Now a lunchtime space, where chef Paolo Pivato's new seasonal menu is recounted alongside a cocktail list featuring Campari classics. A format unlike anything else found in downtown Milan at midday debuts at Camparino.
Camparino in the Galleria: the institution of Milanese “drink well”
A must-visit not only for fans of bars and cuisine, but also for lovers of beauty, style and history. It is the world-famous Camparino in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, created think back to 1867, where history is still being told and mixed. With more than a century behind it, it is now the quintessential Italian aperitivo spot but also the place to choose if you want to drink a workmanlike Negroni or dine and dine. Anyone arriving in Milan passes by the gallery and it is hard for them to resist the cult cocktails, masterfully prepared here with impeccable savoir-faire and alcoholic potions made in the basement where there is a laboratory that few could imagine.
Tasty preparations are entrusted to chef Paolo Pivato both in the Bar di Passo with its dehor overlooking the Duomo, where one can indulge in the most classic cocktails that have made history here, such as the iconic Campari Seltz, the Negroni and the Milano-Torino, and in the more sophisticated, intimate and charming Sala Spiritello where the magic is repeated every day amid experimentation and drinks that have now taken this place among one of the best cocktail bars in the world.
And now the menu is also available for lunch. Finally, many will exclaim, yes because the upstairs space is unique: those who have experienced countless aperitifs, sipping a drink while watching the gallery filled with people strolling by, know that the pleasant feeling of tranquility is priceless. Now usable during the daytime as well, where chef Paolo Pivato's new seasonal menu is recounted paired with the cocktail list featuring Campari classics.
This is the first time it has opened for lunch, designed to offer an intimate and exclusive experience, even just for a business lunch but with flair. In short, it is different from anything else found in downtown Milan at midday.
Lunch at Camparino, among dishes and cocktails
In the temple of mixology, where excellence is the common thread, Sala Spiritello's menu card is designed to evolve as the seasons change, thus respecting the natural cycle of time and raw materials, enhancing their intrinsic quality. Cuisine, according to Chef Pivato, is an experiential journey, it is an emotion encapsulated in a bite, where typical and innovative recipes play and intertwine passion and flavor. The menu, centered on the high tradition and simplicity of Milan, does not shy away from experimentation and taste with the most typical dishes offered as if they were always a new discovery.
The menu, different from the dinner if not with some unmissable commonalities, offers everything one would want during a lunch (even a quick one): the two versions of Fassona carpaccio, enhanced by the sweet notes of strawberry grapes and the intense aroma of seasonal black truffles, and amberjack, with fragrant citrus and a touch of crispy vegetables, vitello tonnato, mezze maniche, smoked butter, broccoli, anchovy, or a tasty spaghetti with tomato.
Looking back to tradition is the ossobuco with Milanese risotto, decidedly well done between cooking, seasoning and proportions of flavors, for which few introductions are needed. And then the ever-present Milanese rib eye but also the snapper for those who want to go beyond the typical Milanese.
All this, paired not only with the wines on tap (you will always find Champagne Lallier, maison of the Campari group) but within the cocktail list with the house classics, served with the art of the perfect serve, typical of the restaurant, able to tell the close link with the city of Milan and its international soul, enhancing the search for balance between tradition and creativity. Impossible not to start, especially if you are on an experiential fast at Camparino, with a shakerato or a red, sparkling, iconic Campari Seltz bitter.
And more: if your lunch break is not that short, then treat yourself to a “Compadre”: mezcal Montelobos Espadìn, chinotto liqueur, Campari, agave, 1757 Vermouth di Torino Rosso, angostura. Either way, whatever you choose from the menu will still be a sip of history. During the Christmas season, you'll also find the fragrant and persuasive panettone with candied fruit and Campari jellies paired with (only) three hundred bottles of the Brooklyn cocktail (Wild Turkey Rye, Amer Picon, Cinzano Vermouth Dry 1757, Maraschino), aged two years in former 220-liter bourbon cask at Camparino's home.
Then if you're lucky, you'll get to take a look in the underground area that houses the Gaspare Campari Room, a space recovered from the rooms that originally housed the restaurant's warehouses, now used for bartending classes, tastings and private events. If that's not history...
Contact
Camparino in Galleria
P.za del Duomo, 21, 20121 Milan MI
Phone: 02 8646 4435
