For an aperitif, dinner and aperitif in Milan we are spoiled for choice, including bars, pubs, trattorias, taverns, exotic, ethnic or traditional restaurants. If, however, as well as the palate you also want to amaze the eye, looking for locations with evocative or bizarre and unusual furnishings , here is a selection of 10 places (strictly in alphabetical order) that can offer you, to quote a famous film by Monty Python , “Something completely different.”
At Casa Eatery (via Conca del Naviglio 37, Milan – 02 36743350). Looking for a comfort zone ? On the Navigli you can ring the bell of A Casa Eatery. You will be invited to enter a cozy, intimate apartment with shelves full of books : it is the place designed by Giacomo Pastore, where you can drink, eat and relax… better than at home.
Bar Luce (Largo Isarco 2, Milan – 02 56662611). Inside one of the cultural centers of Milan, more precisely in the first building of the Prada Foundation , there is the restaurant designed by Wes Anderson in 2015. The director of Grand Budapest Hotel and I Tenenbaum , using particular color pallets, furniture of epoch, formica furnishings, allows visitors to Bar Luce to immerse themselves in the aesthetics of the Italian fifties and sixties .
Beda House (via Murat 2, Milan – 02 603282). Apparently an English pub, but inside you immerse yourself in the Victorian era . But it does not end there: connected to the restaurant you will find a space that resembles a Gothic church. This is La Miniera, a steakhouse set up, among others, by the set designer Alessandro Bettonagli.
LùBar (via Palestro 16, Milan – 02 83527769). In the southern part of Villa Reale , a portico that once was the carriages, there is the bar , which in Sicilian dialect becomes the bar precisely there. Inside the spaces of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna it is possible to taste Sicilian street food , revisited by the Gam group of Milan. And in the background, jazz music.
Nottingham Forest (viale Piave 1, Milan). What’s strange about this place? On the threshold it looks like a cocktail bar like many others, but once inside the eye is assailed by a decor that mixes the oriental with the Caribbean and the African . Instead of the glass, you will drink from creepy skull-shaped containers , or from vials of some mad scientist, or from a more reassuring shell.
Officina Cocktail Bar (via Giovenale 7, Milan – 392 8600000). The secret ingredients of this place? Pots and cocktails . The Officina Cocktail Bar was built near where special and customized motorcycles are built. In addition to the smell of petrol, there will be 5 different types of cocktails to make your head spin. Drink that, just like motorcycles, you can get customized by the barmen, as you prefer.
Potafiori (via Salasco 17, Milan – 02 87065930). For plant and flower lovers there is a place ready to welcome you with its scents, in the Bocconi area. At Potafiori, you can listen to music, savor special dishes and even order bouquets of flowers to give as gifts or to embellish your home when you return.
Risoelatte (via Camperio 6, Milan – 02 39831040). In the center of Milan there is a portal to the Sixties . Risoelatte is a restaurant with home cooking that offers its guests an absolutely vintage decor . You will eat between hanging laundry, vintage posters, listening to music played by a Seeburg tre corone from 1961. Just like in those old Italian comedies that we miss so much.
Upcycle Bike Cafè (via Ampère 59, Milan – 02 83428268). Inspired by a New York club, Italy ‘s first Bike Café Bistrot is a neighborhood bar. Here you can come to relax, read or work inspired by the very particular decorations that surround you. For cycling enthusiasts, but not only.
The Wagon of Cascina Biblioteca (via Casoria 50, Milan – 348 8634972). Before the pandemic in Milan there was the Atmosfera restaurant tram : the service is temporarily suspended, but for fans of vintage vehicles the alternative is an old wagon from the 1930s stopped in the Lambro Park , transformed into a bar, a meeting place and social inclusion, employing disadvantaged people. Here, in addition to the aperitif, you can have a breakfast or attend events.
