MILAN: A Nonna-style lunch

Previously on my Milan Cocktail Notes series, we had a crudo hamburger and a delicious daiquiri.

[November 2017] – Sunday: I hopped on the #2 tram on via Torino. The orange car traveled down this shopping street to Porta Garibaldi in the Navigli neighborhood.

Located just down the street and around the corner from Mag café, we all met at a place called Iter – the Mag group’s most recent locale.

Inside, the decor had that eclectic vibe that this bar group embraces, with a global travel twist. The business cards looked like boarding passes, and along the right wall is a huge board resembling a train timetable.

The sound of classic 60s/70s musician Adriano Celentano was playing as we sat and sipped a Bloody Mary-style cocktail. The menu – printed on a parchment-type sheet – displayed the food offerings for the day.

It was Sunday, and Iter offers a pre fixe menu themed Domenica dalla Nonna. The name translates to Sunday at Grandma’s: a time when you go to grandma’s house and fill up on whatever she served. At Iter, the staff selects a region for their nonna/grandmother and make their menu of the day based on the foods typical to said region.

Today, Iter honored the region of Liguria. The menu listed traditional Ligurian dishes such as Pan e pumada, Linguine acciughe e pinoli, Trofie al pesto, Meac ciua, Coniglio alla ligure; some of which I did not recognize as they may have been written in a Ligurian dialect. Taking the pencil provided, we marked all or just the offering of our choice. And finally, for dessert I opted for a slice of a freshly baked pine nut sponge cake – I couldn’t resist.

After lunch, we headed to the Brera district for a ginseng coffee break and to a classic art museum…