Bulgari Hotel
Milan, Italy[view map]
Local restaurants
Cucina Economica on Via Guicciardini (+39 2 783 256) is a simple trattoria serving a few quality dishes with style (closed Wednesdays). Trattoria Trinacria on Via Savana (+39 2 423 8250) is a fantastic Sicilian restaurant that opens for dinner. La Libera on Via Palermo (+39 2 805 3603) calls itself a beer cellar but the seasonal food is delicious. (Only open for dinner.) Giulio Pane e Ojo on Via Muratori (+39 2 545 6189), is good for Roman cuisine. Gioia 69 on Via Melchiorre Gioia (+39 2 6671 0180) is a super-trendy combination of sombre Michelin-starred restaurant and black-velvet lounge bar.
More central: Chandelier on Via Broggi (+39 2 2024 0458) is a place you’ll either love or hate, with red-velvet decor, handeliers, crucifix-covered drapes and dressed-up mannequins; the food comes second but is tasty. Open for dinner, Claudio Sadler prepares seafood with a nouvelle approach at Sadler on Via Troilo (+39 2 5810 4451). Nobu on Via Pisoni (+39 2 7231 8645) does Japanese-Peruvian fusion like its global siblings, in a corner of the Armani mini-mall. Chatulle on Via Piero della Francesca (+39 2 342 008) is a sparkling-white restaurant, serving imaginative Italian cuisine. Osteria dell’Operetta on Porta Ticinese (+39 2 8940 7426) serves some of the best risotto alla Milanese in the world. The food is also recommended in Antica Trattoria della Pesa on Viale Pasubio (+39 2 655 5741). 360º on Via Tortona (+39 2 835 6706) is a great brunch stop for help-yourself salads, pasta and pudding.
Local bars
At aperitivo time, the Porta Ticinese area gets packed out; a few hours here is a quintessential Milanese experience. Roialto on Via Piero della Francesca is 700 square metres of restaurant, cocktail bar and cigar bar, with a rooftop pool. Executive Lounge on Via di Tocqueville is a candlelit Indonesian-style bar with cushions and low wooden tables,open until 02h. By the entrance to Parco Sempione on Via Luigi Camoens, Just Cavalli Café is as flamboyant and sexy as one of designer Roberto Cavalli’s clinging mini-dresses, all oriental fabrics and antelope furs, open until 02h. Gioia 69 on Via Melchiorre Gioia (+39 2 667 10180) is a chic minimalist restaurant and lounge bar with a Michelin-starred kitchen, and a lounge filled with black velvet sofas; it’s great for either dinner or a drink.Local cafes
If you fancy a cappuccino, have a roam around the university area of Brera; there are great cafés to be found in the narrow streets.
Marchesi, Via Santa Maria alla Porta, is legendary for its coffee and cake. An institution for breakfast and aperitivi. Taveggia on Via Visconti di Modrone, appeals for its original furnishings and great panini. Cova on Via Montenapoleone is famous for its rice pudding – stop here for post-shopping star-spotting.
Nightlife
Open until 04h, Il Gattopardo Café on Via Piero della Francesca is a former church that converted in 2001. Its imposing chandelier and marble columns give it a fantastic ambience. The all-white G Lounge on Via Larga plays the best music on the nightlife scene.