A few steps away from the Arco della Pace there’s a restaurant that uses only raw materials from small producers of excellence located no more than 100 kilometers away from the Lombard capital. Locale is a dining spot to remember located right near Piazza Sempione.
The restaurant, the brainchild of Veronica Pagani and Gaetano Spadoni, as the name itself expresses, in fact bases its philosophy on the exclusive use of ingredients from the Milanese hinterland. The goal of Locale is to restore value to small local realities that do not follow intensive production, but the rhythm of the seasons and what nature offers, rediscovering the territory and reinterpreting it in the kitchen.
All the producers the restaurant sources from have a strong passion for Italian food and wine, linked to the land and traditions, but also to research and innovation, as well as sustainability.
With a culinary proposal somewhere between tradition and experimentation, Locale’s menu is renewed every week based on what producers have available. The dining experience is “slow”: each course is in fact the result of the encounter of stories and flavors, which are narrated with authenticity and passion by the two founders.
“I am in love with the incredible stories of the people I collaborate with, and I like to have direct contact with them to discover how thanks to their hard work every day we can benefit from excellent raw materials,” says Veronica Pagani, who is personally responsible for sourcing all the ingredients that make up the restaurant’s gastronomic offerings. – We are always looking for novelties and open to collaborate with those who bet on the territory and are able to guarantee certain standards of craftsmanship.”
In Locale’s menu you can find a wide variety of vegetables from the Ticino Agricultural Park Consortium, as well as a selection of high-quality meats from animals raised and fed in the area bordering Milan, by Pascol, a reality that supplies beef from selected and certified small farms.
“Our menu,” explains Gaetano Spadoni, “is local, good and beautiful: it offers special dishes with an eye always on aesthetics. Ours is a contemporary cuisine that is not particularly elaborate and aims to satisfy a bit of everyone, although meat plays the lion’s share.”
Accompanying the dishes on the menu is a rich beverage proposal, which perfectly reflects the dynamic and enterprising spirit of Milan: from the experimental wines Rukh and Theia by Nove Lune to the exclusive labels Lanthano and B Riserva by Giorgio Mercandelli. Another big Locale bet is the bottle rack, which, thanks to Gaetano’s efforts, now features many local excellences, such as Eugin and F205 gins and Strada Ferrata’s “whiskey.”
On weekends, it is also possible to enjoy an appetizing picnic in Parco Sempione. Locale in fact signs a wicker basket with inside a wide selection of cold cuts from three different meats, cheeses made from goat, sheep, cow and buffalo milk, a vegetable quiche and, to finish, a dessert.