“We are considering adding a third shift starting at 6:30 p.m.” Rovello does not advertise and does not market its menu. Forty years of word of mouth have brought the world to Milan to fill their mouths with dishes called Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria, and Lazio.
Not just Rovello. The new preview opening: Trattoria Da Panciroli
It will be called Trattoria Da Panciroli. Michele De Liguoro, chef and owner of the restaurant Rovello, serves us the latest news in his own unique way. Sly, distracted, revealing just enough enthusiasm and then turning to supervise his staff. The peperone tonnato lingered between tongue and palate for an interstellar amount of time, that of Nolan. My dinner companion and I looked at each other and “Ah,” we swallowed the news as if nothing had happened. Two days later, I called him back. But I thought it was a minute later. A few days ago, Michele and his partner and friend, Francesco Tancredi (owner of Ugo Cocktail Bar) signed and took the keys to the new premises in Via Gaudenzio Ferrari, in the Corso Genova area. The distance from Rovello is very short, about 200 meters. This will allow Michele to be the host of both restaurants, moving back and forth without any restrictions. Work is underway. The opening is scheduled for February.
The restaurant will be a tribute to Gualtiero Panciroli, Michele's stepfather on paper but his father in life and in the restaurant business. Gualtiero had a mechanical engineering company. It was a short step from his love of good food and drink to becoming a promoter of it. It was also a case of falling in love, this time with a woman, Cinzia Rossi, Michele's mother, who still has cooking in her blood. A few years ago, she moved to Mallorca with Gualtiero. There, she came to the realization that “they drink crappy wine.” To hell with retirement, to hell with pension. Let's open a proper trattoria.
After three heart attacks, Gualtiero left Cinzia and Michele. All of Milan mourned him and remembers him, even if they didn't know him, tears flowing with an aura of dedication to hospitality and the ambrosia of epic drinking sessions and wine-loving friendships that gave them the opportunity to meet geniuses such as Beppe Rinaldi and Josko Gravner. Cinzia continues to serve meals in Spain, about seventy a night with an assistant chef, a dishwasher, and two waiters. Gualtiero was with Michele until three months before he died, painting the wood paneling. “I don't understand how those two raised them.” Michele's quotes will always be shorter than haikus. It's not that he doesn't want to talk, but it's as if for him to dwell on something is an offense to the time of service. Talking is not serving. Regarding the quote: you are made of the same dough, the same yeast. Michele, your mother carried you in her womb for nine months, eight and a half of which were spent in that kitchen. You grew up inside the first Rovello, and without the help of artificial chemistry, the fermentation of a new chef began, who became a host, bubbling away all day long, even if in a low-key atmosphere and in a low voice.
Rovello
“My boys don't come from Alma.” Another haiku from behind the counter, a smile towards his right-hand man, Raffaele, who smiles back as one would smile at a brother. The new Rovello in Via Ariberto is a place that is a little French and a little Spanish. It recalls the atmosphere of the chaotic but not repulsive Parisian bistros, and the service is reminiscent of certain tapas bars. The counter reigns supreme along the entire length of the restaurant. Everything is on display, everything seeps through, everything mixes. Except the games. Ibra, Ken, Sofia, and Raffaele. Appetizers, first courses, second courses, and passes. No one has done Alma, Michele takes them on as novices. Sofia even just after art school. Only he knows how he shapes them; we speculate with his constant presence and the silence of his work.
Do you need a university degree to enjoy comfort food? Many people ended up there even after graduating. Comfort food is unassailable, immune to trends, waves, wannabes, hats, and hatmakers. Inclusive without meaning to be, exclusive without asking. A magazine editor, a food critic, a wine influencer. All present on the same evening, without having shared a calendar. Together with a turnover of more than 120 covers per day, on average.
“I'm thinking of doing a third shift from 6:30 p.m.” Tourists are already rubbing their suitcases. Rovello doesn't do campaigns, he doesn't have marketing on the menu. Forty years of word of mouth have brought the world to Milan, to fill their mouths with dishes called Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria, and Lazio. The average check has increased since Michele left the top of Corso Garibaldi. Those were often furtive customers, one dish and gone. Don't even think about it, Michele is not the Seven Eleven of trattorias. Always open, he has embraced the cause, he would sleep in the restaurant. In fact, at a certain point he disappeared, around 10:30 p.m. he went home, leaving the burdens and the stage to his boys. “People come to eat, not for me.”
The dishes and wines
“I don't go around bothering anyone.” For Michele, there is no such thing as a rock star chef. Even though rock stars of the kitchen do indeed pass through his doors. Not long ago, Quique Dacosta was in Milan for the Best Chef Award. Someone recently even set up a comfort food festival. Michele has been practicing it all his life. Without getting up on stage to say so. If you want to go to a restaurant without any obligations, without having to think too much, but just enjoy your palate. There you go. At Rovello, you won't find Zen, but you will certainly find stress relief. And a sensory trampoline. Which almost always beats even the greatest gastronomic experiences. What we ate may sound almost normal to you. Quality will always reap its victims, even in the form of plain pasta.
Txistorra—a very spicy Basque sausage—with fried polenta, peppers with tuna sauce, cod croquettes with spicy mayo and lime. These are succulent bites, the Fiftybest tradition meets the viva la tapas parade. This is followed by a two-episode mushroom sitcom: polenta, chanterelles and Parmesan cheese, and pappardelle with porcini mushrooms. There's no need for canned laughter, your stomach is already smiling. We don't even think about ending creatively. Cacio e pepe and tagliata with chips are the perfect antidote to fine dining hangovers. Da Michele is also a great place to drink, its wine cellar is Gualtiero's legacy, consisting of bottles, of course, but also of relationships that Michele has been careful not to abandon or consider outdated. On the other hand, he has certainly not remained stuck in the past, constantly introducing new products that draw on the world of good organic food. And not just organic food from his homeland and family.
Our dinner was mirrored in the reflections of Laherte Freres' Rosé de Meunier, a gastronomic champagne that was perfect for the tapas we sampled. It continued with the fruits of Maxime Cheurlin Noellat's Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits Pinot Noir. “My theory is that you stay and eat as I would like to stay in a restaurant.” The innkeeper's word, which will not be taken back in the new restaurant, a historic trattoria.
There will be no open kitchen; we are returning to the old-fashioned doors, but with plenty of table service, especially for the main courses, which will change from month to month: boiled meats, cold roast, warm roast beef, tripe from the trolley. Michele will revive these old concepts in his own way, without saying so, simply by serving them in front of you. The counter will remain the same. At the entrance, dedicated to appetizers, there will be many to choose from, to be shared. Here's a preview of why it will be an old-school trattoria, without the old-school labels. Stuffed pasta will not be missing. There will be about seventy seats.
To manage the dual flow, Michele has set up a warehouse-office not far away—oh, he likes to walk—with two huge cold rooms, wine storage, and an administrative section. The place will be dedicated to the preparation of pasta, sauces, and other dishes. The restaurant chefs will always stop by the “lab” to do their planning. Who will be the chef at Da Panciroli? The young Raffaele has now been at Rovello for four years, and bookmakers say it will be his turn to move 200 meters. At a trot, at a gallop, we'll see. Meanwhile, Milan marks a back to the future, progress sometimes means looking back with an eye to the future.
Contacts
Rovello Milano
Via Ariberto, 3, 20123 Milano MI
Phone: 02 7209 3709
