Roberta Reviews Restaurants

I had a lunch lined up at La Volpe e l'Uva in Via Senato in Milan, just round the corner from Via Manzoni and Via della Spiga. Run by two sisters, this place is not only conveniently located for when you are doing the fashion streets, but it is indeed one of the only places to eat when you are doing the fashion streets. Reservations essential since there are only about thirty covers. Tel: 02/7602-2167. Closed Saturday, Sundays, and Wednesday evening, as well as part of August.

Cool air -- as well as a really cool place -- was the order of the day recently when I went to the Terrazza restaurant in Piazza Cavour in central Milan. My objective: to interview a chef who specializes in sushi, Italian-style. The chef was Francesco Mapelli. He takes the idea of raw fish and rice, and creates, among others, riso bianco con caponata di melanzane e gambero (white rice with eggplant and shrimp), orzo alle verdurine, dentice, e erba cipollina (barley with tiny vegetables, sea bream and chives) not to mention sushi vegetariano con riso bianco, zucchina e pomodoro comfit (vegetarian sushi with white rice, zucchini, and comfit of tomato). Lovely to look and delicious to taste, these are true gioiellini. So is the place. Named for the beautiful terrace that provides a view over the Giardini Pubblici, the largest park in downtown Milan, the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. The terrace, by the way, is fitted with those heaters that the Italians call funghi (mushrooms), which means that cenare al fresco is an option for much of the year. You'll find the restaurant listed on To Dine, which is linked from In Italy's own Restaurants Page.

Cantina della Vetra is in Piazza Vetra, right behind the basilica di San Lorenzo, one of Milan's most beautiful churches. The Cantina della Vetra is a lovely spacious restaurant on two levels, created from what was once a shop of some kind. It is furnished with delightful old wooden shelves salvaged from defunct pharmacies and the like. We started with burrata, which is a specialty of the Puglia area of southern Italy. You take a large mozzarella and roll it out flat. You pile fresh cream in the middle and then roll it up again. Then you race it up to Milan and deliver it to restaurants and salumerie around town. After this exquisite - and calorie-packed -- starter, we moved on to a risotto with lemon and herbs. Also divine. For reservations, tel. 02/8940-3843.

By Roberta Kedzierski, Milan