Restaurant Vun Andrea Aprea, Milan

The restaurant Vun Andrea Aprea is located inside the hotel Park Hyatt in Milan, so the entrance is adjacent to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, one of my favorite corners of the city.
Entering the main room you can immediately feel the elegant atmosphere: round tables set in a refined way, decoratic elements including some modern sculptures and a foreign clientele confer that international tone that makes you forget to be in Italy but, closing your eyes, you could imagine to find yourself in New York, London or Tokyo.
But suddenly the kitchen of the Neapolitan chef Andrea Aprea brings your head (and your mouth) back to italy with a menu that skilfully blends innovative techniques to raw materials and local preparations of great quality.
My choice fell on the menu 'Itinerari Partenopei’ (itineraries from Naples) just to taste the dishes that the chef has created thinking about his land: 6 dishes at the cost of €150.


Waiting for the great start, a trio of small tastings entitled 'Aperitivo italiano’ has arrived, each one to be eaten in a bite.

A small praline to the flavour (incredibly same taste) of Aperol Spritz with sparkling effect (like dozens of little fireworks were exploding into your mouth!).
A small blown potato filled with stracchino and sweet paprika (tasty).
Tartelletta of black olives and oranges that melts as soon as it enters the mouth (surprise!).

The first dish of the menu is simply unforgettable: the Caprese... Sweet Salty.
A buffalo mousse enclosed in a crispy shell on a tomato sauce, so intense that reminded me of the taste and the strong scent of the homemade sauce that my parents and my grandparents were used prepare in the many years ago.
Delicious, greedy, amazing, funny.
I could not find enough adjectives to describe the experience of tasting this plate.
To try in person.

Second Dish, Linguina nera alla Luciana.
The most exhilarating features?
The black derivates from the octopus and the presence of that touch of acidity of the candied lemons that gives a certain character to this composition.
I don't know if you agree but i think it is also very elegant to see, linguine in an evening dress.

By further, ' Tortello with Genovese beef, Scarola, provolone del Monaco'.
The gentleman in the room, while serving my meal, was so kind to tell me about how, for the Neapolitan, the Genovese beef is a dish that requires some care and patience with long cooking (even hours!), a real ragù.
It made me imagine the following scene: women, mothers and grandmothers in Naples intent on preparing this condiment for numerous tables with all relatives, invited on Sundays or for parties, putting huge pots on the fire for hours.
This is what happens with the ragù (meat sauce) in Bologna, my hometown: when food and tradition unite family and friends.
In his ravioli the chef uses the Genovese as stuffing.
The scarola on the side (a small tubed for each ravioli served in the dish) helps to soften the strong flavour of the ravioli.

Passing to the desserts I can say that ‘Intensità di limone ' (Intensity of Lemon) provides a spectacular scenography!
The lemon ice cream accompanied by a cassette of real lemons wrapped in a cloud of liquid nitrogen, just like smoke and fog envelffs the actors on a theatrical stage.

The other dessert also has Neapolitan origins.
The ‘Diplomatica’ is a riot of flavors: you break down the thin crust of the surface and underneath... blaze of sponge cake, cream and sour cherries that mellow your heart out.

The experience at the restaurant Vun Andrea Aprea was particularly significant for me; strong flavors that brought memories of the past to my mind.
I believe this is the strength of Italian cuisine, freshness, elegance, genuineness, enviable raw materials and ancient flavours that have passed down from generation to generation, adapting themselves over time.