless, justine was arriving that afternoon and i was determined to have a great day in the city. luckily the flare was just happening in my fingers, my knee and ankle were in good shape and so i was still able to walk (on that particular day). i spent a lot of my time strolling around the neighbourhood brera, which i just loved so much—

‘the small and elegant brera neighbourhood is located halfway between the quadrilatero d’oro, famous for milan’s reputable fashion houses, and the sforzesco castle. its beautiful, cobbled streets are home to 18^th-century buildings as well as original stores selling cosmetics, handicrafts and, of course, clothes. however, unlike the galleria vittorio emanuele II and the via montenapoleone, which are home to some of the largest national and international brands, brera is renowned for its small boutiques of emerging designers.’

brera

i wondered into the pinacoteca di brera which is one of the most captivating galleries and adjoining libraries i have ever been to. i was completely enamoured with the humongous library in particular.

after hours of strolling, justine text me to let me know she had landed. i went and met her for a quick coffee before we decided to go back to the hotel for a rest. she had just got in from a flight from nyc, so needed to re-calibrate ready for the most important part of the day—apéro & dinner!

our first stop was the famous bar basso, inventor of the negroni spagliato—which was in fact delicious. we caught up over drinks and a few snacks, then carried on walking to our next pit stop and small plate.

bar basso

luckily, justine and i share very similar taste in food, and most things it would seem. we talked about our love of food & italy. about our excitement to be going to cooking school together (in calabria, of all places) and other travel plans we both had, post-cooking school.

next stop was osteria alla concorrenza, the most amazing old school osteria that serves small plates and natural wine (ofc, it’s europe for god’s sake).

i loved the fact that this was such an old school place, yet was at the forefront of modern milanese snacking. the crowd were achingly cool—dressed incredibly chic, yet unassuming. the epitome of achingly cool (in my opinion). people spilling out on the street, smoking cigs whilst pouring out the last of their bottle. some people sat casually perched on the curb, laughing with their friends. in short—europe was europing, in all its glory.

i was happy.

we had the most insanely delicious bruschetta. it was quite simply some toasted sourdough with stracciatella, a few dollops of the most glorious nduja / tomato sauce and a then a few cracks of fresh black pepper.

osteria alla concorrenza

it was perfect. simplicity at it’s finest, which if you know me and my cooking—is everything i strive for. a few simple ingredients can produce the most amazing food. and this—this was amazing!

last stop that night was our actual dinner.

giacomo bistrot—the restaurant describes itself as traditional italian cuisine with a contemporary twist. it was indeed that, and again—everything we ate was exquisite. we also could not get over how stunningly beautiful it was inside, opulent without being overly so. ornate details, green wallpaper and a beautiful bar that had quite clearly been there for years and years.

we shared an array of things, but of course—we had to try the risotto milanese. it was perfect.

giacomo bistrot

after a few more glasses of wine (we love wine), we headed back to the hotel as we had an early flight the next morning. we were leaving for calabria first thing, and so it was time for bed.

it was almost time for cooking school!

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this week’s recipe

i had the best dinner in nyc in september of last year at romans, and one of the dishes was this incredible bruschetta with braised vinegar peppers, anchovy and tender herbs. this is my take on it.

braised vinegar peppers

1 piece of sourdough, toasted

2 red bell peppers

2 green bell peppers

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup of sherry vinegar

salt to season

anchovy for serving

any tender herbs for serving

begin by setting the oven to 350 degrees f / 170 degrees c.

next deseed and cut all of the peppers into strips, making sure to remove all of the white pithy bits.

add the peppers into a heat proof oven dish and then drizzle with the the olive oil and vinegar—toss to combine. season to taste.

pop into the oven for 45 minutes. once soft, remove from oven and store in the fridge for up to 7 days.

this is meant to be enjoyed at room temperature. i love this with my romesco, as well as a slick of labneh sometimes, too. perfect for a solo lunch in the garden, or poolside with friends and a little tot of wine.

xo