Last Supper at Milan

time flies, it barely hit me that my last day in Italy was here...

i lunched with TH, then had lemon granita again from Grom...
then i shopped a bit and walked around my 'old stomping ground' in Milan - by now i OWN Milan in terms of knowing how to get places and where things are around downtown!
of course, i had to go to Peck and get some lemon and pistacchio macarons. SOOOO delish.



since i've done the whole shopping thing (Florence and Venice were out of control!), i just walked around and enjoyed Milano on the last day.

the big department store La Rinascente is literally across from the Duomo, so i decided to have a snacky-drink there late afternoon.

I didn't even realize it was Apertivo time! I ordered Creme Royal - sparkling wine Brut Bellavista, Creme de Cassis and Guava juice. it was yummy




what was even yummier was that since it's appertivo time, they brough me free snacks!! rolled buffalo mozarella cheese with rucola and speck, sliced roast beef wrapped around asparagus, cucumber dip served with a slice of toast point and a cucumber slice, and tomato sauce pasta that is soooo flavorful:



and the honest to goodness view was amazing, i see the top section of the Duomo RIGHT across from my seat, in the beautiful near twilight, afternoon breeze still helping creat the perfect scenary



having appertivo here was a gem of an accidental discovery - i truly recommend if you're ever in Milan, this is a must do.

So now Amy is a bit buzzed (yes, still a light drunk) - and what next? of course, the last day isn't complete without a 2nd Grom run. i had to go with my favorite flavors: Crema Di Grom, and Nocciola...

by the time i stumbled back to the house, i was pretty satisfied with my day. TH and TW asks: 'Amy, do you want to go see your italian chef "boyfriend" for your last meal?' and there was only 1 answer: 'give me 10 minutes to put on my face!'

we walked into ZeroDuo (zeee-ro-due-eh) and the chef's table was open - i guess people aren't as crazed foodie fan as me !! - when we sat down we saw my chef plating something delicious looking...
we tried to find it on the menu and guessed at it... upon asking the waitress, she came back to tell us what they made was a test sample for next month's menu, it wasn't yet on the current menu yet - but they would be happy to make it for us if we wanted... so we ordered it:



Layer of fried eggs then aspersgus, chopped red onions with lemon zest, then beef tartare (ever so slightly cooked by the heated rings). Topped with more aspersgus and thyme and basil!!! it was delicious and rich and smooth and just perfect balance.

of course this being my last night i was unabashedly gawking the whole night at the kitchen. (and yes in retrospect the glass is TWO WAY amy, they can see you gawk at them the whole night). TH and TW were egging me on to talk to the chef since during slower moments he would come out of the kitchen to his friends at the table behind me to chat. i was mortified and embarassed (and slightly buzzed from the 2 glasses of sparkling red wine from dinner) - and kept thinking, this is how it starts, the Cougar life, of older woman embarassingly flauntingly hitting on the younger 'staff' - waiters, gardener, repairmen. Goodness gracious, let me not be one of those...!

On the chef's 2nd visit to his friend's table, i finally turned (after much much encouragement and peer pressure from TH and TW) to the chef and asked "Photo per favore?" (in my mind i think i said 'per favore' but i've noticed that in my attempts to speak italian i've often forgotten and left out 'per favore' and 'grazie' in the excitement that i've gotten the other words right...)

at first he was asking if we wanted HIM to take a photo of the 3 of us, but i handed the camera to TH and said no, and pointed me and him. he leans over for the photo:



after that, he turned to me, pointed to his cheek and said "bacio??"
so i gave him the kiss on the cheek.

by this time i was blushing like mad and about to DIE of embarassment, but TH and TW insists this makes good travel stories...

after that, we walked around near the Versace Teatro area (lots of good bars)


and had more drinks...




we rounded back to the bar where i had my first drink in Milan that first evening - thus coming back full circle symbolically and physically for my trip. we also went to a spanish place for 2nd drinks of which i had none and gave it to TH because by then i was happily tipsy. i think we all were...

Ciao Milano...