Review: Trattoria del Ciumbia

Sèm chì! We are here! Ciumbia is a very Milanese exclamation, akin to wow in the local dialect. And indeed, the food at this restaurant in the Brera district is a triumph of hyperlocal dishes, the kind any child of Milano would have had at their grandparents’ when they were little: cotoletta, veal Marsala scaloppine, Russian salad, quinto quarto, but also delicious vegetarian dishes like asparagus flan. Here is a classic trattoria—just cooler and filled with a pleasant and different clientele (the restaurant is majority-owned by Leonardo Del Vecchio of the Luxottica family)—and the food makes for a decidedly lighter meal compared to the original recipes of old. The interiors by Dimore Studio are splendid, evoking Milanese architecture from the 1960s and 1970s in its solid elements and dark tones. And it’s centrally located in a neighborhood where crowds of tourists sit at the outdoor tables of cafés and restaurants. But Ciumbia is a touch different. You have to know it to find it, since you wouldn’t be able to tell how special it is from the outside, like it so often happens in Milan. And when you do: You’ll realize you’re in exactly the right place, where you need to be. N.B. There’s also a private club. —Maddalena Fossati