For whom the Gong tolls

Restaurant Gong oriental attitude opened around a month ago in Milan, in a cautious fashion. It is signed by the Liu family, the same that is already behind two among the most established oriental restaurants in town, Claudio Liu’s creative-Japanese Iyo (the first Asian restaurant in Italy to receive a Michelin star) and the traditional Chinese restaurant Ba asian mood, directed by the other brother, Marco. The newborn in Corso Concordia has the elegant touch of Giulia, the second-born of the three siblings who were all guided by patient and enlightened father Xue, who arrived in Italy a few decades ago, first in Emilia and now for a long time in Milan.

Gong is a rather ambitious culinary project as for the first time it tries to make Chinese and Japanese traditions meet, something which we have always made sure not to put together, in both the East and West (if not in an flawed way in cheap and sly restaurants). Yet the two countries divided by the Sea of Japan «Speak a similar language», Giulia underlines, «Even ideograms, though written and pronounced in a different way, have many similarities in their meanings. We never considered the issue of a border to trace in terms of taste and geographic limits do not interest us».

Food, it is a known fact, demolishes geopolitical fences and this is what happens at Gong, where in the production room the Chinese and Italian origins of Giulia emerge, while in the kitchen it’s the turn of those of Japanese chef Keisuke Koga from Fukuoka and in the dining room those of fellow countryman Mototsugu Hayashi from Nagoya-shi, a true star in the team: he worked for 6 years at Pescatore in Canneto sull’Oglio, next to the great Antonio Santini, he participated in the opening of Trussardi alla Scala in Berton’s golden age and in 2010 he conquered the title of sommelier of the year according to the Guida ai ristoranti dell’Espresso. For the first time “Moto” will pair Italian wines with oriental dishes conceived with Italian raw materials, a brave challenge.

All right, what dishes though? «Alternative dishes», specifies Giulia, «the result of a separate identity from Iyo and Ba. A journey partly inspired by Kai Mayfair [a Chinese restaurant with a Michelin star in London]». That is to say entrées that intersect distant worlds (Tartare with red prawns from Mazzara with mango sauce; Caprese with avocado, ramato tomatoes and tofu with white sesame sauce), unconventional Dim Sum (see photo above) and more traditional main courses (Black codfish from Alaska with grilled miso, the typical gindara and a philological Peking duck), great classics and, for this reasons, the most successful dishes so far.

Gong – oriental attitude
Corso Concordia, 8
Milan
+39.02.76023873
Closed on Mondays
Average price: 50 euros