Turning onto a small street in Legnano, on the outskirts of Milan and then, like magic, feeling like you’re in London. This is what can happen at Soul, a restaurant opened in 2018 by Fabio Mecchina and Gloria Marchesoni after a series of remarkable international experiences.
Soul Restaurant
The Restaurant
In this current climate of instability, it is not easy for two young people, even with lots of experience, to open their very own restaurant, nevertheless in Milan, where the competition is fierce. It's even more difficult to maintain consistency and dedication every day without compromising by conforming the menu to the routine of cutlets and ossobuco. Fabio Mecchina and Gloria Marchesoni have continued to pour their heart and soul into the restaurant since 2018, and for this reason, they have chosen to name it "Soul."
The proposal draws on the international experiences of the two owners, who have worked at the highest levels, mainly in London: Fabio, who runs the kitchen, has worked at Rhodes, Fat Duck, Pétrus by Gordon Ramsay, The Greenhouse, and The Connaught by Hélène Darroze, perhaps the most formative experience thanks to chef Alex Dilling. Gloria, for her part, after St. Hubertus and Villa Feltrinelli, studied wine and service at The Greenhouse and Five Fields. So, professionalism is not lacking. And if Legnano seems at odds with London, behind the blue door, you can find some of that magic along with a lot of passion, sparing yourself the drive to downtown Milan.
Gloria and Fabio, with a little help from their staff, are the essence of the restaurant: a symbiosis that generates harmony in each dish. A taste that is refined and pared back, like the duo. They aim for a fully contemporary international style, with complex and detailed recipes – delicious but not banal. Eclectic inspirations and techniques, often nuanced by the "flavor layers" that Fabio, a true anglophone in the kitchen, talks about.
But in his "freestyle," there is also room for terroir, a game of diversity and differences, which adds colors to the global sensory palette. "I try to propose few ingredients, using them entirely and varying on them technically, never stopping to analyze the desires and palate of the guests." These contents are then brought to the dining room with a smile by Gloria, according to a soft gourmet format.
The Dishes
The menu changes with every season, and even the few signature dishes don't escape the seasonal change. Romeo & Julieta, for example, is a trompe-l'oeil cigar, which is no longer prepared with chicken skin, but with a potato wafer and accompanied by a potato-infused whiskey sour for a smoky note. Then there are the low-temperature eggs with bacon and potatoes and the bavarois with extra-virgin olive oil and smoked chocolate that comes and goes depending on the season. There are two tasting menus: the Soul Experience, with its 5 eclectic courses for 70 euros, and the Soul Essence, which includes 8 more advanced and personal courses for 100 euros, plus 30 or 40 euros for the drink pairing, but à la carte dining is also possible. Appetizers, starters, mains, and desserts all have the same price, respectively 16, 20, 26, and 10 euros.
Then there is cheese: Gloria's passion. A selection of either 3, 5, or 7 types at 12, 16 and 20 euros. The wine list is expanding thanks to continuous tastings and visits to the producers. The selection favors unusual labels and emerging winemakers from all over Italy, often representative of lesser-known areas.
The experience is fully fine dining. Those who sit down immediately receive the appetizers, such as the seaweed rice wafer with shrimp mousse and scallop coral, the quinoa wafer with faux raspberry foie gras parfait, and the chickpea Panisse with mullet bottarga. Meanwhile, the bread, all homemade, arrives in two stages: first, the breadsticks, the flatbreads with caramelized onion, and the puff pastry with herbs, and later, the rosemary focaccia and the freshly baked baguette accompanied by Tuscan oil.
The cauliflower comes from the first tasting menu, which expresses a constant of the restaurant's cuisine: the valorization of vegetables from a zero-waste perspective. The dish is almost mono ingredient, with layering inspired by a memorable dinner at Niko Romito’s. On top of a puree of the vegetable caramelized in beurre noisette, a whole piece that is roasted with flavored butter sits comfortably on the plate; completing the dish are the sweet and sour flakes of yellow, green, and purple cabbage, along with toasted hazelnuts for crunch. Alternatively, there's the mackerel with fennel, beetroot, and smoked eel, where the blue fish, after marinating, is filleted and recomposed around a filling of smoked eel for umami; the beetroot is in ribbons, cooked in its own juice and seasoned with honey and Sherry vinegar dressing; the fennel is lightly sautéed with a second Sambuca dressing, which together with pollen and a sauce made of fennel scraps and sour cream is very refreshing.
The guinea fowl is super classic, with truffle stuffed under the skin for extra succulence and baked in the carcass, served with grilled butter-glazed celeriac, chicken broth and Vin Jaune. The wing is deboned and stuffed in the same way and grilled on the barbecue with guinea fowl jus with raw Vin Jaune and black truffle. Here Gloria serves a Gattinara Tre Vigne Travaglini, a label that is only released in the best vintages. Aged in large Slavonian barrels that give a softness, enveloping texture, well-integrated tannins and balanced acidity, the aromas of undergrowth and bark echo the truffle of the dish.
The octopus from the Soul Essence menu is a spectacular dish, another historic plate now transformed into a striking match of colors and primary flavors. The tentacle is cooked for 7 hours at low temperature to achieve a tenacious texture, then finished on the grill. It is served with a lightly smoked saffron infused clarified butter-based siphoned hollandaise. The dish is garnished with a red tomato sponge flavored with paprika and tandoori spices and lightly grilled broccoli rabe for a bitter, herbaceous flavor.
The most requested dishes, however, are the risottos. In this case, a variation of the eucalyptus crab appetizer. The meat is shredded, the shell toasted on the barbecue used for the broth, the head blended with almond paste for creaminess, and the eucalyptus sauce gets a kick from the citron.
The rye flour cappelletti filled with caramelized onions served with scallions, pork cheek braised all day, the sauce with plenty of burnt onion and melting Colonnata lard brunoise are bursting with terroir. A dish that is reminiscent of Lombard traditions, estranged by a splash of Whiskey.
The turbot, cooked in brown butter and finished off on the barbecue, is served with a side of lentils, as well as finishing touches of lumpfish and salmon roe, sweet and sour dulse seaweed, and steamed mussels and clams, with reduced fish stock mounted with brown butter and oil. The dish is paired with Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Ciavolich made from old vines and indigenous yeasts, without temperature control, aged in large oak barrels and amphoras, whose elegant complexity emphasizes the fishy notes.
The Irish lamb chops will transport you to the UK. The meat is dry-aged for seven days in straw and then cooked on the grill, brushed with lamb reduction, black garlic, bergamot juice, and honey, plus a mix of spices that space from coriander to juniper, from lavender to Sichuan pepper, both balsamic and kinesthetic. Served on the plate with a siphoned mustard spiked pumpkin puree, puff pastry for a pie memory, Blue Stilton, marjoram, pumpkin seeds, and puffed Canadian wild rice.
As a pre-dessert, the refreshing mandarin sorbet with a crumble base, meringue, verbena powder and cotton candy, which doubles the citrusy notes.
For dessert, a comforting terrine of baked apple slices with lemon juice, cider, and brandy, served with pain perdu made from brioche bread soaked in custard and caramelized, granola of various toasted seeds, cider ice cream with apples cooked in Calvados.
Address
Soul Restaurant
Via Goito, 9 – 20025 Legnano (MI)
Tel: 0331 1528524
Website
