Milan Design Week 2018: The Unmissable Events

The countdown to Milan Design Week, held from 17 to 22 April 2018, has officially begun. But what all the creatives and food lovers are really eagerly awaiting is the arrival of Fuorisalone, which animates the city of Milan with spin off events and initiatives, once a year.

So, if you're passing through the city next week and don't want to wander "blindly" through the myriad of events, let Fine Dining Lovers guide you.

Whether you want design restaurants to visit during the Design Week or special installations and initiatives (up to a superstarred dinner), here is our guide to the unmissable events of the Fuorisalone!

Fuori Salone 2018: The Street Food

WEating is Just Streat Week @ Lambrate Design District 

WEating 2018 chooses Din - Design In, to give life to an event inside an event in the pulsating heart of the Lambrate Design District. The starting point for the project is the land and its produce, captured in exhibitions and multi-sensory open-air experiences.

And just beyond, in the Ventura Garden of Lambrate, Just StrEat Week will take place, the signature Street Food Experience with good food, music and drinks. With just a few clicks, through the Just Eat! App, you can order world delights from 10 food trucks; all strictly accompanied by cocktails and enjoyed to the tunes of electrifying DJ sets. It comes to life every day at sunset time - which is also the aperitivo golden hour - starting at 19.00, eat to the beat of the music.

Also, not to be missed is Osteria Milano, the initiative of Sbodio 32 which, among DJs, drinks and food, also presents the creations of young debut designers.

Eat Urban Truck Festival @ Sant'Ambrogio

Photo: Facebook.com/Zonasantambrogio

Food lovers and street food lovers, unite! This year at Fuorisalone the imperative is to eat gourmet. And at Zona Sant'ambrogio, in Via San Vittore 49, the Eat Urban Food Truck Festival returns.

From 17 to 22 April 17, from 10.00 to 23.00, you can find vintage vehicles, apecars and two wheels for a real outdoor dining experience. New for 2018 is Piazza del Cannone celebrating "Made in Italy", with a food court where food and relaxation will be the protagonists for a delicious break in between installations.

StreetEat Food Court @ Brera Design District

Photo: Facebook.com/Streeteat

Streeteat, a startup founded as an aggregator app of the best food trucks in Italy and Europe conquers Brera district for the Fuorisalone becoming a Food Court. However, it's not just a "dedicated area", because Streeteat Food Court will also be a creative hub dedicated to gastronomic culture.

Students, designers and professionals will express themselves on topics like sharing, sustainability and design. A journey to discover the gastronomic peninsula, between interpretations of risotto alla Milanese and a celebration of raw materials, making it well worth a stop.

Ink Eat

Have you ever thought about customizing food products in a creative way, because INK EAT has! For Fuorisalone, INK EAT will be at the Milan Design Market, one of the focal points of the Isola Design District from 17 to 22 April. Visitors will be able to customize macarons and marshmallows, single-serve cakes like brownies, carrot cake, red velvet and vegan pie with apples and cinnamon. And not only food, milkshakes can also be customized. How, you ask? Very simple: just choose the favorite image and in a few seconds it will be printed on your favourite dessert with food ink and voila, you're done. Irresistible.

Fuorisalone 2018: The installations and exhibitions

The Journey of Water by S.Pellegrino@Superstudio PIÙ (Tortona Design Week)

S.Pellegrino celebrates "The Journey of Water" bringing unique pieces of design to the best tables in the world: three well-known international designers led by Giulio Cappellini, global trendsetters and talent scouts, have redesigned the label of S.Pellegrino for three exclusive limited editions. The labels, which the designers have reinterpreted inspired by the brand's iconicity, will be revealed in the days of Fuorisalone in Superstudio Più along with three installations created specifically for the occasion.

The Diner: Surface and David Rockwell inside Ventura Centrale 

America comes to Milan, thanks to Surface. In honour of its 25th anniversary, Surface, the leading American design magazine will present 'The Diner', a project that promises to be unmissable. Guest architect David Rockwell, will, together with a selection of American designers, celebrate American design presenting an unforgettable contemporary interpretation of the 'diner'. The installation will immerse visitors in four distinct environments: the entrance, inspired by Airstream, an East Coast style lunch, a room that pays homage to the Midwest diners and a West Coast lounge. In addition, The Diner will also be the theatre for talks and night parties.

The DAF Exhibition Design Art and Food @ Libraria Agostiniana dell'Incoronata 

DAF is an acronym that stands for Design Art and Food, but it's (also) an exhibition. Or rather, a sensory experience of taste, sight and style in a perpetual dialogue with the visitor. The exhibition, curated by Walter Vallini, Antonello D'Egidio and Grazia Saporiti and supported by art critic Roberto Mastroianni, is a real path in which the exhibits take different forms depending on the perception of each individual. Travel. But with taste.

Dgusto Pastry Design Show@Pasticceria Martesana 

Photo: ChocobeUs by Matteo Ragni

Francesco Buzzo and Serena Lambertoni are the creative couple behind Dgusto who, together with Pasticceria Martesana, propose combining two different worlds: pastry and design. Calling together various designers, Dgusto has tasked them with designing a dessert (fresh, praline or biscuit), without giving too many specifications and without specifying a recipe. The result can be admired during the Fuorisalone - from 17 to 22 April 2018 - at the three branches of Pasticceria Martesana, where the sweets and pastries born from this collaboration will be exhibited. During the inaugural event, by invitation or booking only, it will be possible to see the fruits of this initiative as well as taste some of them. Yum.

Design Bites:Panini Durini becomes and Art Gallery

Photo: I Scream by Francesco Vullo

Panini Durini will be filled with art and become a gallery. In the six locations around the city it'll be possible to admire the works of some contemporary Italian artists, including established names and emerging talents. In Via Mercato, Corso Magenta, via Mengoni, via della Moscova, via Orefici and via Durini works by Marco Lodola, Arnaud Nazare-Aga, Mr. SaveTheWall, Francesco Vullo, Tanio Liotta and Tomoko will all be on display. 

Fuorisalone 2018: The restaurant Events

Eustachiora

Parallel to Corso Buenos Aires, via Eustachi joins the Fuorisalone with its food & wine offer. The protagonists will be the designers who, presenting projects related to the world of the table, will give life to a tasting route in 7 stages: from Enoteca VinoalVino, Vineria di via Stradella, Casa Milani, Bubu Fiaschetteria Toscana, Consorzio Stoppani, Sorso di Vino and Polpetta DOC.

Mixology Design Week at Emporio Armani Cafe 

From 17 to 21 April, the Emporio Armani Caffè will extend its opening hours until 11.30 pm and offer the chance to dine with an unpublished menu and a new special cocktail card. The five evenings will also host five different DJ sets. The cocktails, created especially for the week by a guest bartender, will be accompanied by a selection of finger food for aperitivo time, but will also be ideal for an after dinner drink. A new four course menu will instead be available for dinner: each dish will also be paired with a cocktail, special mixology creations based on wine, paired with the flavours and ingredients of the dishes.

28 Posti. Daniel, Cittamani and Boatta -  Special Restaurant Initiatives

There are those who will propose special menus for the Design Week and those who dedicate ad hoc events to the week. 28 posti restaurant will offer a menu created by the collaboration between the industrial designer Odo Fioravanti and the chef Marco Ambrosino. 

Outside restaurant Daniel, a wooden pier will take shape, where, among reeds and marsh grasses, an exclusive table will emerge in rough wood surrounded by unusual additions from Design Impagliando. In this setting you can try the lunch and dinner menu created specifically by chef Daniel Canzian.

Cittamani, chef Ritu Dalmia's contemporary Indian restaurant, will offer an evening dedicated to the presentation of the cocktail area set up by small Smeg appliances: from 19.00, three cocktails will be presented, one of which was created specifically for Smeg by barman Mattia Bescape.

Live music and drinks for every Fuorisalone evening will also be at the Boatta restaurant, which launches its BoattaDesignWeek.

Fuorisalone 2018: A Michelin starred dinner at Castello Sforzesco

On Wednesday 18 April at 7.00 pm, a dinner for the Benefit Respect Food Night will be held in the Cortile della Rocchetta of the Sforza Castle for 300 guests (at a cost of 200 euros), organized by Grundig and dedicated to Food for Soul , the non-profit association founded by Massimo Bottura engaged in the opening of community refectories and canteens in the world and in the awareness of the fight against food waste.

In addition to Bottura, Andrea Berton, Enrico Cerea, Carlo Cracco, Antonio Guida, Giancarlo Morelli, Matias Perdomo and Viviana Varese will all cook during the evening.