From the northern suburbs to Barona—a historic neighborhood in the southwestern part of the city—the new restaurant by Sara Nicolosi and Cinzia De Lauri showcases a kinder side of Milan: transparent, plant-based, and human.
Photo credits: Laura Spinelli, Federico Floriani, Alessandra Cabassi
For ten years, it was located in the northern suburbs of Milan. Now, it is a beautiful home in the Barona area in the south of the city. A move that brings with it much more than the natural cuisine of Cinzia De Lauri and Sara Nicolosi, who can now communicate with an even more delicate voice to a dining room that watches them with affection.
The restaurant
In Sara Nicolosi and Cinzia De Lauri's new restaurant, vegetarian cuisine becomes an everyday gesture and a declaration of care. A place that speaks of women, nature, and balance. Altatto was born from a simple and radical desire: to restore dignity to vegetarian cuisine in terms of both thought and full flavor. In Milan, where everything moves quickly, Sara and Cinzia chose the slower path: to build a project that followed convictions rather than trends. First came the desire to create a catering business in 2015, then a micro-seasonal bistro, which for years was a laboratory of ideas, an intimate place where every dish was an experiment in balance between nature, technique, and sensitivity. Today, ten years later, Altatto is undergoing a transformation. Not in its principles, but in its space.
The new location—designed by artist and designer Nicola Lorini, with the support of architect Cristina Raimondi—is the natural extension of that vision: a restaurant that is both a home and a workshop. The scattered lights reflect off the stone, carved wood, and iron surfaces. Every detail is carefully considered: the “Comune Antica” chairs created by Lorini as a tribute to the first location; the large green serpentine sink in the center of the room (as a symbol of welcome and purification); the pass, made of plaster and plant fibers, modeled together with artist Sara Ravelli. Everything speaks of matter, touch, and relationship. The Woal felt panels—created by designer Maddalena Selvini in collaboration with Feltrificio Biellese—divide the room into three distinct but connected spaces. And then there are the plates, glasses, and lamps made of porcelain, but also new forms that come to life with scraps from soapstone processing.
The kitchen is completely open, but beware, here transparency is not theatricality but trust with the dining room. Cooking is done while watching each other, sharing space and time. In an era in which vegetarian cuisine is often overloaded with ideology, Nicolosi and De Lauri choose the path of craftsmanship. They work with the ingredients with respect, but without fear of transforming them. Each dish is built on an idea of conscious naturalness, where technique is not used to amaze but to reveal the simple taste of the vegetable world.
A new dialogue between dining room and kitchen
Altatto's new location in the Barona area is actually the result of an essential requirement: more space. And so, idea after idea, artist and designer Nicola Lorini was able to put pen to paper and sketch out the soul of the new premises. On closer inspection, however, what positively surprised Sara and Cinzia was the beautiful open kitchen. This was an important innovation for them, but also for their loyal customers, who can finally peek behind the scenes.
“Customers often come to say hello. With the open kitchen, the interaction with them is much more human, and for us it's wonderful, because that's exactly what we need in the kitchen. Lively conversation,” says Sara. The result is direct contact between the dining room and the kitchen, something deeply human that reveals the feminine and material soul of Altatto. The balance that can be felt in the dining room is the same that can be glimpsed beyond the pass. This synergy is complemented by a solid and cohesive team, led by Sous Chef Caterina Perazzi, because sustainability for Altatto is not only about the environment but also about work.
Vegetables as an opportunity
“The current menus feature some of the previous dishes (those that customers are still very fond of), but there are also new additions, such as tomato preserves. However, we usually change the menu once a month, depending on the availability of produce from the Parco Segantini vegetable gardens - on the Navigli - where we get our produce every morning,” explains Cinzia. Except for a few à la carte dishes, mostly those that have become signature dishes over the ten years of Altatto, there are two tasting menus to choose from: 4 courses (€55) and 9 courses (€85). The 9-course tasting menu is one of the first new features of the new location.
“Where we were before, the spaces were more confined and the menus consisted of four or six courses. We had to work in shifts, which influenced our choice of shorter courses,” says Cinzia, who continues, “now, however, we can have tables at any time, meeting the needs of customers who may want to stay a little longer.”
The bread comes from the Tondo micro bakery in Isola and is served with delicious whipped, salted, and smoked butter. The open kitchen allows guests to watch the team at work, accompanied by a discreet wine and non-alcoholic fermented drinks list curated by Giovanni Barberis: kombucha, juices, ciders, and natural wines complement the dishes without overpowering them. A ginger kombucha accompanies the first course: cardoncello mushroom cooked on the grill, glazed with their own special sauce (tomato and licorice reduction), durum wheat crepes, and salads from their garden. Visually, the reference to Peking duck is immediate: the rich, dense glaze makes the mushroom glisten on a skewer, accompanied by finely chopped vegetables and crespelle discs. Everything is touched with the hands, composed, and shared, all in the name of conviviality. You end up having fun with your fingers covered in sauce and your mouth full of strong flavors, as only happens when barriers are lowered at the table.
The second kombucha is made from fermented white turnip (with the addition of juniper, pepper, and ginger) and precedes the delicious pumpkin tempura. Coated in chestnut flour, horseradish powder, sage, and chocolate crumbs. Then fried sage leaves and an excellent dashi made from kombu seaweed, in which to dip the fried food soaked in aroma. However, if there is one dish that, more than any other, is a staple of Altatto's cuisine, it is the oöf: a steamed forest egg. A tribute to the territory, to Valtellina to be precise, served in a Stonegg stone container that envelops it in its warmth, just like a freshly laid egg. Inside, panna cotta with free-range eggs from the forest and a reduction of apples to perfectly recalibrate the taste with hints of acidity; these are then echoed in the apple vinegar, in the form of vegetable caviar, with the scent of bergamot and bay leaf. It is accompanied by flaky bread scented with Valtellina spices and a good sparkling cider.
However, Altatto is also, and perhaps above all, a reinterpretation of traditional dishes with a plant-based twist. And so we have Milanese risotto with saffron, but with an intense brown base of celeriac and a fine gremolada, which keeps intact the authentic perception of one of Italy's most iconic risottos. In the dining room, they recommend enjoying it with a drink made from grape juice, sour cherries, and blueberries, flavored with rhubarb. Then there is a small shot that anticipates the end of the meal: a sphere of cocoa butter filled with a non-alcoholic cocktail, lemon, and mint, to be eaten in one bite. In its elegant cup, goat's milk ice cream covers a burnt hay foam, with fig leaf-flavored oil, fig jam, and a touch of honey.
A cuisine that speaks with simplicity and demonstrates how Sara and Cinzia have chosen to interpret nature as an opportunity rather than a limitation. There is a clear sincerity in the dishes, because talking about vegetables is not a display of theory, but rather a return to the essence.
CONTACTS
Via Bonaventura Zumbini, 39 – (20143) Milan;
Tel. 328 641670
