Thursday 21 May, 4.00 pm a post on social networks announces the reopening of L’Alchimia, the first starred restaurant in Milan to raise the cler after two months of stop. Without warning, the calls and the first 10 reservations arrive, 16 for Friday, 20 for Saturday. They are already full booking given the new regulations that require a distance between the tables and between diners of at least one meter. If there had been Berlusconi he would have said «Are we in crisis? Restaurants are full!. But this is not 2011 and this is not a restaurant like any other.

Alchemy: few changes, little nightlife

The atmosphere is that of the first day of school, of an inauguration, there is joy and a little nervousness. But they have studied the specifications, made the simulations, put on the masks and are ready for this "new normality" in terms of hygiene and sanitation in which some gestures and some cleaning products need to be changed; but that in the end scares much less than the grave silence that reigns along the road. Semi-city center, affluent residential area, between Piazza Tricolore and Piazza Cinque Giornate; a 10 minute walk from the Duomo, after 20 a fly does not fly so much that there seems to be a curfew or, to put it differently, still the lockdown. People are still afraid, they have become used to being at home, you don't know: but nothing but nightlife.
Apart from the disinfectant at the entrance and the staff in masks, a careful eye is needed to find the differences with the usual room. The restaurant is elegant, but not in plaster and therefore they just removed a table and made the round ones for 4 only for two people. Half of the place settings are canceled "But I start to worry when I have a queue outside," explains Alberto Tasinato, patron and young master with an enviable curriculum behind him made of awards and experiences in 5-star hotels and 2-star restaurants. Tasinato is a star of the room, a service maniac and an incurable optimist. This is his first solo experience as an entrepreneur and, together with his team of loyalists, he has obviously thought of everything. As he had done before, two years ago to build the venue: two hours later, the queue is already written on the book of reservations and they are already planning to do the double shift on the first Saturday of opening. But Berlusconi wouldn't be right anyway and that's why.

Delivery on foot: a neighborhood place

No secret, Alchimia will also be a starred restaurant (just earned in 2019), but it is a neighborhood restaurant. He took the place of the Gaboardi Pogliani grocery store and reinterpreted its spirit: excellent food and excellent wine not only for special occasions, but to be able to experience the place, which offers bars and restaurants together, in everyday life. “The clientele – says Tasinato – we built it the old way. Wandering around the neighborhood and leaving a welcome babà with a note to the residents. The babà was good, they arrived. " Of course guerrilla marketing, thanked them concierges. "We started with the home delivery, Casalchimia, and we found ourselves making deliveries on foot."
The kitchen is signed by chef Giuseppe Postorino and has a clear mission: to be good, understandable, affordable for all palates. Looking at the menu, you are not embarrassed not to know what to choose, because nothing convinces or is unfamiliar, no oddities made just to amaze, circus presentations, invaluable flavors, but cutlet, an excellent braised veal cheek with mashed ratte potatoes, a wonderful Risotto Milano-Langhe (yellow, whipped to perfection, with tartare and hazelnuts), served in combination with a saffron and hazelnut vermouth. It is eaten à la carte and with € 50, there is a new one menu +39 designed for the restart at 39 € consisting of 4 courses. You can spend € 25 for a bottle of wine, or hundreds, depending on your tastes and possibilities.

New horizons, narrow

Alchemy had no ambition to become a 3 Michelin star destination restaurant, of those who "are worth the trip" and who become destinations of food and wine tourism. It does not live on tourists, it does not live on whipped gourmets who eat raw pigeon with bitter sauces or molecular scallops sponges. It was a restaurant that looked to Milan, to Italy, which was making a name for itself thanks to the star, but above all to be a "good restaurant where you feel good", in short: it is the creative experiment of a chef; it is no coincidence that the patron is someone who has started out as a waiter and is always in contact with people.

For the big restaurants of the global fine dining scene, the market was instead a tiny niche of fans around the world, who are now unable to travel. The horizons of a globalization of customers, rather than the kitchen, have now narrowed to those of fifty years ago, and at least for months they will remain these. Those who for years had only looked elsewhere, far away, and ignored the poor and uninspiring neighbors, today find themselves having to regain them. And even the few people covered by social distancing will be more than available. The Noma in Copenhagen, a symbol of this type of venue, understood it and reopened making hamburgers for this reason: to survive it can no longer be an “experience” for the few, but must return to do catering for the many of the surroundings , at least for now. There is a queue. It is not the end of fine dining, it is not a change of identity, but mere tactics. And to win the war (or the crisis), they need that.

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