Claudio Liu of Iyo illustrates the ideas and inspirations collected at Expo delle Idee, for the the future of restaurants

Claudio Liu, Italian-Chinese patron at restaurant Iyo in Milan, was one of the participants in the discussion on restaurants – coordinated by Paolo Marchi – at Expo delle Idee, organised in Milan last 7th February. Tomorrow a second event will take place, in view of the creation of the Carta di Milano, this time at the Ministry guided by Maurizio Martina. We will soon give you a detailed report on this

Sitting at the Round Table organised by the Ministry for Agricultural Policies and, in particular, at the table "Aggiungi un posto a tavola: la ristorazione di domani", dedicated to the future of restaurants and coordinated by Paolo Marchi, was a very interesting and stimulating experience. The opportunity for confrontation with other professionals, each one with their business philosophy, their vision of food and the restaurant industry, let some complex themes emerge as well as visions that were sometimes opposite.

Eugenio Boer presents the recipe for one of his new dishes at Essenza, which he recently opened in Milan

Dutch-Italian chef Eugenio Jacques Christian Boer, after closing the experience with Enocratia and some consultancy jobs, a few weeks ago returned to direct the kitchen of a gourmet restaurant. Essenza, in Via Marghera in Milan (tel. +39.02.4986865) – of which we wrote here. The latter was also one of the restaurants participating in Birra Moretti’s Il piacere in abito da sera. It was on that very occasion that we had the opportunity to taste this splendid dish, perfectly paired with Birra Moretti Grand Cru

This dish is strongly reminiscent of my beautiful experience beside Norbert Niederkofler at St.Hubertus in San Cassiano, in Alta Val Badia. I have balanced the flavours based on the sweet cooking of the arctic char and inspired by the mountains where it lives. I thus needed a good risotto as a base, made fresh with a nice mix of herbs, not too heavy and with a few “special” notes. This is why there’s oil aromatised with ashes and the horseradish is raw. I then needed some crispiness - I found it in the arctic char roe which is sparkling and not too sapid.

In Negrini and Pisani’s philosophy, intelligent solutions to avoid our identitarian impasse

Fabio Pisani and Alessandro Negrini, co-chefs at Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia in Milan on the stage of Identità Milano. With Danilo Giaffreda, author of this article, they gave life to a lesson focused on the records of our culinary tradition, the forerunners of many of today’s trends in international fine dining (photo Brambilla/Serrani)

Two weeks ago I was on the stage of the Auditorium at Identità Milano, speaking with Alessandro Negrini and Fabio Pisani, the two young chefs of Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia. The pretext was the story of the historic restaurant in Milan, as seen through their perception. The – more ambitious – objective was to speak about Italy and the Italian restaurant scene starting from their experience.

The Piccolin brothers divide themselves between the Alpine restaurant and their vineyards in Umbria

Risotto creamed with pumpkin, stir-fried porcini with thyme and a reduction of balsamic vinegar from Modena, an excellent first course by Roby Piccolin, chef at restaurant-pizzeria Ariston in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Belluno

Un tempo a Cortina d’Ampezzo, l’Ariston era un cinema e se la memoria non mi ha tradito del tutto anche un albergo su via Guglielmo Marconi, proprio di fronte a quella che era la stazione dei treni (a scartamento ridotto, poco più di un giocattolo che il boom degli anni Sessanta ha spazzato via) e che da mezzo secolo accoglie le corriere. Trasformato lo stabile in un condominio e chiuso il cinematografo, il nome ora troneggia sulle insegne di un’agenzia immobiliare, un bar-gelateria e un ristorante-pizzeria.

Ora mi sta a cuore quest’ultima realtà, nella quale si impegnano a fondo i fratelli Piccolin, con il maggiore...

Spaghetti versus risotto? The Costardi brothers play with two essential elements in Italian cuisine

Christian and Manuel: the two Costardi brothers for many years now have been the chefs of the Hotel Cinzia in Vercelli, a family business since four generations. They are obviously very familiar with rice, too. However, this year they were invited on stage at Identità di Pasta, during the Congress held in February in Milan. They also recently decided to put in their menu a Spaghettone with tomato and basil, which has a lot to share with one of their famous rice dishes (photo credit Brambilla/Serrani)

Once upon a time there were two boys, Christian and Manuel, both of who attended a kindergarten run by nuns... This is how this story begins because our Risotto al Pomodoro, tomato risotto, was born for the very reason of forgetting the risotto served in kindergarten, which was acid, a light pink colour, overcooked and, let’s say it: disgusting. The Costardi's Tomato Rice is instead now one of our “must”. Besides, since we put it into a tin, it has become a signature dish, as the English would say.

A great project by Autogrill together with Slow Food and Niko Romito Formazione was presented in Milan

Sala Alessi was packed with people this morning for the presentation of "Il Mercato del Duomo", an ambitious project starting on April 30th, one day before the Expo. It is signed by Autogrill in collaboration with the Università di scienze gastronomiche in Pollenzo and Niko Romito Formazione. 5K square metres over 4 floors, a "cathedral dedicated to food culture". This morning, among others, Niko Romito, Marco Bolasco, Gilberto Benetton, Carlo Petrini and the mayor of Milan Pisapia spoke about it

Sala Alessi in Palazzo Marino crowded this morning for the presentation of an ambitious project, signed by Autogrill with the essential contribution of Slow Food and Niko Romito Formazione.

The chef’s last dinner. He will have a restaurant of his own in Como by the end of 2015

Paolo Lopriore at the end of the farewell dinner at Kitchen in Como. To the left, his maître Stefano Gaiofatto, to the right, fisherman Simone Fraquelli

We arrive at Kitchen a little late – due to the bad weather – and upset after the news of the week: the clamorous separation between Grand Hotel di Como, under the new Starwood management (that is to say the Americans of Sheraton and other famous brands) and the brilliant chef with hair that looks a bit like Einstein. At Kitchen however, the atmosphere is peaceful: maître Stefano Gaiofatto welcomes with the usual slightly British liveliness, Lopriore is smiling; no blood will be running, except the one necessary for the civet.

The report of an interesting dinner in Milan with the winery from Abruzzo and Alice Delcourt’s dishes

Sofia Pepe of the Emidio Pepe winery in Torano Nuovo (Teramo, Abruzzo) with Danilo Ingannamorte, maître and sommelier at Erba Brusca in Milan. An evening dedicated to Montepulciano and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo (photo by Francesca Bertani)

Last Friday at Erba Brusca, a really beautiful restaurant with vegetable garden located on Milan’s navigli, we participated in a tasting of Emidio Pepe’s wines. This famous winery from Abruzzo is located in Torano Nuovo, among the winding hills of Teramo: the 12 km separating it from the sea and the winds of Gran Sasso, bestow on these lands a fortunate micro-climate.

French chef Sylvain Sendra paid a tribute to his Italian origins with a new restaurant

Sylvain Sendra, 37, one Michelin star, three restaurants. His career in the restaurant industry began at 24 with bistrot Le Temps au Temps

Sylvain Sendra is a young Parisian chef, originally from Bresse. After his first bistrot had become successful in 2008, together with his wife Sarah, he opened a restaurant in the fifth arrondissement, Itineraires. He soon received a Michelin star, standing out thanks to his creative, never forced or excessively complicated cuisine. With a great attention...

We return to the just-concluded Congress to find the most interesting inspirations in terms of sustainability

Enrico Crippa’s Orto d'inverno [Winter kitchen garden] was one of the dishes presented at Identità Milano, in a lesson the chef from Piazza Duomo in Alba dedicated almost entirely to vegetables. This is only one of the green inspirations we collect in this double article

Pietro Leemann (Joia - Milan) and his 100% green philosophy are one thing altogether, so emblematic is his coherence and commitment on these themes and on the fact that “what we eat says a lot about us, and the same applies to what we cook, and especially to how we cook it”. Daniela Cicioni (vegan and raw diet consultant) confirms she’s a tireless experimenter, a true pioneer in vegetal fermentation – it was truly enlightening listening to her...