Last summer, I kept finding myself with a few days in Milan, thanks to extended layovers. Many Italians dislike Milan and it’s not difficult to see why–it’s about as city as a city can be. It’s big; it feels grimy and administrative; there’s something bureaucratic and straight laced within the foundations of even the wildest fashion houses. Finding my places in Milan was always going to be more difficult than in other destinations–but then I lucked out.
On one of these summer days I found two things that actually make Milan a great city. The first: hidden swimming pools, only open in the hotter months and full of tanning bodies and wet people in legally mandated swim caps. The second: Trattoria Trippa.
As the name, which means tripe, suggests, Trippa is dedicated to the parts of Italian cuisine that are often ignored. While the restaurant started out just getting the things their suppliers couldn’t move (diaphragm, for example, which makes a great horse diaphragm ragu) their concept of ‘offal’ developed further than unloved organs. Forgotten vegetables are also a mainstay. On one visit, the head chef told me he was playing with caper leaves, then took to the kitchen to quickly cook some up over matured olives from Puglia. “We use all the Italian food that people forgot,” he said.
It’s not about being shocking–the premise is environmental. “The result is not the objective, we don’t behave to reach the result, we behave in a way we think is sustainable, that we like, and the result is a consequence,” says owner Pietro Caroli.
If you’re in Milan, try Trattoria Trippa (Michelin Guide even called it one of the best trattorias in Italy). But the restaurant’s lessons are ones we can impart to our daily lives, too, wherever we are in the world. Try something surprising, something that might otherwise be thrown away – like the head of a trout made into a delicious soup, or a city that people refuse to like.
