A Milanese staple for the past three years: if you want to eat tastefully while spending the right amount, go to Mesté, where the rich wine list is complemented by the straightforwardness of regional Italian cuisine.
Mesté - Vini e Fornelli
The Restaurant
Behind the Esselunga in Ripamonti in Milan, around which there is always quite a bustle, there is a happy little island that does not even look like the city. While it is not very aesthetically pleasant, the arrangement of urban spaces makes it almost the junction of a suburb, rather than that of a metropolis. Mesté is found this Southern neighborhood, which we might call a wine bar with a kitchen or even a modern tavern.
A few tables, a wooden counter, and a passion for artisanal/natural wines. There is also a very nice outdoor space that from spring onwards, as the weather gets nicer, becomes a neighborhood social epicenter.
Marco Bonardi oversees the kitchen, making dishes that never dare to go out of season, and if they, they ask first, but willingly step outside Lombard borders. The result is the straightforwardness of regional Italian cuisine, made by a cook who has been helping in the family business: that historic Gastronomia Bonardi for whom Viale Umbria is not just one of the avenues where the 91 passes. On the other side of the barricade, welcoming and serving guests - Daniele Santangelo – a great wine professional for ten years with experience at Vinoir, Panificio Davide Longoni, Hic Enoteche and Vineria Eretica.
In 2019 Marco and Daniele opened a place of their own, aware more or less of their total character complementarity. Marco is taciturn while Daniele is the exact opposite. If we had to say what wine they are, there is no doubt in our mind: Marco is a firm Piedmontese nebbiolo, while Daniele is a bottle-fermented wine. The dishes thankfully speak several languages, too, all of them very much appreciated.
The dishes
The entrance of the Vitello tonnato with an old-style sauce is enveloping. The deep pink veal, not overcooked and therefore not dry at all, encloses the tuna sauce like a patty. Cracked hazelnuts add a crunchy note to the dish.
The Chitarre di "Pasta Fra" ragù with roughly chopped Brianza sheep meat is the star dish of the evening. The pasta comes from Milan's Ticinese neighborhood, and it is so well-made by Paolo and Francesca (Pasta Fra) that even Dante would have moved them to Purgatory, from how fresh the “guitar strings” first hold and then release. The sheep meat ragù is a consensus of detailed succulence that still sticks with me to this day.
We then go back to Piedmont with cabbage and piglet capunet (a cabbage leaf roll), tomato and Parmigiano cream. Here the different regional specialties are masterfully executed. We finish with the savory dishes on a high note with a Sicilian recipe we have never tasted before: the Frascatula sicula of polenta and turnip greens, a dish as old as ancient Rome, which has its hallmark in the cooking of peasant grain flours in water where the vegetables have previously been cooked.
Mesté is cuisine paired along with wine. Artisanal and natural wines dominate the list, as do the wines that Daniele has had specially made for the house by some winemakers. We tasted his two Barbera’s: the first one was fruitier and more companionable, while the second one was older and not as fresh. The most interesting wine of the evening was the biodynamic Cataratto Gorgone from the Gaudioso winery, a squeeze of bitter orange reduced for hours in the sun with hints of savory that recall capers: a summary of Sicily in short.
The small crostata with Seirass ricotta and Vesuvius apricots – which is to be eaten family-style – closes up the meal In Milan you find everything and more when it comes to food, even what has not yet been invented, some would dare say. You also find places where you enjoy dining for their substance and their firm, decisive-tasting dishes offered, all while spending the right amount of money. Mesté has kept this no-frills commitment alive since 2019.
Address
Mesté- Vini e Fornelli
Via Corrado II il Salico, 12, 20141 Milano MI
Tel: 346 806 1538
Website
