Tag: Milan

When dehors change life: the example of via Sottocorno in Milan – Italian Cuisine

It is more and more the season for outdoor areas, which flourish in every city and every district. Milan is at the forefront of numbers and also of ideas: the example of a coordinated project that has made a street more enjoyable for gourmets and residents

Summer 2020 is ending, leaving us among the main legacies the return of travel by car (or camper), the rediscovery of the hinterland to the detriment of the beaches and the exponential development of outdoor areas in cities. The consequences of the previous months are evident, totally unpredictable, and which in the latter case have significantly changed the habits of the public and the geography of urban centers.
What happened?
After the lockdown, either because of the distancing rules or because of the low propensity of people to close themselves in the premises, the only way out for restaurateurs could only be to propose outdoor spaces. With different paths: the majority requested (and obtained) a few square meters more in front of your local, big or small. Apart from some differences in legislation and in the area granted, the Italian municipalities have given a free space which in some cases has allowed the previous terrace to be enlarged by 30-35% and in many others to create it from scratch.

1800 dehors only in Milan

The numbers are impressive, starting from Milan where no time has been wasted for psychological reasons: around 1800 concessions from the end of May to the end of July, for a total of 50 thousand square meters which were added to the 78 thousand already present. Some streets have been pedestrianized, in others limits of 30 km / h or 15 km / h have been imposed on cars in order to allow the safe laying of tables, even on the roadway. And if in July – with the city already half deserted – the results were good, it has been a couple of weeks that the outdoor tables (especially in the areas between the center and the suburbs) have been crowded. Milan, in many areas, has objectively improved, thanks to coordinated projects: the most interesting is that of via Sottocorno – a side street of Viale Premuda, not far from Piazza V Giornate – launched by a pool of restaurateurs of which part Danila Biuso patronne, with her husband Andrea Guaita of BBQ, local historian specializing in meat. «It is essential in such enterprises to involve the neighborhood and respect the people who live there. It must be as far from the nightlife as possible, if anything, something that helps the recovery of the premises and makes an area more pleasant. Here a real evening walk has been created, ”explains Biuso.

A small village

This is because, for the first time in Milan, eight restaurants in the same street have entrusted the theme to an architect, Carolina Vecchioni, which has carried out a real coordinated project. "I followed the practice from day one," he says. «I studied the guidelines, the floor plans, calculated the measurements and parameters necessary to bring the tables to the roadway in via Sottocorno. It took several weeks. It was really complicated, especially for the bureaucracy, but it was worth it. I live in the neighborhood, I define it as a small village . The consortium's expenditure was 5200 euros, all for the company that had to review the horizontal and vertical signs. The result is pleasant, even the (few) motorists who have to go at 15 km / h have noticed it as required by municipal legislation. "I took care of the technical part, but the credit goes to the restaurateurs who have customized their spaces with taste, opting for barriers made of camphor, pittosporum, myrtle, lavender, rosemary, oleander or wood hedges . An experiment that will close on October 31st, but important and innovative. "This time it was the emergency that stimulated the idea, I hope that more precise guidelines will arrive next year so that many via Sottocorno will be born in Milan", concludes Vecchioni. He is absolutely right, let's think about it already in the fall.

In Milan the new sustainable supermarket – Italian Cuisine

His name is Erbert and wants to be the answer to those looking for healthy (also through ready and balanced menus) and sustainable food (the brand's packaging is 100% compostable)

A supermarket of selected and, above all, sustainable products: this is how it describes itself Erbert, landed this summer in via Moscati 11 a Milan. Here they are fruits and vegetables, bread and desserts prepared with wholemeal flours, leaven mother and extra virgin olive oil, fish, organic meat, cured meats (without polyphosphates), cheeses (including mountain pastures), take away gastronomy dishes (can also be ordered at home) and packaged products from snacks to preserves, up to condiments. The new supermarket was created with the intention of responding to current trends in terms of expense, or the well-being through nutrition and the environmental sustainability.

Healthy products and balanced dishes

The products for sale by Erbert, they explain, are selected according to the criteria of healthy eating and ready meals are designed to be balanced in their components (a sticker explains the different combinations of nutrients) thanks to the collaboration with a team of nutrition biologists who thought of several balanced menus (there is, for example, the Mediterranean one, the vegetarian one, the one for children, but you can also create customized ones). And nutritionists are also present in the shop to give advice to those who make it expense.

Erbert's sustainable packaging

The shop is made only with low environmental impact and totally plastic free materials, as well as the packs of the products of the Erbert line are made 100% compostable material. The selection of the fruit and vegetable department tries to favor biodiversity and prefers organic and biodynamic crops, while some gastronomy proposals use the waste from plant-based processing to reduce food waste.

Milan will soon have a food forest: in Parco Nord – Italian Cuisine

The initiative is promoted on the crowdfunding portal WowNature.eu and is supported by the chain of natural cuisine restaurants That's Vapore. The goal is to plant 2000 trees as early as autumn

The city of Milan is ready to welcome a new forest. Special, especially because edible. It will be a real one food forest the one that will be born within the autumn of 2020 North park of the Lombard capital: ten thousand square meters of forest dotted with over 2000 plants, among trees, fruit and wood shrubs and medicinal plants. The initiative will see the direct participation of citizens, who through the crowdfunding portal WowNature.eu they will be able to contribute personally by adopting these trees; but also that of the Milanese chain of restaurants specializing in natural cuisine That’s Steam: in the specials Green Saturdays organized by the locals, 50% of the proceeds from the orders of vegetarian dishes will be donated to the cause.

«We created the Green Saturdays to combine the two aspects most dear to us: helping people take care of themselves through a natural and balanced diet and, at the same time, helping to take care of the environment in which we live together , wanted to emphasize Vanni Bombonato, founder of That’s Vapore. "Green Saturdays are a permanent initiative that in the future will also involve other geographic areas and will come to life in existing and soon to be opened premises".

Yes, but what exactly will the plants we find in this Milanese food forest be? The selection was curated by Etiforspin-off of theUniversity of Padua, engaged in projects to enhance the forest heritage and creator of WowNature. The first species that will appear within the Northern Park, and that will arise in the portion of the park of Bruzzano, are maple, hawthorn, hornbeam, cherry, ash, wild apple tree, hazel, wild pear, blackthorn, dog rose, dogwood, oak and linden. Citizens will thus be able to discover more closely the properties and characteristics of each of these native species, through three different seasonal routes, Spring, summer and autumn. Not only that, the goal will also be to stimulate curiosity for history, uses and recipes concerning these plants. A special QR Code shown on the park signs will give you the opportunity to do everything even through your smartphone.

"The project," he explains Lucio Brotto, co-founder of Etifor, "aims to create a place where people can learn the use in the kitchen of products that derive from our flora such as leaves, berries, seeds, fruits, buds and so on. With the intent, when the plants have grown enough, to make their products freely available to all with guided experiential and didactic paths. Furthermore, in a few years, each of these plants will be able to retain between 7 and 33 kg of CO2 every year . Those who decide to contribute to the collection via crowdfunding will be able to participate in the grounding event, which – healthcare emergency permitting – is expected between October and November.