Ristorante Berton

One of the most memorable meals we’ve had was in Milan at Ristorante Berton: a broth tasting menu, every course accompanied by a different flavored broth. how’s that for creativity. We were lucky to snatch a reservation at the last minute because the owner of the Airbnb room we rented was also the chef’s publicist. Otherwise we wouldn’t have known about the place, as it just opened a few weeks prior to our arrival to Milan. Although the chef has worked at Michelin-starred restaurants before but his own restaurant didn’t have a star that the time. But after finishing our meal, I was so impressed that I remember thinking, it won’t be long before this place got a star. And surely enough, two months after we dined there on Sept 1, 2014, his restaurant was awarded a Michelin star, less than a year after it opened- almost unheard of. It’s always thrilling to be dining at a place BEFORE it got a star, makes you feel like you kind of “discovered” a hidden gem before it joined the Michelin sought-after culture (although we just lucked out due to our Airbnb connection). The stylish & minimalistic restaurant sits in a futuristic glass tower amid the skyscrapers of Porta Nuova, with its decor echoes its cuisine, using just a few ingredients to create original and artfully presented dishes. We even got some face time with the chef and a tour of his immaculate stainless steel kitchen. But of course, the food was the real superstar here- inventive, original, light, and just purely delicious.