Where to eat in Milan on Easter. The best restaurants chosen by Gambero Rosso

The Easter weekend can be a great opportunity for a two-day holiday in the metropolis, which, with its art, architecture, and dedicated events, remains a beautiful and stimulating city to experience and explore even during the holidays. In fact, perhaps even more so, both for those coming from outside and for those who live there and can enjoy it at a leisurely pace. For those who want to have lunch at a restaurant on Sunday, March 31st, the options are plentiful, from super luxury hotels with views to classic and reliable local spots, from "farmhouse" settings in the city to rustic out-of-town venues. Here are the best addresses to consider for Easter lunch in 2024.

Where to eat in Milan on Easter

Da Berti

The idea of the Di Paolo brothers - from the 'A Riccione group - who have revived a historic sign not far from Palazzo Lombardia, is truly successful. A sea of ​​seats between indoor rooms, the veranda, and the outdoor area where vintage furnishings and contemporary taste immediately put you at ease. The menu is extensive, and the Easter menu (80 euros) doesn't disappoint: pastrami sandwich with red and white cabbage and yogurt sauce; lean tortellini with Chianina ragout; roasted lamb with potatoes. A rich cellar with fair prices. Service that never loses its thread even on crowded occasions.

Da Berti - via Francesco Algarotti, 2  - 02 6694627 - daberti.it

CotoliAMO at the Hilton Milan

In the luxury hotel near Central Station, the gastro-bistro named after the "elephant's ear" offers a menu for March 31st where specialties of Italian regional cuisine, especially from the North, are reinterpreted in a modern key, using many ingredients from the Greenhouse: Bluefin tuna tartare, light "bagna cauda" foam with Prosecco and black garlic, pistachio crumble; aged Carnaroli risotto whipped with Pavese crescenza, perch fillet, lemon gel, purple clover cream from the internal garden; lamb chops in artichoke and Taggiasca olive crust, Anna potatoes, stewed bock choy; "egg in its nest" filled with vanilla namelaka and mango cream; finishing with the inevitable Easter dove.

CotoliAMO dell’Hilton -Via Luigi Galvani, 12 - 02 69833078 - hilton.com

DaV Milano

The menu for March 31st is called "Easter at home". We are in the elegant bistro on the first floor of the Allianz Tower, the tallest in Italy (excluding the Unicredit spire), with a quiet terrace for the warmer months and a casual version of the proposal from the Cerea family of Da Vittorio in Brusaporto. There's roasted artichoke, Bitto cheese and licorice powder, mimosa-style asparagus salad, Milanese-style amberjack tataki, lobster paccheri, and roasted kid with baked potatoes and spinach, ending with a "dessert fest". Rich wine list.

DaV Milano - p.zza Tre Torri, 3 (c/o Torre Allianz) - 02 36723830 - davmilano.ristorantedav.com

DanielCanzian Ristorante

Daniel Canzian is inspired by the glorious Venetian tradition from which he comes, and the passion for contemporary art, shared with his mentor Gualtiero Marchesi, adds another piece to the puzzle of linking aesthetics to taste. For Easter, in addition to the menu to be discovered directly at the restaurant, there are options for delivery ("to your home") and for those spending the holiday out of town ("travel"), "for a top-notch lunch wherever you are". For restaurant guests, there are dishes such as cephalo carpaccio with caviar and chives, seafood risotto, roasted apricot dove and English cream egg.

DanielCanzian Ristorante - via Castelfidardo, 7 angolo San Marco - 02 63793837 - danielcanzian.com

Erba Brusca

In this bucolic oasis on the Naviglio Pavese, headquarters of Alice Delcourt, an Anglo-French chef raised in the United States who draws heavily from the garden located 50 meters from the restaurant in her cooking, Easter is celebrated as if you were in the countryside, away from the chaos of the metropolis. Here are grilled and salad asparagus, mint, lemon, ajo blanco, savory crumble; Zivieri mortadella, kimchi, naturally leavened focaccia; plin with new potatoes, Parmesan, marjoram, chamomile hazelnut butter; braised lamb, cabbage, green sauce; lemon and basil ice cream, strawberries; Cascina Sant’Alberto Easter dove. Small selection of "irregular" wines (plus some beer).

Erba Brusca - alzaia Naviglio Pavese, 286 - 02 87380711 - erbabrusca.it

Terrazza Gallia at the Excelsior Hotel Gallia

In this historic hotel next to Central Station is the fine dining "signed" by the Cerea family of Da Vittorio in Brusaporto, Bergamo, and led as executive chefs by the Lebano brothers, Vincenzo and Antonio. For an Easter with a panoramic view - the terrace is on the seventh floor - it's the right place, given the sumptuous and delicious proposal with many references to the Campania origins of the Lebano brothers. After the rich buffet (Easter pie, casatiello, salted ricotta, smoked buffalo braid, broad beans, almond taralli, boiled eggs, capocollo, Marco d’Oggiono salami, and much more), you continue with a choice of first and second courses from two options and end with the Easter dessert cart (all for 150 euros, 90 for children under 12). And from March 22nd to April 1st, every afternoon from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm, there's Easter tea.

Terrazza Gallia dell'Excelsior Hotel Gallia - p.zza Duca d'Aosta, 9 - 02 67853514 - galliadining.com

Particolare Milano

The cuisine of this pleasant and discreet place recalls the Neapolitan origins of the chef, with good results. The 1950s design and the internal garden make it a very comfortable place, a good idea for an Easter lunch with family or friends. Moreover, the menu (60 euros) is not bad at all: "it's not a Catalan" (flame-grilled shrimp, celery, cherry tomatoes, onion); 64° egg in panko crust, artichokes, Norwegian lamb tartare; Parmesan risotto, lemon gel, raw scallop, shellfish bisque; Argentinean Angus beef tagliata, carrots, friggitelli; Particolare tiramisu. Good selection of drinks.

Particolare Milano - via G. Tiraboschi, 5 - 02 47755016 - particolaremilano.com

Un Posto a Milano

A countryside oasis just a stone's throw from Porta Romana, this farmhouse with a restaurant, vegetable garden, and guesthouse is a place that invites you to a leisurely stop. You can come for breakfast, to sunbathe or cool off, to listen to live music, to let the kids play. And to try Nicola Cavallaro's cuisine, who takes care of all the proposals and prepares simple but flavorful dishes, even for Easter lunch: homemade pickled vegetables among the appetizers, artisan lasagna with lamb ragout as a first course, grilled prussian blade tagliata, roasted lamb leg, garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes, and organic mixed salad with wild herbs to follow. Quality, small wine list, with many independent producers from Fivi.

Un Posto a Milano - via privata Cuccagna, 2 - 02 5457785 - unpostoamilano.it

A' Riccione

The Abruzzese brothers Beppe and Dante Di Paolo deserve great credit not only for saving a historic sign - it was the "fish" restaurant in the 1960s and 1970s - but also for relaunching it, creating a bistro and reorganizing the upper two floors of the Brian & Barry Building (A' Riccione Terrazza 12), to make it a fashionable terrace. The menu is faithfully simple over the centuries, and on Easter, it offers a tris of tartare, sea bass and artichoke ravioli with delicate pesto, Black Cod on Jerusalem artichoke velouté, purple potato chips with Dutch mayonnaise. The wine list offers good choices.

A' Riccione - via T. Taramelli, 70 - 02 683807 - ariccionemilano.it

Antica Osteria di Ronchettino

A beloved out-of-town destination for Milanese people, in an old farmhouse immersed in greenery with a pleasant outdoor space and a bucolic atmosphere with a modern touch, perfect for a family holiday lunch. On the table, there are generally well-interpreted Lombard classics, and the same goes for Easter, with meatballs, veal with tuna sauce, roasted suckling lamb lacquered with its sweet and sour sauce, carrot cream, and Belgian endive. A valid cellar, with a lot of Lombardy.

Antica Osteria di Ronchettino - via L. Basso, 9 - 02 8262762 - ronchettino.it

Locanda Sempione

Brand new opening, inaugurated in mid-December 2023 by an entrepreneurial group with other successful ventures in the city. The Locanda is a restaurant with straightforward cuisine and a menu that refers to Lombard and Piedmontese traditions with a Mediterranean touch given by the chef of Puglian origins and some innovative touches. For the holiday, lunch travels between Milanese risotto, meatballs, and cutlet with fresh lime spinach and oven-baked potatoes with Piedmontese Fassona frisella, roasted octopus with white fava bean and chicory, tagliatelle with turnip greens cream, stracciatella, and Cantabrian anchovies.

Locanda Sempione - c.so Sempione, 38 - 02 09946065 - locandasempione.com

Stendhal

Marie-Henri Beyle - the real name of the writer Stendhal, who adored Milan - would not be displeased to know that they dedicated the sign of a local, always crowded, where Milanese tradition is worthily celebrated, at the Brera border, near the Pinacoteca. True, the wide foreign attendance has brought dishes outside the Bastions' circle to the menu - see the fish offer - but it's always best to focus on the classics, even at Easter: saffron Milanese veal on top. Cocktail pairing. Necessary wine cellar, quick service.

Stendhal - via Ancona, 1 - 02 6572059 - stendhalmilano.it

Vannucci

A very recent opening by Nicolas Boglione, chef, and patron with a professional past also spent in the East, who here proposes mostly seafood cuisine with interesting fusion grafts and references to the Mediterranean tradition, especially from Puglia. For Easter, in a path proposed at 70 euros, there are dishes such as "Gerardo di Nola" fusillone with scallops, artichokes, and pecorino and Angus beef striploin with new potatoes and wine reduction. At the wine cellar, Tonia, the patron sommelier, is an expert hostess.

Vannucci - via Atto Vannucci, 22 - 02 58316152 - ristorantevannucci.it