Eating my way through Milan, where the aesthetics live up to the food

Open this photo in gallery:

Located beneath the vaulted canopy of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, in the shadow of the Duomo, I order my first round of negronis on Camparino’s patio during aperitivo hour, those fleeting moments between day and night. The key ingredient in my negroni, Campari, dates back to 1860, invented by Gaspare Campari, who also opened this handsome bar in 1867, just as the Galleria was completed.

Open this photo in gallery:

It’s a perfect cocktail, served with wee, pickled immature peaches, spiced marcona almonds and crunchy polenta chips amid the building’s Renaissance Revival architecture, all triumphal arch entrance, iron and glass roof and intricate floor mosaics. I nibble, sip, smile and spoil all of my senses.

The city, after all, is the design capital of Europe. Already home to major fashion and design houses such as Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Missoni and Armani, I decided to book a handful of spots where the aesthetics live up to the food. In Milan, the two are innately linked.

Ratanà

Open this photo in gallery:

While Porta Nuova, Milan’s main business district, is dotted with gleaming skyscrapers, it’s also a massive urban park and a symbol of experimental design possibilities. The residential buildings of Bosco Verticale, for instance, are teeming with hundreds of balcony trees and shrubs that cloak their facades. Ratanà's menu is equally fresh and sustainable. “We respect the ingredients,” chef Cesare Battisti tells me tableside. “Just south of Milan there is much agricultural land.”

The northern Lombardy region, known as the industrial and commercial hub of Italy, is also famous for rice, corn and dairy products, with its undulating landscapes running from Alpine range and gentle foothills to plains that slope into the area’s lakes and rivers. On the menu at Ratanà you’ll find fresh cavatelli with raw peas, a pea cream, pods, sprouts, shoots and preserved lemon; smooth carrot hummus with fennel and radishes; asparagus – steamed, creamed and raw – dished out on handmade Italian ceramics. The restaurant’s menu changes monthly, but the classic Milanese risotto remains, tinged with saffron and drizzled with a rich veal roast sauce and gremolata. The chunk of bone marrow sitting on top makes for especially lusty eating.

Gattullo

When I walk into this bakery café and aperitivo spot that still reflects its glorious 1960s beginnings, I can barely speak – and not just because I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet. With 12-foot ceilings, midcentury modern polished wood interiors and brutalist Mirano chandeliers, Gattullo still feels lovingly wrapped in the history of Milan’s iconic Gio Ponti design era. Well-dressed locals shoot back espressos at the bar. The place is most famous for its baked goods: traditional cakes and pastries such as my Minne di Sant’Agata, a tribute to the third-century virgin martyr and patron saint of Italian breast cancer patients. To that end, the round little sponge cake is soaked in rose-scented liquor and filled with ricotta and chocolate chips, then covered in marzipan and topped with a candied cherry, the whole treat resembling a perfect little breast. And it is absolutely perfect with a caffè doppio.

The Bar at Ralph Lauren

Open this photo in gallery:

This garden is unparalleled in Milan – so lush, it’s almost like a manicured jungle teeming with ivy and hydrangea. Rattan chairs are slung with oversized pillows covered in signature RL fabrics such as the circa-1980s cabbage roses and ticking stripes. The service is impeccable. I feel absolutely at ease, even more so when drinks and snacks arrive in the form of icy martinis and even icier shrimp cocktails with the largest, pinkest, most tender shrimp. And hot, crisp fries served with truffle mayo and Ralph’s sauce (like a smooth Big Mac sauce), plus vegetable caponata and crusty bread. It’s La Dolce Vita, as interpreted by Ralph Lauren.

Bice

Located in Milan’s fashion district, off Via Montenapoleone, the city’s high-end shopping street (I noted a designer clothing store for dogs), Bice is packed, the waiters are charming, and the artwork – a mix of paintings, prints, murals and mirrors – is personal, having been gathered over the near-century the restaurant has been in operation. The see-and-be-seen vibes are almost as iconic as the timber ceiling and red Scottish plaid carpet, and so is the food. A medley of breads – some soft, some crunchy – are brought to the table while I peruse the menu. Zucchini flowers filled with ricotta are pan-fried Milanese style, homemade tagliatelle with Genoese basil pesto, veal scaloppini with porcinis and potatoes, ossobuco with risotto, and then the best tiramisù for dessert. The traditional Tuscan recipes and classic Milanese dishes all benefit from a homey brightness, like my linguini with clams – more fresh clams than pasta – spun with lemon, garlic, white wine, olive oil and parsley and cooked with precision. Known as a celeb hub during Milan Fashion Week, brands such as Etro have even been known to do takeovers, covering the tables with their own home and textile collections.

Passalacqua

Passalacqua in Como, this year’s No. 1 hotel in the world, according to the World’s 50 Best survey, is just a 45-minute commuter train ride or drive from Milan. It was once a private villa, built in the 1800s for Count Andrea Lucini Passalacqua, on land once owned by Pope Innocent IX. Long known as one of the grandest of properties tucked into the pristine palms and gardens of the Lake Como shoreline, it’s still a lavish spot of timeless Italian décor, filled with antiques, Venetian glass chandeliers, marble and frescos. It’s also a wash of colour and casual brio. Against this backdrop, Michelin-starred chef Viviana Varese creates tasting menus that speak to the sunshine and the sea: scallops with a cool carrot and citrus jus; a deconstructed lobster tucked back into its shell for presentation, then plated with a marsala reduction and caper leaves; a luscious fresh pasta I shall never forget – tagliolini with smoked lemon butter, a caciocavallo cheese foam and the serious luxury of a giant quenelle of caviar overtop. And I was actually moved by the care taken with the tableside preparation of cherries jubilee. It was almost like a waking dream. And then I spotted Harry Styles having lunch a couple of tables over.

Open this photo in gallery:

One in a regular series of stories. To read more, visit our Inspired Dining section.