Making the Most of Milan

I only have a short 48 hours in Milan, including two full days of work, but I managed to arrive on Sunday afternoon in time to check in to the hotel, go and see the Duomo, do some shopping (purchased a little black dress and a tank top for that elusive warm weather that's bound to come sometime this summer) and be back at the hotel by 6pm. I was completely knackered, as I'm fighting off another form of a cold, so last night I stayed in and ordered room service.

Monday was a full day of back-to-back meetings in heavily accented English or with a colleague acting as an Italian translator. It was exhausting, but I managed to get most of the information I needed in less time that I expected. I forced myself to stay an extra hour at the office to finalise my notes and write emails, so that I could enjoy the evening.

I had searched online for restaurants, and settled on one of the following choices, depending on my mood at the time and the restaurant availability: Latteria or Joia. They were both within walking distance of the hotel, and neither of them opened until 7:30pm. I decided to give Joia a try, as gourmet vegetarian food always intrigues me. I am so glad I did. This meal ranks up in my top 5 of all time. Joia was much better than Millennium in San Francisco. I won't compare it to Chez Panisse, since I've never actually eaten there, but man, this was good. I reminisced about similar meals in Paris and London, and wish I were sharing it with someone, lest you not believe how amazing this food was.

I started with a glass of Prosecco, and they brought me an amuse-bouche of something with three layers in a little jar. My first course was handmade raviolo with beans, some kind of nuts, and red onion from Japan (I didn't know Japan had such good onions, but whatever). But this wasn't your standard raviolo. It was green, so probably made with spinach or something, and it was made on site at the restaurant. It was actually two 'hands', as if someone cut around their hand print, and the food was loosely rolled up inside. The sauce on top was a delicate orange glaze with orange zest.

My main course was a shitake and potato patty, surrounded by fresh herbs (dill and parsley). Oh yeah, and there was some sort of frothy potato puree I was given to drink ahead of time to cleanse my palate). The main sounds fairly simple, but that's just it. It was the simplistic, fresh, and amazing ingredients that made it so good. I couldn't help but order dessert, so I got a sampler that was oddly enough served on Sylvester and Tweetie plates. The dessert was called 'I remember' so I'm guessing it's trying to evoke childhood, but I never remember being served a mini chocolate molten cake, or any of the other tiny, delicate desserts when I was a kid.

I was enjoying the entire meal with a glass of Chilean Syrah, of all things. At first I was annoyed that they offered that to me as a basic red by the glass (Um, hello, I'm in Italy!) but as soon as I smelled it I was transported back to my Central Californian wine tasting trip nearly two years ago now, and it was an excellent Syrah, actually. At the end of the meal, I was completely stuffed, turned down coffee, and thought I could fall asleep right there. That's when they brought out three little shot glasses of different fruit puree. Each had two layers with something on top. I can't remember each part of each one, but the highlight of the first was the sugar encrusted sage leaf on top, the second was almost like a pear sauce (a la applesauce), and the third was a coffee flavour with a sugared orange peel as a little edible mixer stick. That last one had an elevated taste of the chocolate oranges you whack on the table to break apart.

And to top it all off, the service was absolutely excellent - timely, unobtrusive, friendly, and the chef came by to ask how everything was. I was thoroughly impressed. This meal was definitely over my per diem when you add the tip (which was generous), but well worth it. If any of you are in Milan, go to Joia!

Tomorrow it's another day of meetings and note-taking and then tomorrow night I am off to Madrid for meetings on Wed-Thurs-Friday.