How did your relationship with food begin?
My mum was a great cook and my dad was a food connoisseur. Therefore, food has always been part of my life, but it was never my one and only passion. My parents owned a traditional Milanese restaurant called “Antica Trattoria della Pesa” in Milan, so I grew up in an environment where traditional food was an essential component of my day-to-day.
I believe that many times, life takes you through a non-linear path, just where you are supposed to be. My dream was to study psychology, but my shyness and insecurities made me stay in Milan.
After I got married and had two kids I started managing my family restaurant by chance, and fast forward to today, I have been in that role for 16 years. This experience gave me the possibility to show my full potential and challenge myself. I have to admit that it was one of the best opportunities I could have ever taken, as it was a way to get out of my shell, and without even noticing it I had the opportunity to show my empathy and warmth/cordiality, which turned out to be essential for the kind of job I was doing.
What is the strength of “Antica Trattoria della Pesa”?
Once upon a time, the restaurant used to be a place where all the goods were weighed for the payment of the duty through the old weighbridge, before getting into the city through Porta Garibaldi. My parents are originally from Emilia-Romagna but when they bought the restaurant from an old Milanese lady that inherited it from her parents, they decided to keep the original red and grey grit floor, the wood panelling and traditional furniture, which date back to 1880.
Our strength is authenticity and tradition. We never adapted to the ever-changing taste of people, as we preferred to keep our traditional menu and offer quality and genuineness. Our restaurant is also catalogued in the “Locali Storici d’Italia”, an association which aims to preserve and promote historical Italian establishments such as restaurants, pastry shops and hotels.
Who eats at “Antica Trattoria della Pesa”?
Part of our clientele is made of families, which educated their children to eat traditional Lombard dishes and not only trendy food such as sushi. Therefore, even if we are not particularly appealing to young generations, the childhood memories of “ossobuco con il risotto alla milanese” and “foiolo alla milanese” made the later generations of our customers loyal to “Antica Trattoria della Pesa”.
Consistency is the key. Especially for what concerns the quality. Our clientele is historical, and our suppliers have been the same for the past 20 years, as they always provided us with the best produce. Therefore, we can never fail our customers, as they know exactly what to expect from us.
Are there any curious stories about your restaurant?
In 1933 the ex-Vietnamese president “Ho Chi Minh” worked in our restaurant and lived on the floor above it. We received a statue of him as a gift and we now are a popular destination for many Vietnamese diplomats and tourists in Milan.
How did the restaurant landscape change in the past few years?
In the past decades, we have seen many restaurant constantly opening and closing in Milan. The main trend has been to amaze and surprise customers with an innovative and sophisticated cuisine. This phenomenon probably happened as many people got tired of traditional cuisine and continuously looked for novelty.
Instead, we decided to keep our roots and maintain the traditional menu characterised by “Risotto al Salto”, cabbage rolls and the “zabaione caldo” served in coffee bowls reminiscent of the 19th-century peasants’ snack. We don’t create any new dishes out of the tradition, as we believe that having a specific identity is a key asset for what we do. When our customers come to “Antica Trattoria della Pesa” and order a risotto, they expect to taste exactly a risotto and not any other bizarre flavour.
Do you have any solutions for the future post Covid-19?
This pandemic affected many sectors, but especially the hospitality industry and restaurants will have to face the consequences of closed offices, fearful tourists and cancelled events/fairs. Regular clients are mainly people that have offices in the neighbourhood or that come for business lunches, however many of them now will feel safer to work from home, as it is more convenient as well.
Putting together a delivery service was never an option for us, as the dishes we prepare are made to be eaten on the spot. We didn’t want our customers to have a different experience from the one they would have in our restaurant. For now, the best advertisement is the word of mouth of satisfied customers, which always gratifies us and makes us feel proud of our job.
In Milanese dialect, we say “Sperem”! (which means let’s hope for the best)