Each week Alla Carta contributes a food related post to our blog. This week, Rossella Colombari gives us her tips on where to eat and buy food around her Milan-based gallery.

COLOMBARI GALLERY, MILAN

Rossella Colombari founded Colombari Gallery (Via Maroncelli 10, Milan) with her sister Paola at the beginning of the 80s. Their goal was to be pioneers in the 20^th century art field. In 1991, after a few years dedicated to the works of Carlo Mollino, Rossella started a new course focused on the coexistence of modern furniture with design, jewelleries, photography and much more. She also started important collaborations with museums such as Pavillon and Art Design London, New York Modernism, and Art Basel, among others. As we talked to Rossella about her food preferences and her grandmother's secret recipe for Bagna Cauda, we gained a real sense for her attachment to tradition and to "good" things.

Don't know what Bagna Cauda is? Read on, you're in for a treat.

AC: What do you like about food?

RC: I like natural food. I have a Masseria in Puglia, called Masseria Curti Vecchi, and I get products from there.

AC: Which are your favourite food places in Milan?

RC: I love two restaurants in Milan:

- Trattoria della Pesa & Alessandro - Bistrot Della Pesa, Via Maroncelli, 1 (Corso Como area); It represents the meaning of “classical” in Milan. It has a centuries-old tradition. It is the oldest one in the city. Every time I have foreign colleagues for dinner, I take them there and every time they leave pleasantly surprised. Trattoria and Bistrot are two different places with the same philosophy: a strict link with the tradition and the authenticity of the courses.

- Mimmo Milano, Via Sirtori I34 (Porta Venezia area); A surprise. The place was opened by this guy I met in Palinuro (a small town near Salerno, Campania) where I used to spend holidays. He was a barman. The cooking is simple, based on very good ingredients, but delicious. He learned cooking from his mother – the genuine origin of the dishes is something you can tell -  but he revisits every recipes ad hoc for the restaurant. The place is wonderful. When I go there, it is like I am not Milan. It is like some restaurants in London, where you sit and you don't remember which city-country you're staying in. It is located at the second floor of a building. Tradition, craftsmanship and innovation meet there.

AC: What's your secret recipe?

RC: For the secret recipe I came back to my Piedmontese origin, with a dish my grandmother used to cook during Autumn:

Bagna Cauda

- Blend 250 gr. of olive oil, 50 gr. of unsalted butter, 100 gr. of anchovy filets and 4 large garlic cloves, chopped, in a mixer

- Transfer the mixture in a saucepan

- Cook it within anchovy filets are melted

- Pour the sauce into a fondue pot

- Set the pot over alcohol burner or gas table burner to keep it warm

- Serve with vegetables and bread.

The secret: put garlic in a container filled with milk for an entire night before cooking. When you eat too much garlic, you know, the risk is to smell for a few days. With this little tip, it won't happen again.

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Interview by Valentina Barzaghi

Illustrations by Silvia Gherra

About Alla Carta magazine: Alla Carta approaches food as an incentive to take a bite of diverse cultural phenomena. We are intrigued by the meal's convivial capacity, and have found food to be an essential element for sharing thoughts, opinions and creative ideas.