Grey and gold for the interiors designed by architects Rodolfo Sormani, Alessandro Tonassi and Matteo Ranghetti
© Particolare Milano
At Porta Romana in the city of Milan, a new restaurant, “Particolare Milano”, has just opened its doors, for an aperitif, lunch, dinner or cocktails. This is a place where first and foremost you can feel at home, either inside or in the one-hundred square meter garden, organized to create an oasis of tranquillity and relaxation in Milan. With special attention to sustainability: the restaurant is totally plastic free and is committed to energy efficiency and to fighting waste in in the kitchen.
We spoke to Luca Beretta, sommelier and maître, about the philosophy of the restaurant which, as we will learn, is also the story of the name of this new buen ritiro in Milan: «In every journey, in every person I look deep into the eyes of, in the restaurants I have been a guest of and in their dishes and in a glass of wine, I have always sought a detail that I could capture and make my own. That detail, “particolare” in Italian, remains a part of you and when you need it, takes you around the world even with your eyes closed, like scents do. What we would like is for every person who comes to the Particolare to find their own detail… and take it with them!» This is an answer that demonstrates special attention to the customer, that expresses the will to create every possible condition of wellbeing so that his experience remains unique, so that what he takes with him when he leaves the place is something more than just a gratifying memory.
The owners of “Particolare Milano” are Andrea Cutillo Luca Beretta and Mino Traversi, the latter F&B manager of hotel chains, who share a passion for the world of catering. Their business model aims at a diversified offer.
We aim at the various times of day to offer the most comprehensive service possible, to use the different spaces of the restaurant at all times: lunch and dinner, aperitif both inside and in the garden, as well as fine cocktails after dinner.
Luca Beretta, sommelier and maître
In the kitchen is Andrea Cutillo, the chef, who cultivates a creative cuisine with specific attention to selecting small producers and a special preference for ethical husbandry practices. His is a “Mediterranean cuisine that carries within it a history of international travels and experiences», he says.
What’s in his menu? In synthesis, many raw dishes, a trip to Spain in search of the finest meats, some ideas from Asia.
More specifically, one of his most renowned dishes is the Crunchy ravioli filled with ossobuco, where the Asian influence appears in his use of rice flour and the reference to the chef’s Neapolitan origins may be seen in the shape of the ravioli, which look more like panzerotti. The menu also offers Octopus cooked three different ways (boiled, fried and grilled), served in various consistencies and temperatures with purple potatoes, Taggiasco olives, tomato confit and crunchy celery; and Squid and peas, in which the squid is cooked slowly at a low temperature in an infusion of lime and ginger, served with creamed and whole peas, with the addition of the squid’s ink brushed on it and on a biscuit. All the fish carry a “Friend of the Sea Certificate”.
The interiors, designed by Rodolfo Sormani, Alesandro Tomassi and Matteo Ranghetti reproduce a domestic atmosphere from the 1950s and 1960s, to make the customers feel at home, but with an extra touch. The strong point of the project are the wall finishes, the reproduction in porcelain gres tiles of a worn rug that is made to create a warm and familiar environment. This element led to colour palette, with a dominant shade of anthracite grey, and gold for the furnishing elements and the lamps.
Ingredients
4 medium eggs
panko bread
1 bunch fresh asparagus
1 bunch summer purslane
20 gr black summer truffle
1 litre sunflower seed oil
Procedure
Clean the asparagus and boil it in salt water (keeping one raw tip on the side to decorate the dish), cool in water and ice. Purée and filter the resulting cream. Poach the eggs in hot salted water with a bit of lemon, with the help of a roner at 62°C for 55 minutes. When cooked roll them in the panko breadcrumbs and fry in the sunflower seed oil for one minute.
Preparing the dish
Pour the cream of asparagus in a bowl and lay the fried egg over it. Finish with the purslane dressed with salt and oil and black truffle shavings.
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translation by Olga Barmine
