Milan’s hot list
Milan’s institutions include the Duomo, Da Vinci and Da Giacomo.
The three-floored upmarket food emporium, Peck; the 19th century arcade Galleries Vittorio Emmanuel, and the Di Brera Pinoteca also top Milan’s “must see” list, along with the city’s opera house, La Scala.
These are the things that keep Milan’s body and soul together: food and art, music and Catholicism. The scale is monumental; the execution stylish.
The Duomo is a masterpiece, no doubt about it. It took nearly six centuries to complete and is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world.
Although crafted by mortals, it appears weightless, floating above humanity’s ebb and flow.
Da Vinci’s Last Supper, on display in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, exerts its own gravitational pull. So many people want to see it and the painting is so vulnerable, that only 30 people at a time are granted access, for 15 minutes.
We swam against the tide on this one, and instead visited Milan’s public gallery, Di Brera Pinacoteca. It too has a Last Supper, painted by Rubens, and Caravaggio’s enigmatic Supper at Emmaus.
If we eat with our eyes, Ristorante Da Giacomo presents a feast. It’s a homage to Milanese trattorias of the early 19th century: wood panelled walls, embossed wallpaper, arches and stucco are the order of the day.
Owner Giacomo Bulleri opened his first restaurant in Milan in 1958. Sixty years later, his kingdom includes not only Da Giacomo, but an equally stylish restaurant facing the Duomo (Arengario Giacomo), as well as Bistrot Giacomo and Pasticceria Giacomo.
Da Giacomo’s food is old-school. Fish mostly, selected from the display, cooked and sauced as you like it, and filleted and served at the table. Dessert was a few peeled figs and little cannoli.
Milan’s fashion set allegedly adore the joint, so we book well ahead and wear our Sunday best. No need for either, as it turns out. Our table for two accounts for exactly half of the clientele on the day we’re there; and the gentleman at the other table is wearing shorts. Alora!
Summer heat forgives all kinds of sins, even in Milan.
