Paolo Sarpi Pedestrianisation

September 13, 2008 · Filed Under Milan - My Zone · Comment

The Paolo Sarpi area of central Milan has become somewhat overrun by wholesale clothing outlets run by Chinese companies and the situation has caused problems for local residents.

Now, after lots of umming and aahing, the Milanese authorities have decided that the only way to overcome the unwelcome effects of turning a shopping area into a wholesale area is the pedestrianise the zone. The pedestrianisation works are in progress as I write. Read more

Tags: Italy, Milan, Paolo Sarpi

Omelette & Baguette

July 6, 2008 · Filed Under Italian Food · Comment

We keep on returning to this cute new little eatery which has only quite recently opened around these parts in Milan.

It’s easy to see why we keep on finding ourselves there - it’s charming and the food is highly original for pizza and pasta fuelled Italy. Not that I’ve got anything against pizza and pasta, but sometimes, a change is a good as a rest, as they say.

Apart from the fact that this place is open until late at night, 7 days a week, which in itself is unusual for Italy, the food is very good.

As you may expect from the name and the logo above, the menu is egg based, although there is plenty for non-egg lovers too.

However, those expecting eggs will not be disappointed. This evening I went for the Brick à l’oeuf with mozzarella. Just what is this brick thing? Some may know, but for those who don’t, the Brick is a particular way of cooking what I believe is egg white. I’m not sure how it’s done, but it’s cooked on the underside of the pan, I am told. Despite an odd cooking method, the result is lovely. It’s a sort fan shaped thin and crunchy shell, a little like batter.

Inside the Brick à l’oeuf, there is another egg, which oozes egg yolk when the crunchy shell-like covering is penetrated, and, just for good measure, there is some mozzarella. This is served with either a small salad of tomatoes, lettuce and grated carrot, or chips. Should oozing eggs not be your thing, you could go for the curious and lightly spiced Brick Patate e Carne (Brick potato and meat), which has the same crunchy shell, but square, this time and it’s filled with a spicy potato and meat mix. Again, this can be had with salad or good old chips.

There are plenty of other tempting treats, such as salads and baguette based sandwiches, not to mention lots of other egg based dishes, such as the Mele and Zola (apple and Gorgonzola), omelettes.

To wash everything down you can even order a nice bottle of red or white wine, or some beer. The puddings are not bad either, especially if you like rice pudding, which is very hard to come by in Italy.

Am I wrting this little post to garner this place some publicity? Nope, not at all. Word has already spread, and the place is choc a block most weekends. Indeed, booking is not a bad idea.

Omlette & Baguette is on two floors. Around the entrance there are a few tables, but upstairs, there is a spacious area with around 15 tables. Service is good too, as indeed are the prices, which are probably about the same level as good old MacDonald’s (if you exclude wine!), only the quality and atmosphere are in an altogether different league.

Bad points? Only one - the portions could be a wee bit more generous, but I’m probably nit picking.

You’ll find this place right at the start of the end of Via Paolo Sarpi which joins up with Via Canonica, and not, as their ‘in-progress’ website and menu confusingly mentions, at Via G B Bertini, 6.

Like to book? Give Omlette & Baguette a ring on 02 8738 8885. It’s well worth checking out, especially if you are looking for something a little different.

As far as I know, Omelette & Baguette is not part of a franchise, but it very well could become one, in my not so humble opinion. Good place. Oh, and there is no service charge.

Tags: egg, eggs, food and wine, Italian food, Italy, Milan, Omelette & Baguette, Paolo Sarpi

Pizzeria Photo Gallery

February 24, 2008 · Filed Under Milan - My Zone · Comment

It was pizza night tonight, although it was not the standard Italian type pizza, but the ‘pizza al trancio’, which is the ‘deep pan’ version of the traditionally thin pizza. There are two pizzerias near us that do this type of pizza. One is Da Giuliano which is located at the Corso Sempione end of Via Paolo Sarpi in Milan, and which has been there long enough to have become something of an institution in these parts.

Oddly enough, I’m not a great fan of the Da Giuliano deep pan pizzas. I find that they are just too heavy and I don’t like the texture of the pizza base. Luckily, there is another of these places, Da Mimmo, which is at 2 Via Alfredo Albertini. This street is a small side road that connects Paolo Sarpi with Via Canonica. Anyway, I prefer the deep pan pizza that is place does, even if, I have to say, I don’t really like the Italian deep pan pizza that much.

My other half does though, so we often find ourselves either eating there or bringing some of this substantial pizza home, as we did this evening.

The Da Mimmo pizzeria is a strange place. The thing that strikes you is that everything is very Spartan and functional. It is also a little dated and looks as though the place was last done up back in the sixties or seventies. As you walk in you see about three or four rows of long brown melamine tables, which are set up banquet style, and if you eat there, you may well find yourself sitting next to people you don’t know.

Actually, in general Italian restaurants are not intimate, and the tables are often set very close to one another. And if you are the only people in the restaurant and another group comes in, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will sit themselves down at a neighbouring table. OK, enough of the set up of Italian eateries.

What is interesting about the Da Mimmo pizzeria, and makes it worth a visit, if only for some pizza to take away, is the selection of stunning photos of desert landscapes, African people, and four by fours ascending and descending dunes which adorn the walls. This evening, as often happens, my curiosity got the better of me I asked about all the images.

It turns out that the owner of the pizzeria loves going on tours to Africa, and has been doing so for many years, hence all the photos. At the moment this gentleman is somewhere in the midst of Lybia on a ten day tour of the country apparently. The he take photos are not digital, but of the traditional film variety.

This pizzeria cum photo gallery, which is closed Sundays, is actually quite a fascinating place, and it is cheap, and popular with the locals. If you do try it out, do not forget to spend a few minutes looking at all the images. They really are very good.

Tags: africa, Art, desert, evening, fascinating, film, images, interest, interesting, Italian, lovely, Milan, Paolo Sarpi, People, photo, photographs, pizza, restaurant, restaurants

The Dragon’s Revenge?

February 19, 2008 · Filed Under Milan - My Zone · 3 Comments

Anti-Chinese feeling in my area of Milan appears to be running a little higher than usual. Someone seems to be getting some kind of warped pleasure out of scribbling ‘Cinesi merda’ (’Chinese shit’ is the translation) on the walls alongside Chinese run businesses in Via Paolo Sarpi and its immediate vicinity here in Milan.

Oddly enough, the Chinese residents of the area have not taken to writing ‘Italiani merda’ on the walls in the area, or have they? Well, I don’t really know. So, I wondered, how do you write ‘Italiani merda’ in Chinese.

Well, out of sheer curiosity I asked the bar staff of Chinese origin in a bar I pop into on Sundays for a quick coffee to write ‘Italiani merda’ in Chinese. These people chuckled a bit at my request, smiled, and then obliged, with one of them writing the offending words on a paper napkin.

Ah, I thought, now I’ll know if the Chinese are getting their own back. Except for the fact that I discovered, about two minutes later, that I could not even work out which way was the right way up for this group of two, what I assumed to be, words. I don’t even know whether the writing was a translation of the offending words, or a Chinese equivalent, to be honest. The writing could have read ‘Who is this idiot asking such a stupid question’, or worse, for all I knew.

This rather pointless act of abject curiosity has brought me to two conclusions.

First, it really would be pointless for the Chinese to go around scribbling ‘Italiani merda’ all over the place in Chinese, as the Italians would have no idea they were being insulted.

And, secondly, I doubt whether there are that many graffiti artists in China, as it would take them ages, in their elegantly complex language, to write anything on the walls there, especially seeing as the spray paint cans beloved of those who write all over the place are not the most precise of instruments. If anyone would care to correct me on the existence of graffiti artists in China, then please do.

PS We went for a Chinese meal in one of the restaurants near us this evening. And it was very good. Indeed, the fame of this particular place has even reached as far a field as Genova, or so I discovered from a friend of mine from Genova this evening.

Tags: bar, Business, China, chinese, dragon, ethnic tension, graffiti, Italia, Italian, Italians, Language, Me, Milan, odd, Paolo Sarpi, People, tension, translation, Writing