Food Shopping in Milan
Tom Parker-Bowles offers the latest tips on where to shop for fine Italian produce
Peck
Less food hall, more temple to gastronomy, Peck is one of Milan’s most delectable destinations. Once you pass through those hallowed doors, you enter a world scented with some of the finest salami, ham, cheese and sausage that Italy has to offer. Lardo that melts on the tongue, the creamiest of burrata and the sweetest culatello you’ll ever taste. Plus, fresh pasta sauces and pasta, enough vinegar and olive oil to flood Lake Como, as well as racks of wine, towers of jams, preserved fruits and truffle honey. But it’s not just the quality of ingredients that delights here: the presentation is equally exquisite, and food is wrapped so beautifully that you feel almost guilty for tearing it off. One of the finest food halls in the world, no doubt about that.
Via Spadari, 9 20123 Milan
+39 02 802 3161
www.peck.it
La Baita del Formaggio
50 years old and still going strong, La Baita del Formaggio stocks more than 100 types of cheese. It’s a proper old-fashioned shop, so no sweaty block cheddars here. The tiny store specialises in the best Italian cheeses, from Piedmontese Bettelmatt to Taleggio from Lombardy, and everything else in between. If it’s not here, it’s not worth eating. They’re all matured properly at their out-of-town warehouse, and the staff are charming founts of lactic-scented knowledge. They also produce their own cheese, the Lariano Speziato, a buttery cow’s milk beauty with the merest hint of herbs. Homesick ex-pats can also find their hit of proper Stilton or West Country Cheddar, while there’s a good range of French and Swiss stunners too. You can try everything as well, which makes this a shopping experience to savour.
Via Foppa 5, Milan
+39 02 481 7892
www.labaitadelformaggio.it
G Lorenzi
Ok, so G Lorenzi isn’t strictly a food shop – in fact, it sells nothing edible at all. But the moment you step into this great Milanese institution, every sense will be aflutter. Because this is one of the world’s great knife shops (or ‘cutlery shops,’ as the owners like to call it), all beautifully laid out in immaculate wooden cases. At times it feels more like museum than shopping destination, and it’s been around for over 80 years. Still, you cannot fail to be impressed. From surgical steel to silver, ceramic to bone, this blade-lover’s paradise has them all. And that’s just the start. Stunning corkscrews, handcrafted scissors and ebony salad servers fight for space alongside leather-clad Champagne travel cases, complete with ice bucket and a pair of crystal glasses. There’s also camping cutlery for £300, silver toothpick holders and cheese knives with elk horn handles. Prices start at €10, so there’s something for every pocket. Do beware, though, Once inside, you’ll be certain to find something you just have to have. It has that effect on us all.
|Via Montenapoleone 9 20121 Milan
+39 02 760 22848
www.lorenzi.it
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06-12-2011
