Ciao Marcello! Lake Como and Milan

Finally getting around the documenting a trip we took earlier this month.

Started our trip staying in Bellagio on Lake Como. Pictures or video don't do Lake Como justice, just spectacular. If I had to compare it to something I guess Lake Tahoe would be somewhat similar, minus the villas lining every shore and the Italian cuisine:


Lunch was the big meal each day, and each day on Lake Como I had the same thing - some prosciutto for anitpasto and a primi of Risotto con Pesce Persico (Risotto with fried lake perch). Every place on the lake has this on the menu, and they all had their own version - some the risotto was al dente, others more broken down, some had a saffrony risotto, others brown butter/sage, some the perch was fried crisp, others lightly breaded and sauteed. It was all delicious, this is a fine dish. But I doubt it would taste anywhere near the same unless you're seated at a table looking out over the lake with a glass of wine (preferably a Valtellina Inferno, a light red from Lombardy), that's probably why I've never seen it on a menu anywhere else in Italy. My favorite version was at Alle Darsene di Loppia, just outside the south gates of the beautiful grounds of Villa Melzi in Bellagio:






My wife's not a big seafood fan, her standby was the cotoletta alla milanese - the Italian version of the Midwest's beloved Breaded Pork Tenderloin. I tried a few of hers, they were ok but not life altering like the risottos - save your digestive real estate for something else:


And of course no meal in Italy is complete without a little cheerful banter with your waiter. Here's my BFF Roberto from Il Gatto Nero in Cernobbio:


But enough time in Eden, onward to Milano. First visit here, reminded me of Chicago - very bustling, everybody gets down to business immediately, fast talking, expensive. And good food too, this was a nice lunch at Ristorante Giannino - the best of spring was featured, fresh fava bean soup and asparagus risotto were fantastic:



Luckily I hadn't been fished out yet, the single best dish I had on the trip was this pasta special that the waiter recommended. It had an incredibly ethereal sauce of reduced fish stock and tomato, with bits of fish and shellfish:



And none of our overseas trips are complete without seeking out the most expensive Bloody Mary in town. The Grand Hotel Milan was a likely suspect, and the bartender put together these beauties made with San Marzano tomato juice:



We took a fast train to Parma for a day trip from Milan, and had our favorite overall meal of the trip at Trattoria del Tribunale. I was salivating over every item on the menu, was very hard to narrow down the decision. Hard to resist ordering the Prosciutto di Parma when you walk into a Parmesan establishment and this is what greets you at the front door:



Beside the renowned prosciutto and cheese, Parma is also known for their Tortelli di Zucca (squash) buonissimo!


After plowing through the half the menu we managed to waddle to the bar, where the owner tallies up the bill. Gianni was quite impressed by my appetite, and poured me a nice Amaro gratis - "Here take, is good for the digestion" "Grazie Gianni!"


Unlike our brethren in the South, the Italians don't celebrate their defeated leaders. On this very spot on the Piazza Loreto in Milan, the corpse of Il Duce was strung up by his feet like a medieval criminal and put on public display. Today not even a bronze plaque marks the spot, let alone an equestrian statue. A grizzled waiter out on a cigarette break confirmed that this indeed was the very spot where he hung. In my fragmented Italian I asked where the plaque or marker was, he smirked and replied "no, no - no memoriale"



The Sunday we were in Milan coincided with the AC Milan-Inter Milan blood feud. We didn't make it to San Siro, but I did talk my wife into watching it at a sports bar which was fun. First thing the hostess asked was, "Milan o Inter?" and seated us accordingly (I decided to root for Inter since I hadn't packed anything red). Had beer and pizza, which leads me to pizza in northern Italy. Based on the few that we had in Bellagio and Milan, don't bother - mediocre at best, seems like they're going through the motions just to get it out of the kitchen.

And of course you can't go to Milan without trying the osso bucco. I had a very tasty one at Ristorante Nuova Arena for our Last Supper in Italy:


And with that it's arrivaderci Italia, buon appetito!

Yo Eddie,

Musta missed you in Bellagio by about a millisecond. The Other Dr. Gale and I were there with some friends on 30 April. We'd spent the preceding week in Lenno, two ferry stops away, across the lake from you. What a treat. Glad to see you went local with the little fishes and the wine from up the valley.

See from one of your pictures that you were flying around in that noisy seaplane! We had a glorious terrace in a villa owned by one of my former students, and spent a lot of time watching the ferries, and that noisy plane buzzing around. Who knows, maybe one of the flights I observed had YOU in it!

What a place! Gorgeous. Not to mention the food.
Maybe if I get ambitious, I'll post some photos.

In any case, tnx for giving us your tour!!

Geo

Geo wrote:Yo Eddie,

Musta missed you in Bellagio by about a millisecond. The Other Dr. Gale and I were there with some friends on 30 April. We'd spent the preceding week in Lenno, two ferry stops away, across the lake from you. What a treat. Glad to see you went local with the little fishes and the wine from up the valley.

See from one of your pictures that you were flying around in that noisy seaplane! We had a glorious terrace in a villa owned by one of my former students, and spent a lot of time watching the ferries, and that noisy plane buzzing around. Who knows, maybe one of the flights I observed had YOU in it!

What a place! Gorgeous. Not to mention the food.
Maybe if I get ambitious, I'll post some photos.

In any case, tnx for giving us your tour!!

Geo

Ciao Giorgio!

Yes, we just missed each other. We arrived Lake Como on May 2, had a terrace room overlooking the lake at the Hotel Florence. Those villas looked awesome, but we really liked our hotel I'd definitely recommend it. Couldn't resist the sea plane ride, you see them buzzing around like dragonflies on a nice sunny day and it's, "I want to do that!" Was a lot of fun, their air speed is only 85 knots so it seems more like floating than flying.

Great report.

Fast Eddie wrote:Risotto con Pesce Persico (Risotto with fried lake perch). Every place on the lake has this on the menu, and they all had their own version - some the risotto was al dente, others more broken down, some had a saffrony risotto, others brown butter/sage, some the perch was fried crisp, others lightly breaded and sauteed.

Love to learn new things, especially about places i thought I knew something about. When I saw your photo I was struck by what appeared to be a dead ringer for pan fried yellow perch filets a la Wisconsin, Michigan or Northern Ohio sitting atop risotto. I'm on record as someone born on the East Coast and raised on the Gulf Coast who believes lake perch to be among the best fish one can eat. How cool is is that in the fanciest of fancy Italian resort towns this is the staple. I'll definitely try this up at the lake in Michigan now!

Fast Eddie wrote: My wife's not a big seafood fan, her standby was the cotoletta alla milanese - the Italian version of the Midwest's beloved Breaded Pork Tenderloin.

Very funny. The veal alla Milanese is of course the ur-schnitzel from which the Germanic takes possibly evolved before taking root in Indiana and Iowa....

JeffB wrote:Great report.

Fast Eddie wrote:Risotto con Pesce Persico (Risotto with fried lake perch). Every place on the lake has this on the menu, and they all had their own version - some the risotto was al dente, others more broken down, some had a saffrony risotto, others brown butter/sage, some the perch was fried crisp, others lightly breaded and sauteed.

Love to learn new things, especially about places i thought I knew something about. When I saw your photo I was struck by what appeared to be a dead ringer for pan fried yellow perch filets a la Wisconsin, Michigan or Northern Ohio sitting atop risotto. I'm on record as someone born on the East Coast and raised on the Gulf Coast who believes lake perch to be among the best fish one can eat. How cool is is that in the fanciest of fancy Italian resort towns this is the staple. I'll definitely try this up at the lake in Michigan now!

Fast Eddie wrote: My wife's not a big seafood fan, her standby was the cotoletta alla milanese - the Italian version of the Midwest's beloved Breaded Pork Tenderloin.

Very funny. The veal alla Milanese is of course the ur-schnitzel from which the Germanic takes possibly evolved before taking root in Indiana and Iowa....

I'll be in Traverse City 4th of July, I'll make the perch comparison but I doubt they can match the risotti up Nort! Nor the flora. I expected Lake Como to be much more like northern Michigan or Tahoe as far as climate/greenery, but it's almost a semi-tropical micro climate. All kinds of palms and other plants I never expected to see at the foot of the Alps. Really magical place.

You'll get heated disagreement from the Viennese re the provenance of the schnitzel, they'll tell you the Italians smuggled the recipe through the Brenner Pass.