Milan, at Innocenti evasioni “political” menu at 35 euros for young people

2023-08-03 09:30:30

When Tommaso Arrigoni thought about moving Innocenti Evasioni, after 25 years and a well-stitched Michelin star for 14 years on its apron, had more than just a change of address in mind. She wanted more. So you took the necessary time, chose one of the youngest and most lively areas of Milan, in Bovisa, and reopened your restaurant. With an idea in line with the evolution of fine dining: quality cuisine that is increasingly accessible. So much so that they decide to make a proposal to young people under 25: from September they will be able to dine at Innocenti Invasioni, by reservation, at a more than popular price. With 35 euros, sitting at the counter, with two dishes, a dessert, a glass of wine, water and coffee.

The chef talks about his choice in the new restaurant, in via Candiani 66, right next to the Polytechnic. “We have a million new projects: we are delighted to be here and we have been very well received by the neighbourhood. It is a very lively neighborhood and our restaurant will be like this too. Hence the idea of ​​the first project which will start in September. The bar counter it is very large and we will initially dedicate it to the under 25s: ten places per evening, from Monday to Thursday, with a fixed menu for 35 euros. Before Covid we had done a very similar project which had been a resounding success. The return above all was exciting. Those who had approached the place with this offer then came back. In my opinion we need to do a bit of fine dining culture, bring young people closer together, make ourselves accessible, to make as many people as possible understand what it means to eat and drink well. after some training. It will be one of the first innovations we will propose. Then we will probably also work as chef table”.

Of what was Innocenti Evasioni in via della Bindellina, Arrigoni has kept everything: he has recovered the historical dishes and confirmed the same brigade. But in the new place he will be able to do even more especially in terms of sustainability. “I could not afford to remain closed for two or three years – adds the chef and owner of the restaurant -. The old and historic restaurant was located in a twentieth-century house that needed not only being fixed up, but almost rebuilt. So I had to move. I would have liked to do catering in a large hotel. We tried various collaborations, but everything is very complicated. So I returned to the idea of ​​having my own restaurant. The first thing I looked for was the green, breathing area. We found this place: we could have a vegetable garden, set up beehives. It’s a new building where we’ve managed to do a project linked to everything that is the world of circularity and sustainability. That’s why we’re here. In an area that’s a bit ‘ more secluded than before but with its own mood. I live here. And I’m in an environment where the kids and I get on well”.

Change the gastronomic offer, but the dishes that made the history of Arrigoni remain. “The only thing we have changed is the offer, which is more modern. There is no longer the menu, a trend also followed by other colleagues, so there are three tasting menus. But with the possibility of choosing and extrapolating the dishes, for those who do not want to follow the whole menu itinerary.We have kept two menus that have made the history of Innocenti Evasioni: the tasting menu, which has a slightly more gourmet slant; and we have a menu called six mezze which we have been carrying on for about ten years: six small portions”.

And then a menu that talks about the history of the restaurant, which was born twice and always on April 8: in 1998 and in 2023. “It’s a menu born to give continuity. Two months before leaving the Bindellina I thought of making a tribute to the 25 years spent in that place and I created a menu with three historical, iconic dishes: they loved it, so I thought of recovering the dishes of our history and creating something celebratory. It’s called La Storia Siamo Noi: in on the menu there are dishes from 1998, 1999, 2000. They had to be adapted to the present day because we are talking about another era, in which dishes were cooked and presented in a totally different way”.

Milan, new headquarters for Jacopo Fontaneto’s Innocenti Evasioni restaurant 28 March 2023

Also attention to the environment and sustainability it is different and Arrigoni, chef without waste (from the title of the book he wrote for Guido Tommasi Editore) knows it well. “Moving to the spaces in via Candiani – he explains – has allowed us to develop a new restaurant with a lot of attention paid to sustainability. We are fully aware that our daily actions are of fundamental importance for the future of the new generations and we are committed every day to making our contribution. As soon as we settled in Bovisa we looked around to learn about and participate in the dynamics of the neighbourhood. The whole philosophy of our cuisine is in tune with the themes of collaboration and awareness, certain that mutual enrichment can be achieved. Some good initiatives have already been born from this conviction”.

A first collaboration has been activated with the Hybrid Brewery to which the surplus bread for the production of beer is donated. Another with Coltivando, the convivial vegetable garden of the Milan Polytechnic: organic waste from the kitchen is deposited in their compost and then returned in the form of fertilizer to be used in the vegetable garden.