Babyccino Milan » Restaurants

Il Rosa al Caminetto

admin — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:46:06 +0000

Il Rosa al Caminetto is the restaurant of a 4 star hotel behind the Duomo, in the very centre of Milan. Thanks to Marcello Forti, a young entrepreneur and new dad, the restaurant has taken a turn and become quite family friendly.
First of all, children under 8 eat free on any day, lunch or dinner. Then they have a big amount of crayons, markers and colouring books which they will happily bring to the young customers to keep busy while waiting for their meals…or while waiting for their parents to eat their own (a rare thing to find in Milan!).

We were there on a Sunday lunch when they serve an Italian version of brunch. There was a starter buffet with cheese, cold cuts, salads, quiche and grilled vegetables. This was followed by an entree and a main course, and we finished the lunch with a trip to the dessert trolley!
The Sunday brunch is meant to be a family affair so on these occasions some toys are brought out — there were cars, a doll house and a play kitchen with pots and pans.
The décor is not too modern I’m afraid but the new Louis Ghost chairs by Philippe Starck have made the room look definitely less stuffy, and the location cannot be beaten: totally in the middle of the tourist and shopping attractions of Milan!

-Michela

Natural History Museum

admin — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:43:49 +0000

Last Sunday we spent the perfect winter day visiting the Natural History Museum. We met there quite late in the morning, with another family with two children.
We first toured the ground floor where the main attractions for children are the skeletons and reproduction of dinosaurs; there is a life-size triceratops that is really impressive.
Then we headed to the cafeteria, which is on the top floor with a gorgeous view over the roofs and trees of this very central neighbourhood of the city. While, as usual in Milan, the cafeteria does not cater especially to children, the staff there are really patient and will help you compose a plate for the little ones. I was not sure what my little daughter was going to like, so they let me pick and mix among the various foods available. The quality is good and the price quite reasonable.
Then we headed to the first floor so that the children could burn off some of the energy accumulated while sitting at the table. They roamed enthusiastically through the corridors, looking at wild animals set in nicely restored dioramas that really help them envision where lions, polar bears, elephants and the like live in reality.
Overall, this museum does not compare in grandeur and content to the one in London, but I think the size is perfect for little children whom cannot read and so do not appreciate the full amount of knowledge available over there. Surprisingly, it was not very crowded, so even my daughter could crawl and cruise while pointing at deer and penguins without running the risk of getting lost or run over!
We ended our trip with a nice walk in the park surrounding the museum. Everyone was dirty and tired when we headed home, but we were so pleased to have managed to spend such a family-friendly day in our city (as you know by now, it’s not that easy!).

-Michela

Pane e acqua

admin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:41:52 +0000

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I did something we had not done in a while; we went out for dinner on a Wednesday night. We picked a relatively new restaurant in our neighbourhood on the basis of a couple of reviews we had read (and their website) and we were so pleased with our choice!
Pane e Acqua is a very small restaurant opened by chef Francesco Passalacqua when he decided that the experience he had accumulated over the years working in the best Milanese restaurants was enough to start playing solo. The cuisine is delicious — a modern and elaborate take on traditional Piedmont recipes. The people who work with Francesco are all young and friendly; you can tell they enjoy what they do.
What also helped me fall in love with this place is the décor. It’s so not Milanese I’m afraid… it’s so young, understated and cool, not flashy but vibrant and colourful. It is a clever mixture of old, new, rich and poor!
I keep recommending it to everyone I talk to, and I can’t wait to go back!

-Michela

p.s. photo by studio Calatroni

Park and aperitivo

admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:23:45 +0000

Milan is not a city full of spaces for great outdoor activities; people just make the best of what is available! The biggest park in the center of town is Parco Sempione, bordered by the Sforzesco Castle, the Triennale, the Arco della Pace and the Aquarium. It’s no wonder it has been central to Milanese leisure time activities since its creation in 1888.
So even if it’s not comparable to the beautiful (and unique) London parks, it constitutes a very good and effective outlet for kid’s energy. They can run, ride bicycles and play football, and on the side nearer Arco della Pace there is a nice playground with big climbing structures that will appeal even to the most experienced kid. Nearby there are kids’ electrical motorbikes and cars — the dream of every preschooler, and a cute (and old) electrical train that will be the joy of the younger ones.
If you go in the afternoon then, when everybody is in need of a break, you can indulge in what Milanese excel at: aperitivo! The park is in fact surrounded by very cool and stylish bars that around 6pm get ready for the big “happy hour” crowd. Happy hour in Milan does not mean cheaper drinks; it means free food!
Arriving early, and having booked a table, means you can enjoy a drink even with children in tow. The counters are normally covered in trays of food, maybe not Michelin-starred, but of the type children love. There will be carrot and celery sticks, pizza and focaccia squares, little bruschettas, chunks of salami and mortadella, tofu cubes, a warm pasta, little sausages, meatballs, cheese cubes, sometimes fruit and, if you are lucky, raw fish… and all of this is on free buffet. These places become busy once office people set free, which is normally around 8pm, so you will have plenty of time to enjoy the chilled-out atmosphere before calling it a day and taking your kids home!
There are a few nice bars around the Arco della Pace and my favourite place is Living, just on the right of the arc, especially in the summer when they have nice tables on the pavement with great views of the park trees just in front of you.

-Michela

El Resentin

admin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:20:57 +0000

This restaurant has a story with a happy ending!
El Resentin* used to be a wine-bar, or better a “grappa” bar open ’til late every night, where actors from the nearby theatre could find a quiet place to have a drink after the show. It opened 25 years ago on the ashes of a bistro that had been there since the 1920s. But in the spring of 2007 it closed down.
Then Rome-born Eros Ramazzotti, the famous singer, who lives nearby in the Brera neighbourhood and used to have breakfast in a café on the other side of the street, noticed the closed windows and thought it could be nice to open a restaurant to build even stronger roots in Milan and in the neighbourhood that had always made him feel welcome.
He bought the place and last September the “new” Resentin opened for business. The idea was to have a nice and welcoming place where one could eat like at home, and where families could feel welcome.
The menu is simple with a few starters, about five “primi piatti” of pasta and rice, about five mains (meat and fish), a few nice salads and very good desserts. Complemented by a serious wine list. The selection is modern and traditional at the same time, quite a good mix!
In addition they have hook-on chairs for babies, nice firm cushions for children that can sit at regular chairs, and they will bring crayons and papers and carton books for the babies. They do not have a children’s menu but will happily do half portions of the pasta dishes.
Overall the place is really charming (they just restored the whole bar furniture), the food is lovely, the location is really convenient, children are welcome in a way not very common in Milan, and the only average thing are the prices!

-Michela

*”resentin” is a word in the dialect from Veneto that denotes the action of drinking a shot of grappa in the same cup where one has just had an espresso. The warmth and the coffee really improve the taste and the perfume of the grappa.

Handbags’ paradise

admin — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:54:27 +0000

I recently took a stroll in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the only covered gallery in Milan that connects the Duomo Square to the La Scala Square. It was built in the second half of the nineteenth century and traditionally it was considered Milan’s ‘good sitting room’. It used to be lined with luxury boutiques and nice cafés, and they all had black signs with gold writing. Then in the 1980s the quality of the shops fell and the Galleria wasn’t a shopping destination anymore. The central octagon still hosts a MacDonalds (with a very sober black sign!), but now the wind has changed and in the space of 50 meters, under the same glass volts, you can find Tod’s, Prada, Gucci and Luis Vuitton. So if you need a handbag you know where to go!
Prada has been there for ages, Tod’s and Gucci for a few years and Luis Vuitton has opened quite recently. The Gucci store sells only accessories but they also have a small café with a terrace in the gallery where pastries and pralines come engraved with the double G!
Another pleasant addition is the reopened Savini restaurant. It is probably the most famous of the traditional restaurants in Milan and it was closed for over a year for refurbishment. The ground floor is now a regular café with a bistro, and if you have your cappuccino at the counter it will not even cost you much!

-Michela

Design, Michelin stars and kids

admin — Sun, 18 May 2008 16:15:46 +0000

What have they got in common? Nothing you’d think. But they successfully coalesce in the new Coffee Design here in Milan, which reopened in full swing this April.
The place has just been refurbished by Michele De Lucchi, and it is now more sleek and airy. The kitchen is now behind a huge glass wall and chefs can been seen working from the main bar counter. The menu is the fruit of the cooperation of Carlo Cracco — a Michelin starred chef, and the Autogrill group, already present in more than 50 locations where food and culture mix, like the Prado museum, the Jardin de Versailles or the Empire State Building. The menu is a balanced mix between delicious sandwiches, healthy salads, selections of cheese and cold cuts and a few warm traditional Italian dishes presented in a very modern way. There is also an impressive wine list!

So where do the kids fit in? You can get every dish in a child’s portion for about 2/3 of the price! So civilized, and so rare in Milan…

-Michela

Design Immersion

admin — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:12:06 +0000

Museums in Milan are not too exciting for kids; they could do with some re-styling and the addition of some hands-on activities. So when Esther came for a visit on one of the few rainy weekends in January, I was not sure where we could go with our four kids! (Shopping all day was definitely out of the question)!
I opted for a lunch at the cafeteria of la Triennale followed by a visit to the just opened Design Museum.
La Triennale foundation di Milano is a cultural institution that funds and hosts exhibitions and various cultural activities in the fields of architecture, design and contemporary art. Since 1933 it has been based in Milan, in the Palazzo dell’Arte, which is located quite conveniently (on a sunny day) next to Parco Sempione, a decent-sized urban park.
The choice couldn’t have been better… even though they were refurbishing the kitchens so all we could get for lunch were (nicely filled) paninis!
The cafeteria, Coffee Design, is actually an extension of the exhibition space itself and occupies a very large area with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Sempione Park and the (now being refurbished) “Bagni Misteriosi” sculpture by Giorgio De Chirico. Tables are nicely spaced and you get to choose among more than fifty designer chairs of many shapes and styles. Kids love to run around and try to sit on them all! The ambience is not stuffy at all, the patrons being mainly young thirtysomethings with an artistic twist.

The new Design Museum is an innovative collection which showcases Italian design with a selection of pieces ranging from the Cinquecento to lamps and chairs. It has been conceived as a dynamic museum that will renovate itself every 6 months. The exhibition is spacious although a bit dark because of all the films being projected on the walls. Kids will love the many strange objects on display, and will encounter very tolerant guardians who will happily close an eye (or two) if their behaviour is not impeccable!
(As usual, Italian restrooms do not come with changing tables but the sink counter-tops are wide enough to change your baby). So even though it wasn’t built with kids in mind, the Triennale turned out to be a pretty friendly place to be on a cold and wet Saturday in January!

-Michela

Triennale di Milano
Viale Alemagna 6
metro: Line 1 and 2, Cadorna-Triennale
bus: 61
Tue-Sun 10:30am-8:30pm

A week in Milan

admin — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:27:55 +0000

Monday:
Take it easy on Monday morning, as so many things are closed! Go to a nice bar and have the typical Italian breakfast: cappuccino and cornetto (the italian croissant) and get a babyccino for your kids. To get the full experience you should have it quickly and while standing up, but that may not be ideal with children in tow.
Wherever you are you should not be too far from a stop of the 29/30 tram line: it’s a line that does a complete loop around Milan following the (now inexistent) Spanish walls. The trams in service on this line are very old, similar to San Francisco’s cable cars, and children love them! Wait until rush hour is over and board one, tickets are 1 euro and kids below 10 go free.
Get off in Corso Vercelli, one of the nicest shopping streets in Milan. Corso Vercelli, together with its continuation Via Belfiore and Via Marghera is probably one of the best places for shoes, kid’s shops and jewellery (together with everything else). Take a break and have a gelato at Grom, undoubtedly the best ice cream in the world! Reboard the tram and complete your tour.

Tuesday:
Head to Leonardo da Vinci Science Museum, where the highlights are the models of the machines designed by Leonardo and a real submarine. The Toti is a war submarine, built in Italy in 1967 and is over 46 meters long. Its transportation to the Museum took place in the middle of august and during the night to minimise disruption. It was very spectacular! Tickets can be booked in advance or bought at the Museum entry.
Unfortunately the cafeteria is closed until further notice, so you can walk down Via San Vittore and have a sandwich in one of the many cafés or have a slice of pizza or focaccia from one of the bakeries.
After lunch have a stroll around the Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio. It’s the quintessential Milanese church, very austere and elegant. Kids can run around in the porch if they still have some energy to burn off after the Museum visit.
Take Corso Genova, a nice shopping street, and walk towards the Navigli. These canals are what is left of the whole canal system that existed in Milan in the middle ages. The neighbourhood is very characteristic, a bit bohemian maybe. If it’s summer the streets along the canals will be pedestrianised and all the bars will have tables outside. You should have an aperitive, this is the ultimate Milanese habit. You get a drink and the bar provides so many snacks that you may as well skip dinner. Try to go early in the evening, so that it’s not too crowded.

Wednesday:
Go (window) shopping in what is know as “fashion quadrilateral”. All the streets around Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga are lined with the boutiques of all the designers you can think of, Italians or not. You could have a quick stop for an espresso either in Cova or in Sant Ambroeus. Both patisseries are extremely posh, but an espresso or cappuccino taken at the counter will cost more or less like in any other bar. Then walk down Corso Vittorio Emanuele until Piazza Duomo. Get the elevator (or climb the stairs if you feel sporty) to the top of the Duomo. Here you can walk on the roof among hundreds of statues and all the spires; the tallest of them measures 109 meters. You also get a great view of the city, if it isn’t too cloudy.
You can have lunch on the 7th floor of la Rinascente, the best department store in Milan. They have nice restaurants, not too expensive and with a terrace that faces the big stained glass windows of the Duomo. As an alternative you can walk around the corner and have the best panzerotto in town from Luini; unfortunately there’s no seating, but they are yummy and quite inexpensive!

Thursday:
Take your kids to the Castello Sofrzesco, a true castle in the center of town! You can walk around the courtyard and then enter and visit some of the permanent galleries. Children may not be too interested on what’s on show, but they will love walking in the big corridors of the castle.
The castle borders the Sempione Park, one of the only two (decent sized) parks of Milan. Nothing compares to London parks, but your kids can run and play. There is a playground towards the other end (you can reach it in 10 minutes) and also an electric little train that children love to ride.
You can stop for lunch in Bar Bianco in the middle of the park; they serve sandwiches and a selection of warm dishes. If the weather is nice it is definitely a good choice. If it’s raining, head for the Triennale, where you can have lunch at the Design Café. The cafeteria is now being refurbished, but it should open in April and the mind behind the project is Carlo Cracco, one of Italy’s most well-known chefs.

Friday:
Take the underground and go to Piazzale Loreto, then start walking down Corso Buenos Aires to get the Italian high street experience. Continue down Corso Venezia, an extremely elegant street bordered by luxury buildings. You will get to Giardini Pubblici — the other nice park in Milan. It hosts the Natural History Museum and the Planetarium. Together with playgrounds, merry-go-rounds and electric train you can also find a little coach with horses and ponies that children can ride. You can have a sandwich or coffee at Bar Bianco nearby.
Exit from Via Palestro, you will be facing the Villa Belgioioso Bonaparte (known as Villa Reale) and the Contemporary Art Museum. On the side of the main entry there is a gate that leads to a little garden where adults can enter only if in the company of a child. It is very small, but it is extremely well kept and if you have a crawling child you can let him free without fear of dog poo, cigarette butts and the like.

-Michela

Baby friendly? No, grazie.

admin — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:41:48 +0000

On Saturday morning we decided to go and have a look at the new food hall on the 7th floor at “La Rinascente” (which is basically the only department store in Milan).
It does look great. It reminds me a bit of the 5th floor at Harvey Nicks (in London) …although it’s possibly smaller.
There’s a restaurant, coffee bar, chocolate (Valrhona) corner, juice bar, sushi bar, sandwich bar and a mozzarella bar. Plus you can buy some fine teas, biscuits, ham, cheeses, sauces etc.
So why am I telling you this?
Because it sounds like a good place to go for a quick lunch, a mid morning coffee, a nice stop while shopping in the center of town… BUT it’s not baby friendly!
They refurbished possibly 10 restrooms and there is not even a changing table…. and of course not a high chair in sight!
Italian business owners are a bit short-sighted; they still don’t understand how mums with babies are nowadays great customers. We are used to going out- lunch&dine, earn&spend. Why should we have to miss all these opportunities after having a baby?

Unfortunately in Milan, babies are only truly welcomed (with appropriate space and equipment) in very few places, and I am determined to discover them all in the very near future!

-Michela