See you Al Fresco

The Expo is approaching and the city’s impulse to give itself a gastronomic appearance that keeps up with the world’s metropolises is increasing. Among the many promising autumn openings in (sensationally lively) Milan, Al Fresco is very intriguing. This original establishment will open to the public on Monday October 7th in the Savona-Tortona area, a traditionally attractive neighbourhood though not so much when it comes to food.

The project is signed by Emanuele Bortolotti and Ferdinando Ferdinandi, the former an architect and agronomist from Milan, the latter an advertising man from Rome with a passion for restaurants, already at work for over a decade behind Piquenique, a “bistrot de charme” in nearby Via Bergognone. It is here that the two met and one year ago decided to transform the space behind number 50 in Via Savona – once a fashion showroom with a backyard plenty of turbines and hydroelectric factory pumps – into a “meeting point with kitchen”.

The formula is inspired by Petersham Nurseries, a green-cult-restaurant in Richmond, set in a green-house and awarded with a Michelin star. Green prevails here too, painted on the outside on the mulberry trees, cherries, aromatic and ornamental plants that create a shadow in the outdoor space (around 40 seats available here, on top of the eighty inside) between vintage chairs and tables, and a huge-grill that is soon to be the main attraction in the centre. Inside, the same decor fringes a modern architectural concept mixed with a Provençal bucolic cottage-style.

«Al Fresco is an Italian word», the partners explain, «that in English is used as a way of saying ‘eating outdoors’». Despite the freshness, the garden, the herbs, the outdoor area (and a bunch of lettuce in the logo) it doesn’t mean this is a vegetarian restaurant (meat and fish abound in the menu), but in fact we are in an oasis intended to make people serene, in the words of Calindri, from the “attrition of modern life”. Except that, thirty years after the TV ad, what is served on the table is not the liqueur but dishes from an “easy” Italian cuisine prepared by Kokichi Takahashi aka Taka, an experienced Japanese chef who will personally interpret the instructions given by Alessandro Negrini and Fabio Pisani, the two chefs of Il luogo di Aimo e Nadia, who are together responsible for Al Fresco’s cuisine philosophy and have already worked with the Japanese chef for 3 years («with us he has worked in all the stations »).

«This will be a place», the trio explains behind the Neapolitan ceramics that cover the kitchen counter (the kitchen is open-view and overlooks both the dining room and Via Savona) «in which people will come ‘also’ to eat, spending a medium-low price for simple dishes made with excellent products». This will be a light and more casual version of the temple located in Via Montecuccoli, that is to say, with dishes as noble such as Pappa al pomodoro with burrata and Monterosso anchovies or pasta and risotto first courses but also small servings such as the Pizza-focaccia with salame felino or tuna ‘del signor Camillo’».

Two tables seating around ten people each – one inside, in front of the kitchen and one outside – indicate that here people will also be able to sit and eat plenty on Sundays at lunchtime, when you never know what may be served but you trust your instinct just like you did with your mother («we’re preparing some wonderful surprises», warn the chefs). In the future, however, one will be able to come at any time during the day, even with their laptop alone, just to eat a dish and pay almost only that: service-taxes have been cancelled, filtered mineral water is free, as so is Wi-Fi. Less is more.

Al Fresco
via Savona, 50
20144, Milan
Average prices: starters 8, first courses 10, main courses 14, desserts 6 euros
Closed on Sunday nights. Open daily for lunch