Yet-unknown places & pleasures in a Milan that’s changing rapidly 🇮🇹

Several years ago when I was living in Madrid, a friend and I visited Milano and came across Orsonero. It is a small shop and Brent, the owner, was the only person behind the bar. We started talking, and Brent Jopson recommended when we returned to Madrid to visit ACID Cafe, a new shop he had not been to but knew by reputation. ACID became a staple the rest of my time in Madrid, and Brent’s recommendation opened my eyes to the tight network of the coffee world.

*Brent Jopson founded Orsonero in Milan, Italy, in 2016. Photos courtesy of Brent Jopson*

Brent is from Vancouver, Canada, and moved with his wife to her hometown of Milano in 2015, at the cusp of an ancient city that was “changing rapidly, becoming more international.” Brent’s Filter guide is a food & beverage professional’s guide to Milan’s food & beverage (and quiet bicycle rides and out-of-town escapes).

Filter: What do you like to do for fun around Milano?

If I have some free time during the day I like to spend it walking around the city exploring different neighbourhoods. Milan is a big city in that it’s densely populated but it’s actually quite small and very walkable; from the city centre you can reach pretty much anything of interest on foot within an half hour. I live and work just east of the main shopping street Corso Buenos Aires, on the border between the Porta Venezia, Citta Studi, and Risorgimento neighbourhoods, and I spend most of my time in that part of the city.

If the weather’s nice I might head out for a bike ride on the Naviglio Martesana (Martesana canal) just north of the central station. The Martesana is a canal that connects the Adda river in the east to the city of Milan and there’s an adjacent bike path that takes you from the city centre out to the countryside (maybe 20-30 km). On the way out of the city you can stop for breakfast or lunch at Tipografia Alimentare, an all day food hub and wine bar. The lunch menu changes daily and they have an excellent in-house bakery. This is also a great destination for natural wine in the evening.

Sunday is my Friday (we’re closed on Mondays) so I usually head out for beer with friends on Sunday night. Craft beer is probably my main food-related hobby after coffee and fortunately Milan has a great scene. My favourite spot in the city is a place called Birrificio Lambrate (the original location on Via Adelchi). It was one of the first craft breweries to open in Italy (1996) and it’s barely changed since I started visiting Milan almost 20 years ago. It’s a bit of a crazy place with loud music and rowdy locals but the beer is seriously good and it’s something of an institution in the craft beer world. If you’re looking to try a selection of beers from different Italian micro-breweries, check out Shallo at their original location in the Brera district or the new location in NoLo.

My only full day off is Monday because that’s when the coffee shop is closed and unfortunately a lot of the other coffee shops and restaurants that I like are closed that day as well. Most hospitality businesses will close one day a week and that’s often Monday. This is something that often surprises visitors and can be frustrating for those that are only planning to spend a day or two in the city, so be warned!

Filter: If a friend from overseas came to visit, where would you be sure to take them?

This is a tough question because honestly there’s a lot to see and do in Milan, depending on what you're interested in and how much time you have. To start the day of course we’re going to need some coffee and while specialty coffee shops are few and far between, fortunately the scene is growing rapidly and you can now find a decent coffee or brunch spot in most areas of the city.

South of the city centre there’s Nowhere Coffee Roasters which, at the time of writing, are just about to move into a new location. This would be my go-to spot for specialty coffee and brunch in the city centre, especially if you’re looking for something savoury like eggs in the morning. Nearby you can also find Hygge, a popular brunch spot that also has good specialty coffee from various European roasters. A little bit further out there’s the bakery Le Polveri, which just opened a new location that I haven’t visited yet but it’s a sure bet if you’re looking for Nordic-style baking and specialty coffee.

Northeast from the city centre in the up and coming Risorgimento area you can find Loste Cafe, which many would say has the best pastries in town, served alongside some top coffee from April Coffee Roasters. Just down the street from Loste is the lovely Terroir, a highly curated specialty grocery store that also serves a selection of baked goods from local bakeries and filter coffee from some of my favourite roasters. Terroir is a great spot to pick up some gifts for your foodie friends back home. Also in that area is an all day spot called Onest which has one of the best coffee programs in the city, run by local barista legend Lorenzo Sordini. They make their own pastries and have savoury options for breakfast / brunch. This is also a great option for natural wine aperitivo or dinner.

As far as museums go, I would definitely recommend the Triennale di Milano, a museum dedicated to design and architecture located just on the edge of the main city park, Parco Sempione. My other favourite would be the Fondazione Prada, a contemporary art centre in the south of the city occupying the grounds of an old gin distillery. Even if you're not that into modern art (I’m not) it’s just a great space to explore and there’s a fun bar onsite, Bar Luce, that was designed by the filmmaker Wes Anderson.

For dinner I always try to take visitors to Trippa which is probably my favourite restaurant in the city. At Trippa you can try a variety of dishes from all over Italy, made with the freshest ingredients and everything can be served family style. Be aware that this place is fully booked year-round so you’ll need to plan ahead and make a reservation, maybe even one month in advance. If you can’t get a reservation you could head to their sister location, Osteria alla Concorrenza, on via Melzo just up the street from our coffee shop, which offers small plates and natural wine in a casual setting.

Filter: What do you like to do to get out of town?

One of the best things about living in Milan is that it’s so well connected to the rest of Italy, and also other destinations in Europe, that you really have an incredible number of day trips you can do with just a short 1-2 hour train ride. The most popular day trip from Milan is Lake Como which can be reached by train in under an hour.

Other cities accessible by short train trips include Bergamo, Turin, Bologna, and Verona. Even Florence and Venice are within reasonable distance. All are highly recommended.

Another very popular and typical Milanese weekend activity is to visit a local agriturismo, which are basically farms that have an onsite restaurant and usually a few rooms to stay in. Agriturisimi are often family run and offer typical regional fare, whatever they are producing locally. One of our favourites is the Rantan Farm House located in Valchiusella, in neighbouring region Piemonte, about half way between Milan and Turin (you’ll need a car for this one). Rantan is owned and operated by Carol Choi and Francesco Scarrone, two young chefs that met and fell in love while working in Copenhagen. On the weekends they do a lunch and dinner service in their home and everything they use is produced on their farm or sourced from their direct neighbours. Rantan is a more, let’s say contemporary, agriturismo and truly an experience not to be missed.

Filter: What well-known things in Milano are actually worth the hype?

The Duomo di Milano, Milan’s main cathedral, is absolutely worth checking out, despite being the most visited tourist attraction in the city. It’s the largest church in Italy (St. Peters is technically not in Italy given that the Vatican is a sovereign state) and one of the biggest Gothic cathedrals in the world. In my opinion it’s one of the most impressive sites in Europe and worth the wait and crowds. If the weather is nice I recommend heading up to the roof where you’re rewarded with unrestricted views of the city and surrounding mountains.

Also worth the hype is Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, located inside the monastery at the Santa Maria delle Grazie church. This one requires some advance planning as space is limited to 35 people at a time so you’ll need to make a reservation online. This is actually to your advantage as you’ll have space to appreciate the painting up close and personal without having to deal with the usual crowd of selfie-taking tourists. Show up early and enjoy an espresso at the new Cafezal location just around the corner in Corso Magenta.

Filter: Where are your favorite quiet corners or green spaces?

While Milan is generally lacking in green spaces, there are some nice city parks worth visiting. Near our coffee shop there is the Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli, the oldest city park and public gardens in the city. This is a great spot to get some exercise or just to hangout if you’re in the Porta Venezia area. I usually head there with my dog on my day off as it has one of the biggest off-leash dog areas in the neighbourhood. It’s a great place to chill out on hot summer days with its large open grassy areas and big trees for shade.

I also love the newly developed Biblioteca degli Alberi (BAM) just on the border between the Porta Nuova and Isola districts. The park was conceived as an urban botanical “library” and features over 100 botanical species, large open green spaces, and contemporary landscape design. On the edge of the park are the Bosco Verticale buildings, a complex of two residential skyscrapers that, as the name suggests, are like vertical forests completely covered with trees and other vegetation.

Filter: What's one other coffee shop there that you really admire, and what about them stands out to you?

Nowhere Coffee Roasters opened during the height of the pandemic and have not only survived but have since expanded into a roastery and are now about to open a much larger location in the city centre. They’ve done a really amazing job of promoting specialty coffee culture in the city and have created a community around their cafe in a way that I don’t think anyone else in Milan has done before them. Everything they’re doing is on point and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are the first Milanese roaster to blow up on the international scene.

Filter: How did you start Orsonero and move to Milano, and what do you love about life and work there?

I’m from Vancouver, Canada, but moved to Milan in the summer of 2015 with my wife Giulia who was born and raised here. Our original plan was to open Orsonero in Vancouver. That summer we moved to Milan with the intention of staying for just three months and then returning to Canada to begin work on setting up the business. We noticed that the city was changing rapidly, becoming more international, and a wave of new hospitality businesses were opening. We also noticed that there weren’t any specialty coffee shops in the city yet so we decided it would be an interesting opportunity to be amongst the first to do it. This month our shop is celebrating its seventh anniversary.

Milan is experiencing rapid growth right now and the city is changing quickly for better or worse. Our business has benefited greatly from the influx of international visitors and I know we wouldn’t have been as successful as we have been had we opened in another Italian city. It’s by far the most forward-thinking city in the country and for me it represents the perfect balance between traditional and contemporary Italian culture.

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Orsonero Coffee is a multi-roaster cafe in central Milan, Italy.

Food & Beverage

Tipografia Alimentare

Birrificio Lambrate

Shallo

Nowhere Coffee Roasters