Felix Lo Basso, Milano
Oh, this was a fun experience! I was one of the only two customers that evening; the other one was also a “crazy” man like me, who would go to a restaurant by himself. He is a musician, by the way, from Australia but was teaching some courses in universities in German and Italy. We both got a lot of food, and they are all very nice.
Let’s go back to the beginning. I was fashionably rushing from the airport to the hotel, changing to a proper dress, and then walking very fast to the restaurant. Luckily, I was not late. The restaurant occupies a rather nice house. A lady showed me in and took my jacket and bags. Then I realised it was awfully quiet, and I was the first customer in a very long table facing an open and extremely clean kitchen, though they do have a separate back kitchen. The dining area is also very light, compared to many fine-dining restaurants often using minimum light to emphasise the dishes.
Their menu contains a starter group and three large main groups plus a final sweet group, which is a very fun way to organise dishes. To be more entertaining, the restaurant presented all or half the dishes in the group before giving us the menu for the group. Also, most dishes are organised in a mini-set way: Sometimes, I got several dishes together.
Menu
The welcome bites, a gorilla shape biscuit, already set a high expectation and standard. In fact, they use a lot of gorilla decoration in the restaurant.
Welcome Canapé, gorilla
After the canapé, namely Journey in the menu, the first set, named Sea, is interesting, but in an expected way since seafood are much more flexible to make “posh” dishes. I found the second set more appealing. Given the name, Countryside, it focused on vegetable, specifically, zucchini (or courgette) and asparagus. The first round of presentation was very cute, comprising all dishes apart from the last “Risotto”. All the seasoning was very light. I did not taste too strong flavours but only the vegetable themselves. Those dishes, I believe, were good pause between the previous fish dishes and the tomato risotto after.
Zucchini, Its Flower, Ricotta Vaccine and Sesame
Green Asparagus, Parmesan, Peanut Cream and Crispy Spelt
“Capuccino“ with White Asparagus
Beard of the Friars with Vinaigrette, Quail Eggs Poche and Saffron Sauce
The next dish, “My Mom’s Parmesan in a Risotto”, was a highlight of the night. It had very rich flavours, Parmesan and tomato. The tomato powder was made by themselves, by concentrating large volume of tomatoes. I could feel a burst of tomato, sour and even bitter, on my tongue, then followed by the richness the Parmesan. Although I felt a bit too much because it was not a small dish, I really enjoyed it.
My Mom’s Parmesan in a “Risotto”
Another main dish of the night was Wagyu beef, which I think a bit boring. Also, the beef is a bit too pink to me. Last, I really liked the final dessert. Instead of ending with overly sweet bite with coffee, they served a fresh dessert, ice cream and raspberry. The presentation is also very attractive.
White Chocolate, Peas, Licorice and Raspberry Ice Cream
Oh dear, this was a very fun night, and I was completely full. Since there were only two customers, the chef entertained us very well. I really appreciated all the young cooks who probably felt a bit nervous and tried their best to explain in English. Also, I enjoyed the company of another customer, which I cannot remember his name; he was much more talkative than me so I can just be the quiet self.
[Update: the restaurant moved to Lugano (Switzerland)]
🐼 Score: 4/5
