A Milanese restaurant with a less Mediterranean vision of the fish subject, opened by the Italian-French company Oyster Oasis and which has Claudio Rovai’s talent in the kitchen, Tuscan with many experiences and with the 08printing of Matias Perdomo. In paper sea, in Milanese restaurants, it is told more or less always in the same way. A matter of Mediterraneanity and tradition. For this he struck me the road chosen by Food Writers, a contemporary restaurant and rare dryness at number 14 in via Domenico Millelire, between San Siro and Primoticcio, certainly not a neighborhood where the Milanese have the habit of going to dinner. Here the Italian-French company Oyster Oasis, specialized in the distribution of excellent fish products, has opened this place with a rather Nordic attitude in the narrative (with a Japanese vein), made of plateaux, molluscs and crustaceans treated with cleaning and elegance, even if then to dominate the scene it is a great blocker where the chef Claudio Rovai move Brigade.
Rovai is a very interesting character. Tuscan of Lucca, he made his bones in London, working in many Italian restaurants in the English capital, and then he has caught many experiences in Italy, in important starred clubs, and above all in Australia, where he came to manage the cuisine of a renowned Italian sign in full autonomy, and where above all he refined the taste for experimentation and for a lateral vision of gastronomy. In Milan Rovai arrives in Milan at the court of Matias Perdomo, a Uruguayan chef of contrasts, one of the few in the city to make true avant -garde. Rovai hits the South American cook to the point of pushing him to entrust them with the cuisine of exit gastronomy, a decidedly innovative project in his way of combining informal approach and quality search. Then the arrival from Food Writers, where the Tuscan chef seems to be definitely at ease.
Rovai has no alchemical secrets, but the strength of simplicity. Great care in the choice of raw materials – let’s say that in this case the presence of Oyster Oasis as “master” helps a lot – worked with a slight but still recognizable hand and with great attention to the seasonality, lightness and beauty of the dish.
The very attractive menu is structured not for rigid sections (appetizers/first/seconds) but by type of product. There are therefore molluscs, crustaceans, white fish, blue fish and plants, declined in the various moments of the meal, which can also be changed to taste. It starts from a section of French, Irish and even Italian oysters. I get two, one Italian, one, one talks about the Delta of Scardovari, from Veneto, and a ostra regal from Ireland, creamy and little iodinated but with a long hazel wake. All in a plateau that also includes a Spanish shrimp and an Irish escape, all accompanied by two sauces, shallot, lemon, chilli pepper and red onion and mayonnaise.
I go on with a squid on a potato sauce and a Chinese sauce composed of soy, vinegar, which gives a lot of character. Then there is a magnificent husband with a grit blue lobster cooked, a mayonnaise and chives, then a roasted Sardinian with fennel pesto and pine nuts and curly salad. Then of the impeccable spaghetti Benedetto Cavalieri served with coated clams. Finally, the last salty dish, a grilled shade, salty lemon gel, crescenza cream, levy sauce, grilled spinach and laurel oil. As a dessert I choose a delicious hazelnut duction.
The wine list is of the right size, without exaggerating with unnecessary gigantisms. It makes itself read and proposes many labels that are not very beaten next to established wine houses. Of course, it has a lot of attention to the bubbles, both for the partially French roots of the place, and because oysters and raw people naturally call them bread is from the excellent bakery.
The restaurant is elegant and modernist, with few frills. Dominates the wood. The service is smiling and accurate, I was served by the good Andrea, and has only one limit, the poor female presence, at least on the evening of my visit. But it will not be difficult to remedy.