Celanto a settembre, Milan - a great little restaurant
We went out this evening with some friends, and they took us to an interesting restaurant which, it has to be said, is a little out on a limb. This is something of a shame because the place has a nice relaxed atmosphere, and more importantly, great food and wine. Our friends had already been there a couple of times, and on both previous occasions, the restaurant had been virtually empty. What a great shame.
This restaurant, which is modern in style and attractively decorated in white, as you will see from the photos on the site, is called ‘Celanto a settembre‘ and is located about 10 minutes by car from Piazza Loretto in Via Teodosio, 102, Milan. There is a map here - click on ‘Dove Siamo’. For some reason, I cannot see the photos when I access the site via Firefox, whereas by using IE7, I can see them in all their glory…
Although the food served in the Celanto a settembre is based on Italian cuisine, it is not traditional Italian cooking, but it is this touch of originality which made it so fascinating for me, plus the fact that the food was excellent, and the standard of presentation of the dishes being very high indeed. The service was good too, but seeing as we were almost the only people in the place, this was to be expected.
Now to the good part. After starting off with a couple of glasses of a very nice Portuguese white, I ordered a ‘Gelato di parmigiano con pere e uva’, which was parmesan ice cream (really!) with pear and grapes, and it was very good. My other half, Cristina, and friend, Sergio, had ‘Timballo di spada con crema di melanzane’ - a sort of mini-flan made with swordfish and served with cream of aubergine, again very tasty. Giorgia, our other friend, opted for the ‘Timballo di carciofi pecorino e bottarga’, which again was a type of flan, only this time with artichoke, pecorino cheese, and ‘bottarga’, which was thin slices of what I think is smoked tuna fish. It too tasted as good as it looked.
The starter was followed by a first course of Spaghetti with prawns, squid, and clams, served with dwarf tomatoes and spinach shoots, which Giorgia went for. My other half ordered Gnocchi stuffed with baccala, again with dwarf tomatoes and clams. The presentation was lovely and the taste did not disappoint either.
The guys, Sergio and myself, instead chose a main course of the intriguing squid stuffed with sea bass and artichoke, all on a bed of stir fried artichoke and served with scampi. Wonderful. The first and main courses where served together, so no waiting around while someone finishes the first course before the main course is served.
For pudding my other half went for the ‘Crema Catalana’, which is an oven cooked cream dish, whereas Giorgia got the hot chocolate tart which came with a pineapple and rosemary sauce. Instead I chose a more traditional chocolate mousse with strawberry sauce. The desserts where superb too.
Wine? Oddly enough we went for a red with all the fish, and the owner recommended a bottle of wine from the Alto Adige (Trento) area, and it was an excellent, quite light, red, a 2002 Sass Roà, Cabernet Sauvignon. In fact one of the other attractions of this restaurant is the very extensive selection of wines on offer. Over 400 of them in fact!
The price of all this goodness? Just over 200 Euros (about £30 a head) for the four of us, however we did have a bottle and a half of wine and the red we went for was not the cheapest the house had to offer.
The Celanto a settembre is open at lunchtimes and stays open until midnight during the week, although it is closed on Saturday lunchtimes and all day Sunday. They do, however, accept orders for private parties on Saturday lunchtimes and on Sundays at lunch and dinner time, if requested. I don’t know if English or other languages are spoken, but I’m going to ask them for some photos, so I’ll update this post when I find out.
Would I recommend this place? 100% yes. The food is fabulous and the menu is highly original. Everything is prepared by the owner, Carlo. It’s just a slight shame it is a little off the beaten track, although a tram does pass right in front of it. But, I think it is well worth, as is often the case, moving off the beaten track to check it out.
Good food, good wine and good company, which all added up to a lovely evening. What more can you ask?
Exclusive! Full English Breakfast in Milan, Italy!
Yes, it’s finally here! As you can see from the (not wonderful) camera phone shot I took this very evening, the full English breakfast down at the 442 pub here in wet old Milan is about to go live!
Tomorrow, from midday on, this scrumptious brekkie will be ready to be ordered and eaten. And you can pick up a plate of these goodies from noon until two in the morning on both Saturday, tomorrow and Sunday. This probably means that this will be the longest English style breakfast ever! And I will be down there with my wee one, and we shall be tucking in.
Tonight’s trial run was tried and tasted by Chris, all round good bloke, and English 442 regular. His verdict: ‘It’s the best full English breakfast I’ve had outside the UK!‘ - High praise indeed and I agreed with him. Wonderful!
Finally an ex-pat can find a decent breakfast that is a wee bit more substantial, and enticing, than the cappuccino and cake that is the usual offering here. Cholesterol overload, here I come.
The cost of this extravaganza? A mere 10 Euros, and this special offer price, includes coffee, tea, and toast. After Xmas you will still get the same, but the price will be 12 Euros. Still not an exaggeration when you consider that brunches in Milan can cost from 16 Euros up.
And you can blame me for the sausages. Check them out, I don’t think you will regret it.
Be there, or be hungry!
Here’s to the 442 and extended British Breakfast euphoria!
Italy’s Irresistible Attraction
A very nice chap from Down Under wrote and complimented me on my blog. He also told me that his wife and himself owned a flat in deepest, darkest, and beautiful Umbria, and that they both made the twenty hour flight from Australia to Italy several times a year. Wow, I thought - people come all the way from Oz just to spend time here. That is impressive in my little book. But that is not all, this gentleman, whose name I shall not mention, also speaks pretty good Italian. And where do you think he developed his ability to speak Italian?
Nope, not in Umbria, surprisingly enough (Well, I was pretty surprised), but in Melbourne. Now, I knew that Melbourne had quite sizeable Italian population, but I did not really think that those of non-Italian origin would go so far as to pick up the language there. Not, that is, until now. And, in Melbourne you can find what is probably the best Italian coffee outside of Italy. Indeed, so good is the Melbourne/Italian coffee, that the local Starbucks was forced to close down, or so this chap tells me, and I have no reason to doubt him.
This is part of what he wrote in reply to my mail, a) thanking him, and b) expressing my surprise at his regular exoduses from Australia to Italy:
My love affair with Italy began while I was hitch-hiking through the country in 1971 from south (Brindisi) to north (Venezia, Milan). My wife had already been captivated a couple of years earlier. We returned several times during the 70s, 80s and 90s, first by ourselves and then with our two children. In 1988, during a job interview, I was asked if I had a dream. I said, “Yes. To own a villa in Italy.” Although I was being flippant, it must have crystallised a true dream because the thought never left me after that. In 2000, my wife and I, together with a group of Australian friends, joined a cycling tour of Umbria. I had undertaken a year’s course of Italian in preparation, being determined not insult the locals by knowing only English. Umbria was a real surprise package with its great scenery, hill top towns and so few tourists! It was a pleasure too, to find that even a little Italian goes a long way in dealing with the locals: better service and sometimes even a discount. In 2003 we went on another cycling tour, this time in the Veneto.
It’s a lovely story, and it amply demonstrates the magic that there is in Italy. This country is truly enchanting, the stuff of fairly tales. A wonderful place for several holidays, not to mention being an intriguing place to reside. Just in case you were wondering, neither this man or his wife have Italian ancestors, unlike me.
Italy, the spell binding Living Museum. And, I might add, although I refer to the country as the Living Museum partially because I am pulling this country’s leg, I also use this term out of affection. If it wasn’t a living museum, it most probably would be so darned interesting.
Sausage Story
First, you start with some meat and a smiling butcher, ideally called Piero:
Next, you chop the meat into nice little pieces:
After that, you mince the stuff, like this:
And then mix it with the special sausage mix, to get this:
Then, it’s back to the mincing machine, for, well, more mincing:
Of course, you need everything to be overseen by a far sighted boss, this wonderful person here:
And the sausage mixture is then popped into the sausage making machine, and this job is made all the easier by having a Nisha and a Piero on hand:
And with a little deft manipulation, you get something like this:
And then, it looks like this:
And finally, we have this:
And the above will be hung in readiness for the big night, by a Nisha:
Yes, everything is just about ready for the grand sausage tasting tomorrow evening.
What a fun afternoon I had today, supervising, observing, and photographing the super sausage making process. Oh, and I sneaked one of the bangers away for a trial tasting. Read more
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