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August 10, 2018
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September 28, 2018Neighborhood Milan Gem!
Osteria La Piola – Milan, Italy
Visited: September 2018
Our b&b host Walter at the B&B Bronzino House (a wonderful place to stay in Milan … courtyard below) had emailed me that a nearby restaurant would be a perfect place for us (Tracy, me and our traveling friends Kim and Mary) to enjoy on our first night in Milan.
He was spot on.
At 8 p.m., we arrived at Osteria La Piola, mercifully located only two blocks from Bronzino House (we had walked a lot on our first day in Milan, including visit to the to of the Milan Duomo … don’t miss that experience). Walter had told me that La Piola offers true Milanese cuisine.
The cheery yellow rooms had a nice feel, and our very personable waiter waved four menus in front of us …”English or Italian?” he asked. Tracy picked one and it was in English. He laughed, because they were all in English. Looking at the menu, we decided Italian dishes are done a disservice by English translation, so we asked for Italian menus. Much better!
Since we had booked this place before we left, I had checked out the menu online and knew I had to try the Risotto Pere e Zola (Gorgonzola and Pear Risotto) to start, as did Tracy. “Wow!” As an aside, Tracy made a good rendition of this dish when we returned home.
Some of the better dishes (and they were all very good), were the veal scallopini in lemon sauce with tempura veggies (peppers, onions, zucchini, potatoes). Beef raviolis in butter sauce in a fried parmesan bowl, and the “Wow” main dish of the evening … Tracy’s Involtini with beef wrapped in pancetta and those same tempura veggies.
Mary’s beef with asparagus and roasted potatoes were good. The pasta here was the perfetto way to start our Italian culinary adventure.
To go along with our meal was a spectacular Barbera from La Morra (where we would spend four glorious days the following week). Thanks to a 20% discount by reserving through The Fork website, our meals came to €65 per couple (less than half as much as that dinner would cost in L.A.).
Splitting the bill, Kim threw down his credit card while a very tired me (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it) took out the “Sweet Dreams” Sofitel London Heathrow Hotel room keycard from the previous evening and placed it on the table. The quizzical look on our waiter’s face told me I might have made a faux pas.
Thankfully it was a short walk home, so I didn’t have to hear about my error for long. We liked Osteria La Piola so much, we returned two nights later. At a little after 7:30 we were among the first to arrive (so American), by 9 p.m., there wasn’t an empty table.
I was intrigued by some big balls I had seen on a plate the last time we were here, so I ordered the fried cheese balls. Deeeeelicious!
Mary and I loved our breaded veal cutlet with saffron risotto (sing with me … “I’m just wild about saffron”). Kim enjoyed veal meat balls with fried risotto, and Tracy, knowing a good thing when she has it (no, not me) dined on the same dish from two nights ago. Again the price for dinner was ridiculously low.
Before we left, Kim decided to scare one of the chefs by taking his photo. Italy 2018 was off to a great start!
Osteria La Piola
Viale Abruzzi, 23, 20129
Milano, Italy
+39 02 2953 1271
Monday – Saturday Lunch: 12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Dinner: Monday – Friday 7:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. (Saturday 11 p.m.)
www.lapiola.it