Al Tatto was founded by three women that used to work for Pietro Leeman, founder of the first vegetarian restaurant in Italy that obtained a Michelin star. After a few years offering only a catering service, they have now opened a bistrot. In a neighborhood where you don’t expect it, but where the surprise to find a jewel like this is thus even bigger.
Al Tatto
Via Comune Antico, 15, 20125 Milano MI
Website | Instagram
Tu – We | h19.00 – h23.00
Degustation menu 40€, drinks apart
Al Tatto, vegetarian dining in Milan
The three chefs got together again some years ago to open a catering service that is called Al Tatto. However, they have known each other for some time already, thanks to the years in which they collaborated in the restaurant Joia. This was in 1989 the first vegetarian restaurant in Italy that obtained a Michelin star seven years later, and which today is still theirs.
All natural
The location of the restaurant might seem a bit unusual. Al Tatto is situated in a secondary street in the Greco area on the north side of the centre of Milan. It is a historic neighborhood in the city, known mostly for the small artisans that work here. The restaurant sits in an old bakery with two big windows that open to the street. Already from the outside one understands the familiar atmosphere of the place, created amongst others with the use of natural materials. The walls are covered with raw earth, the tables made of natural stones and decorated with ‘bouquets’ of home-made grissini. A very cute detail: in case you made a reservation (which is suggested), you find your name written on the table with chalk, as if it became a chalkboard.
Thanks to the big windows, Al Tatto not only gives something to its guests but also to the neighborhood. It looks like an open living room that can be enjoyed by everyone that passes. No importance if it is the woman next-door that walks her dog or a Milanese hipster looking for new places to share on his Instagram account.
A delicious dinner, dish after dish
We choose to try the degustation menu, that includes all the seven dishes available including a welcome and goodbye of the kitchen. I don’t say it very often, but it was all delicious, from the chestnuts to the cauliflower to enjoy with a piece of home-made cinnamon bread and served with a sauce of feta and spicy honey. This was followed by a tempura of mushrooms (we are in autumn) with green apples. Then a ravioli di plin in the vegetarian version with parsnip, almond cheese, thyme and grated lemon peel. Each dish was served with the explanation of one of the chefs (Giulia, in our case). There is no doubt about the quality of the ingredients and the selection in putting them together: really all the seven dishes were delicious and served in right-size portions.
Before finishing the dinner with a dessert followed by pralines filled with hazelnut cream, we were served a ‘shot’. It was composed of a small ball made out of frozen persimmon cream, filled with ginger and vodka. Then followed by what I personally find the most important element of the dinner, The dessert was a tartlet made from hazelnut flour, filled with pumpkin and yoghurt cream, slightly sprouted with licorice powder.
As you might notice, I am really positively surprised with this experience and of the exquisite food that is prepared and served with a lot of attention and passion. Al Tatto is the perfect place to spoil yourself and your best friend or lover with a good dinner and a relaxed night out
Autore
