Can you eat a six-course tasting in Milan while spending 40 euros? The answer is Cucina Franca, a cuisine of colors and flavors that speak all the languages of the world.
It has been said countless times by countless of my colleagues: the Milanese restaurant market is now congested. Every month, dozens of restaurants (a.k.a. little places by the natives) pull up their shutters in the city, promising to become the new gems of Milanese dining and the landmarks of a, let me say, fatigued gastronomy.
Milan is small, but there is room for everyone , and by dint of trying, a few little places get past that sad moment when the bull's eye-the light used in theater, not the egg-moves to glorious fresh newness and so on. Clearing the Break Even, for Milanese restaurants, is therefore no simple matter but, without going into calculations and business plans that are not my business, I think with conviction that it is the Frankish kitchen that can make it.
The restaurant
Cucina Franca, not surprisingly, is also the name of a restaurant that opened in 2024 under the leadership, in the kitchen, of Facundo Castellani, an Argentine chef who quickly grasped the essence of what the Milanese public likes today. Facundo, who does not like to be called chef, has worked in many renowned South American and European kitchens, most recently at Mauro Colagreco's three-starred Mirazur in Menton.
On the other hand, speaking of Italy, Castellani already had some experience: opening the wonderful LuBar, directing the kitchen of the very sustainable Erba Brusca. Cucina Franca is a play on words that stems from the habit Italians have of affixing nicknames. Thus, Facundo, first turned into Facu, then took more turns and, by assonance, became Franca.
Philosophy
But Cucina Franca is also a very clear intention. What is on offer here is honest cooking, selling simple things and communicating frankly to its customers. Little ego and a lot of ingredient, this is what you find at the tables of Cucina Franca, “We try to use more time in the research of ingredients and techniques that allow us to touch them as little as possible to make them exalt more”, Castellani explains. The service follows the philosophy of the kitchen, it is very light and informal, it makes you feel welcomed, there is no intrusiveness or even superficiality.
What has amazed about Cucina Franca is the prices. Delicious, colorful cuisine, thanks to spices and vegetables, and creativity that doesn't deceive but surprises, how can it cost 38 euros per person for a shared tasting that includes six outings and, I guarantee, satiates with gladness?
Castellani explains, “In the last two months we have gone from 38 to 40 euros for tasting and we have slightly adjusted the prices on the menu, but really by very little. We try to maintain a price that brings respect to where we are. There is a bar on the corner that borders the housing projects, our customers/friends are just the people in the neighborhood, and the prices at Cucina Franca are an invitation to them first of all. Another reason comes from my professional experience. I worked for a long time in starred restaurants and often my family and friends would not come to try my cuisine because they could not afford it. Today I want to work in a kitchen that allows me to welcome the people I love without any kind of embarrassment, “ chapeau.
But the environment of the little places in Milan is unfortunately not just about emotions, it is more cynical and talks about figures, expenses, salaries. Again, with extreme frankness, Castellani responds "I do a lot of work on food cost and research that is not only about ingredients, but also about what I see and feel when I go out to dinner. Using a lot of vegetables definitely helps us. I think it doesn't make sense to raise prices if we're in on these numbers," chapeau, again.
The dishes
But let's talk about taste, which numbers have never satiated anyone. Six months after opening, Cucina Franca, already has its signature dish, which is their very own version of Parmigiano. Purple round eggplant steak, breaded in panko, fried and covered with a Moroccan sauce and cacioricotta cheese. It's one of those dishes that keeps you coming back, and although the menu changes every three weeks or so, this delicacy remained on the menu all summer until the last eggplant was picked. Castellani has taken Parmigiana out of its comfort zone and this, more than frankly, I find an act of courage that deserves all the success this dish has had.
But Cucina Franca also has other cornerstones, including Tonnati, a dish that amazed and won me over from the first taste. On all the menus there is always a Tonnato that, starting with a vegetable base such as turnips, beets, fennel, chicory and so on depending on the season and the availability of the raw material, becomes a Vitello Tonnato without veal, embellished with a sublime tonnata sauce. The vegetables come from a farm in Abbiategrasso, a handful of kilometers from the center of Milan, and all vegetables are organic and traced.
I close my chat with Facundo Castellani by asking him for advice on where to go for dinner and he laughs when I tell him that no, Cucina Franca does not count as an answer. He comes back serious and replies that he likes Trattoria Casottel, a place that makes you forget you live in a metropolis and reminds you that you are in Milan, and Erba Brusca, his favorite place.
Contact and info
Cucina Franca
Via Friuli 78 - 20135 Milan
Tuesday to Wednesday - 19:30 - 23:00
Thursday to Sunday 12:30 - 14:30 / 19:30 - 23:00
Reservations: +39 351 428 7113 (WhatsApp only)
Email: info@cucinafranca.com
