Walking Around Milan: The Latest Openings
Milan is bustling with fresh opportunities on how to spend time in the city. Here, a selection of what not to miss.
Zaïa
Aethos group brought a new dining experience to Milan called Zaïa, which opened to the public in February. Located in Piazza XXIV Maggio, it’s a few steps away from the bustling Darsena district.
Interior designers from Spanish Astis Studio brought elegance and comfort to the ambience through warm colors, including bottle green and ecru mixed with wooden accents. Chefs Luigi Gagliardi and Dario Guffanti head the kitchen. Both trained in prestigious restaurants like Maio and Il Marchesino by Gualtiero Marchesi, among others. Their cuisine is known for its Mediterranean flavor and the presentation of the dishes, which blend tradition and innovation. Case in point: the Vialone Nano rice with mizuna and sesame crusted lamb with honey and kale. Benjamin Habbel, chief executive officer and founder of Aethos, the international community of hotels and clubs, is aiming for “Zaïa to establish itself as the place to be in the city; a location with attention to the smallest details, where you can discover refined and quality cuisine, influenced by gastronomic traditions of the Mediterranean countries, with a unique twist.”
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Zaïa
Piazza XXIV Maggio, 8 – 20123
02-89-41-5901
aethos.com
Verso
Chefs Remo and Mario Capitaneo have recently unveiled their first solo experience, the Verso restaurant, which partnered with the Duomo 21 group and offers a prime spot overlooking the city’s cathedral. The translation of the name is “toward,” the meaning of which encompasses the dining concept of the Capitaneo brothers. First, toward guests thanks to an open-style kitchen, which is surrounded by three tables from which diners can enjoy the chefs’ work. And, of course, toward cooking and recipes made using high-quality raw materials mixed with tradition and innovation. The chefs come from Apulia, and they add what they learned from their experiences abroad to the region’s culinary tradition. Both were trained by Carlo Cracco at Cracco Peck and by Andrea Berton at Trussardi alla Sala, among others. Their menu features plates like scallops, foie gras, Polignano’s carrots and saffron, spaghetti with crab and “mariascuolo,” a type of rocket salad. Icaro Milano, the furniture company for kitchens, was in charge of the design project for the kitchen while Andrea Longhi Design studio provided the furniture.
Verso
Piazza Duomo, 21 – 20121
02-89-75-0929
ristoranteverso.com
Glamore Milano Duomo Hotel
The Glamore Group has unveiled its first five-star “Glamore Hotel,” in time for Milan Design Week. Located in the building right next to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, overlooking the Duomo Square, the name is derived from the combination of the words “More than glamour.” It features 15 rooms and suites. The plan is to add 33 more suites in spring 2024. For now, they’re all located on the third floor, from which guests can enjoy a view of the cathedral. The hotel is part of a vertical hub that integrates multiple experiences, entirely managed by Glamore Group. On the first floor there’s Terrazza Duomo 21, a cocktail bar with live DJ sets. Inside, the breakfast room offers a pastry selection led by Ernst Knam, dubbed “the king of chocolate.” The hotel includes the Duomo 21 Restaurant, which thanks to the large floor-to-ceiling windows offers a stunning view of the luxury shopping arcade Galleria. The dishes were created by chef Roberto Conti, who combines typical Italian cuisine with international flavors. “Milan has always been at the top of our destinations, we could not imagine a more suitable and exclusive location like Duomo Square to open our first hotel, celebrating the heritage and splendor of this representative place and, at the same time, extending the tourist offer of Milan through a fascinating lifestyle experience in the heart of the city,” said Federico Crotti, hospitality director of Glamore Group.
The Glamore Milano Duomo
Via Silvio Pellico, 2 – 20121
02-54-07-6238
theglamoremilano.com
Bianchi e Nardi 1946
Bianchi e Nardi 1946 is a Florentine brand specialized in high-quality leather goods, and a boutique is now available in Milan, in Via Bagutta 18. Inspired by the art of Gio Ponti, the store was conceived as a dining room where the products are served at the tables. The brand was founded in 1946 by Mario Bianchi and Aldemaro Nardi, whose third generation families now head the company. The strategy adopted by the heirs is to continue to work with luxury fashion brands, but also aim to build an identity for their own label. In this vein, the brand Bianchi e Nardi 1946 was launched in 2014, under the creative direction of Alessandro Fumagalli.
Bianchi e Nardi 1946
Via Bagutta, 18 – 20121
Tel. 02-87-32-5739
bianchienardi1946.com
Boyy
The Boyy flagship space in Via Bagutta, 9 is the result of a collaboration between Danish artist FOS and Boyy’s founders Jesse Dorsey and Wannasiri Kongman. The project was launched in 2021 with the idea of having three stages of transformation around the concept of luxury retailing. While high-end retail tends to be static, Boyy embraces transience. The first two stages were called “Via Bagutta Install 01” and “Via Bagutta Install 02,” and now for the third iteration Boyy is temporarily closing to allow FOS to conceive a permanent store design concept, which will be unveiled during Milan Design Week. “The way I’ve been thinking about it, it’s almost like a living organism that grows and metamorphoses in real time. We always envisioned the third rendition as the final act,’ says Jesse Dorsey, cofounder of Boyy. The exterior material, ceppo stone, was used as cladding and shelving. The fabric-lined walls from the previous owner of the space, an old Milanese shop, were retained to be mixed with Brutalist aluminum window frames, designed by FOS.
Boyy
Via Bagutta, 9 – 20121
Tel. 32-87-73-0229
boyy.com
“Helmut Newton Legacy” exhibition
Palazzo Reale is hosting the “Helmut Newton Legacy” exhibition until June 25, which presents the famed photographer’s work through 250 photographs, magazines, documents and videos. The presentation has been curated by Matthias Harder, director of the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin, and by Denis Curti. Among the most iconic images, an assortment of unpublished photographs is presented for the first time in Italy to the public, with a focus on the most unconventional fashion shots. Via the exhibition, which divided into chronological chapters, visitors will be able to go through all the phases and evolutions of Newton’s life and career, from the beginning to the last years of his work. The show starts in the ’60s with his work for Vogue and Elle France in Paris, the city where he developed his own style and where key meetings with Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld took place. The ’80s were also an important moment, during which he published the “naked and dressed” series in both Italian and French Vogue. Newton’s innovative and avant-garde approach is also on display through the advertising campaigns shot for brands such as Chanel, Thierry Mugler and Swarovski.
Palazzo Reale
Piazza del Duomo, 12 – 20122
Tel. 02-88-46-5230
palazzorealemilano.it
“Cere Anatomiche: La Specola di Firenze | David Cronenberg” exhibition
Fondazione Prada is staging the “Cere Anatomiche: La Specola di Firenze | David Cronenberg” exhibition until July 17. “Cere anatomiche,” literally anatomical waxes, is the second project through which Fondazione Prada is displaying works of great value from other institutions’ collections. In this case from “La Specola” museum, one of the jewels of the University of Florence’s Museum of Natural History. The exhibition features a selection of 13, 18th-century ceroplastic works from the Florentine museum, focusing on female wax models and the way women’s bodies have been represented for scientific purposes. There is also a short movie by filmmaker David Cronenberg at La Specola in dialogue with the exhibition. In the film, titled “Four Unloved Women, Adrift on a Purposeless Sea, Experience the Ecstasy of Dissection,” the director uses digital editing to introduce four works on view into an alternative narrative. Creative agency Random Studio was in charge of design on the upper floor of the Podium, the main exhibition space of Fondazione Prada, where La Specola’s waxes are displayed using a scientific museum-like approach in their original glass cases, and surrounded by sketches.
Fondazione Prada
Largo Isarco, 2 – 20139
Tel. 02-56-66-2611
fondazioneprada.org
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