WTN: Outside Milan, the palate delights

If you find yourself outside of Milan in need of medieval atmosphere, make haste to the Convento dei Neveri: https://www.conventodeineveri.com.

Even better if you meet up with Luca M, who can show you the historical treasures in the Veronelli cellars before you dine: https://www.conventodeineveri.com/museo-il-veronelli/.

We did not manage to open any of those gems, but we did pretty well for ourselves as we walked upstairs past the roman grave ruins to the monks’ private dining quarters, with much finer food than our historical predecessors would have enjoyed.

The various amuse bouche bites and oysters went well with the 2014 Corte Fusia Franciacorta Orfano Riserva Terre Rosse Brut Nature. A delightfully golden aged sparkling wine with salty minerality and lovely elegance. Not a genre that crosses my lips very often, but when in Lombardy it makes so much sense. Lovely.

We then moved to two wines that Luca has sent to the US, so I can always get them at home. 2023 Claudio Boggione Langhe Nebbiolo was absolutely delightful. Definitely a warm year, but such fragrance and such elegance, a lovely graceful texture that I don’t always get in LN. We were so enamored that we couldn’t resist opening the 2021 Claudio Boggione Barolo Brunate, which showed promise but then shut down. Still, reasonably priced digestible and elegant organic Barolo is something to keep in mind.

As we departed, the mists rolled in to set the tone even further. A fine evening.

[David M. Bueker]

Only ever been in Milan once and it was for one hurried night on a business trip.

Nice report.

Oh Milan..great. My pal Ed is in Genoa but has had tooth filling issues so only eating fish filet at MacDs.

Only ever been in Milan once and it was for one hurried night on a business trip.

Nice report.

I've somehow come to Milan many times over the years for work. But the convent is another world, 1 hour outside the city in quiet foggy countryside. Not easy to get to, but worth it for me.

Sounds beautiful.
What was food (assume not only oysters and amuses)?

Sounds beautiful.
What was food (assume not only oysters and amuses)?

Yes, I stopped noting the matches! Then came ravioli with turnips, anchovies and I believe bottarga, topped with squid. Very delicious with the Langhe Nebbiolo, although Luca noted it might have been better with some textural crunch. Also interesting because turnips get a very bad rap here and I have a long-running joke with my mother about how awful they are. These ravioli were quite delicious, although the turnips were blended with other ingredients.

I had tuna with spinach and a tomato confit sauce with the Barolo, which held up fine, although the Barolo was shutting down before our eyes anyway.

With the extensive patisserie, I had actually brought a bottle of Forthave Nocino to show them what Brooklyn was up to these days. They noted that it was a different softer profile than typical Italian nocino but they were all impressed and took multiple re-pours. So that was good! (One even insisted on taking the rest of the bottle home...)

turnips get a very bad rap here

Here in the US or here in Milan?

I’m a recent convert to the lowly turnip, thanks entirely to dishes pairing turnips with fish and seafood. Revelatory!

Your visit sounds sublime.

Here in the US or here in Milan?

I meant the US and more specifically in my kitchen! Although even farmers in the Nyc markets also say turnips are not very popular with sales.

The dish that opened my eyes was a cod fillet served, IIRC, with fish-sauce-and-lime?-glazed baby turnips. Something Adam came up with at the lightly revamped, post-pandemic Le Café Cent-Dix in Ithaca.

I had to look up nocino (not a spirits guy)
I like turnips (especially hakurei).

The dish that opened my eyes was a cod fillet served, IIRC, with fish-sauce-and-lime?-glazed baby turnips. Something Adam came up with at the lightly revamped, post-pandemic Le Café Cent-Dix in Ithaca.

Baby turnips are better, sweeter and less pungent.

My mother speaks highly of Cent-Dix. I can't remember if I've been.