Milan Design Week 2023: where to eat at the Fuorisalone

Milan Design Week 2023 is just around the corner. The annual celebration of creativity and design returns from 17 to 23 April, with a calendar of events that will take over the city of Milan and its coolest districts. If the Salone del Mobile takes place in the spaces of Rho Fiera, on the outskirts of Milan from 18 April, the happenings and fringe appointments of Fuorisalone 2023 are back running throughout the city, enlivening the various design districts for an entire week. 

There will be ad hoc menus, tastings and special projects combining food and design. There is something for all tastes: from Korean cuisine to Apulian tradition, from cocktails paired with pizza to the most popular sandwiches in the Lombard capital, from starred pop-up restaurants to plant-based offerings. All seasoned with a good dose of novelty, imagination, flair and creativity – it's Milan Design Week, after all. Wondering where to eat at Fuorisalone 2023? Discover all the events and food initiatives not to be missed.

Milan Design Week 2023: where to eat at the Fuorisalone

Temporary Bistrot & Restaurant Famiglia Rana – Showroom NonostanteMarras

_{Photo courtesy Rana}

Running from 17 to 23 April at the DocciaMarras showroom in the heart of the Tortona Design District is a pop-up by Sardinian designer Antonio Marras, who after four sold-out editions is back with a project combining fashion, cuisine and design. Here you can find the Temporary Bistrot & Restaurant Famiglia Rana, which will feature the cuisine of chef Giuseppe D'Aquino from the Famiglia Rana restaurant in Vallese di Oppeano, near Verona, which was awarded its first Michelin star in November. 

Antonio Marras' space, transformed for the occasion into a colourful Mediterranean forest, will be the scene for breakfasts, lunches, aperitivos and dinners (from 10 to 22.30, lunch and dinner by reservation only, restaurantrana@rana.it). The menu will include the iconic dishes of Famiglia Rana, exploring the link between Veneto and Campania, the chef's native land, plus the flavours of Sardinia. 

Dinner ‘by light of Lym’ – Daniel Canzian Restaurant

_{Photo courtesy Daniel Canzian Ristorante}

Across the entirety of Fuorisalone 2023, you can dine ‘by the light of LYM’ at chef Daniel Canzian’s restaurant, in the heart of the Brera Design District – the restaurant will host a collection of new lamp designs from the Friulian lighting company. The tasting menu, created ad hoc by chef Canzian, will include asparagus ‘en plein air’, agnolotti alle canoce in saffron-scented sauce and sea bass in salt. It closes on a sweet note, with ‘Desert Rose’ tiramisù.

Terrazza Prosecco – House of Mediterraneo

_{Photo: Stefania Zanetti}

From 17 to 22 April, the Prosecco Terrace will come to life in the House of Mediterraneo cultural hub. Here, bubbles, food, design and music will mark the frenetic pace of Milan Design Week 2023, generating a sensory experience in the name of conviviality and entertainment. Many events are scheduled to celebrate the link between wine and beauty, with the presence of Prosecco Doc in Milan. 

On the occasion of the Fuorisalone, the location will host furnishings by Potocco, a company specialising in the production of indoor and outdoor furniture. Also, the designer Giorgio Romairone, who with Studio 6:AM has created a special collection of glasses with different shapes and shades of colour, a project inspired by the Tipetto, a typical Venetian glass from the 1700s. On Tuesday 18 and Thursday 20 April, the Prosecco Terrace will be open to all, from 18.00 to 20.00, to taste a glass of bubbly to the rhythm of Emma Iovino's DJ set.

100% Pasta – Eataly Smeraldo

_{Photo courtesy Eataly Smeraldo}

In the heart of Porta Nuova, a few steps from the Brera Design District stands the Eataly Smeraldo store. There you’ll find 100% Pasta, a multi-sensory experience dedicated to Made in Italy and created in collaboration with Paola Navone, founder of Otto Studio, with an aerial installation in which the famous designer's personal version of pasta with tomato sauce becomes an artistic expression, finding a concrete realisation in the kitchen of Eataly Smeraldo. The installation will be open to the public from 17 April to 1 May. The inspirations for the work – tomatoes, garlic, chilli pepper and spaghetti, made by the Viareggio Carnival Foundation – are the protagonists of the installation. The recipe is courtesy of the designer's grandmother.

The work will be presented to the public on 20 April, at 18.00, on the stage of Eataly Smeraldo, with a food performance during which Navone will talk about food and design, sharing the story of her ‘Pasta Paola’, accompanied by a store chef who will prepare it for those present. Fancy a plate of pasta? The tastings will continue from 21 to 25 April: every day, at 17.00, the chefs of Eataly will create Paola Navone's recipe. On the same days, the dish will be available as an off-menu special in the Eataly Smeraldo restaurants.

Eugenio Roncoroni’s plant-based menu – Chiosco Mentana

Always an avant-garde chef and assiduous researcher, and a tireless explorer of the cuisines of the world, chef Eugenio Roncoroni will enliven the Fuorisalone 2023 with a takeover of the Mentana kiosk in Piazza Mentana and an entire plant-based themed evening, in the heart of Brera and the 5VIE Design Week circuit. Head there on 19 April from 6.45 pm (while stocks last) to receive free at the table, together with the drinks ordered, two new dishes prepared by Roncoroni, based on vegetable products, a world that Roncoroni studies, experiments and interprets in his own way, through experiences and lessons learned on his travels around the globe. Milan Design Week 2023 will be an opportunity to preview this search for a new idea of cooking, rooted in vegetables, which Roncoroni is enthusiastically pursuing.

Hansik That's Soban: Korean tasting – tram pop-up

Hansik That's Soban is the name of the initiative commissioned by the Korea Craft & Design Foundation, an institutional organisation promoting Korean craftsmanship and gastronomic culture at Milan Design Week 2023. 

On 19 and 21 April, from 15.00 to 16.00 and from 17.00 to 18.00, a pop-up tram departing and arriving from Piazza Fontana, and decorated with dancheong motifs, the typical artistic wood lacquering technique, will travel through the streets of central Milan. Onboard, visitors will taste a selection of Korean finger foods served on a soban, a characteristic Korean serving table.

Apulian cuisine and precious ceramics – Ricci Osteria

_{Photo courtesy Ricci Osteria – Enza Fasano}

On the occasion of Milan Design Week 2023, ceramic enthusiasts can stop by Ricci Osteria, an address dedicated to authentic Apulian cuisine, from chefs Antonella Ricci and Vinod Sookar. There you’ll find pieces by Enza Fasano, the famous Apulian potter originally from Grottaglie, who also creates the plate service and coffee cups of the Pizzolato line, a collection born between the 14th and 15th centuries, and already used by the restaurant. 

Originally glazed with typical colours such as ivory and green, these ceramics are known particularly for their hammered edges. Orecchiette alle cime di rapa is served in these ceramics for the Domenica in Puglia menu, designed to revive the typical atmosphere of Southern Italy. During the Fuorisalone 2023 among the tables of Ricci Osteria, you can also admire the refined slim vases, with an elongated shape, borrowed from the Grottagliese tradition, once used to pour water, wine and oil. Past and present come together in new forms, for meals full of taste and design.

Regional Chinese haute cuisine and designer dishes – Bon Wei

_{Photo courtesy Bon Wei}

Designed by architect Carlo Samarati in 2010, Bon Wei was the first regional Chinese haute cuisine restaurant to bring a different, more contemporary and refined image of China to Milan (and Italy). The restaurant stands out for its refined menu, with 24 regional recipes selected within the eight territories that make up the ‘badacaixi’. For Milan Design Week 2023, Bon Wei will launch the new Villeroy & Boch collection of plates, trays and cups in refined bone china (the Stella collection), customised ad hoc by a designer from Broggi, with a red crackle effect lacquer and the restaurant logo on each piece.

Strega Design Collection: pizza and cocktails – Dry Milano

During Milan Design Week 2023, the first design collection of the historic Strega Alberti liqueur company, originally from Benevento, the famous Italian ‘city of witches’, will be unveiled – a collection of unique and numbered cocktail glasses, conceived by the designer Lucia Massari and handcrafted in Murano, in the Venice Lagoon, in collaboration with Fornace Mian. From 18 to 23 April, in the spaces of the Dry Milano pizzeria and cocktail bar, in the heart of the Brera Design District, you can enjoy a special installation made with glasses from the collection, under the creative direction of Angela Da Silva of the Swing Design Gallery based in Benevento. You can also taste a special cocktail, created for the Fuorisalone 2023 by resident barman Edris Al Malat: Strega liqueur, fennel-infused gin, white vermouth, sugar and citric acid. We recommend combining it with one of the excellent pizzas of Lorenzo Sirabella, the house pizza chef.

Tech x sustainability snacks by Panino Giusto – Cake showroom

_{Photo courtesy Panino Giusto}

Head to the Cake showroom on Via Tortona in the heart of the Tortona Design District on 19 April from 18.00 to 22.00 for a special tasting from Panino Giusto, the historic Milanese company that has been serving iconic panini since 1979. The sandwiches will be delivered by the riders of Cosaporto, a quality delivery service active in Milan and in other cities such as London, onboard Cake’s Scandinavian electric motorcycles. Admission is free, but it is necessary to register on the Cosaporto website to download the invitation.