When the chef is a woman, culinary skills are associated with a certain way of setting the table and furnishing the location. And the results are amazing

One Four Two: What does this number mean? In short, at one time restaurants were given explicit names, evocative, which referred to the locality where they were located (alla Scogliera, for example), to the name of the owner (da Peppino, a classic) or to the menu proposal (Mari & Monti, a hyper classic).

And instead Sandra Ciciriello, mind and soul of this Milanese place in the heart of porta Genoa, offers us a number, perhaps a formula…

“The number” he explains, “is a reference to the concept of the place: 'one' indicates a single space, which lives for 'four' moments of the day, through 'two' integrated souls, the hall and kitchen".

Sandra Ciciriello, founder of 142 in Corso Colombo 6 in Milan

Sandra, who had already obtained a Michelin star in her previous restaurant, a great expert in fish markets, for 142 preferred to move from the kitchen to the dining room, designing an informal location and very comfortable in which the chefs' operating space becomes an integral part of the venue. “I wanted 142 to be alive at all hours of the day: from breakfast to lunch, from aperitif to dinner”. The reason?

"It is a more international approach and, moreover, it creates greater loyalty because customers know that they can come to us for a working lunch as well as an aperitif". For this we need more competent figures.

In addition to Sandra Ciciriello, founder of the restaurant, there is Campanian chef Nello Barbieri in the kitchen, the sous chef Sardinian Chiara Orrù and the Terni pastry chef Alessandro Montanari.

The interior design, on the other hand, was designed by Giorgia Longoni: mirrors, which expand the spaces, vintage chandeliers, Fifties-inspired chairs. The totally tailor-made kitchen project was instead carried out by Fabio Ferrandino di Marrone.

Vasiliki Pierrakea by Vasiliki Kouzina in via Clusone 6 Milan

The restaurant Vasiliki Kouzina has the name of its owner Vasiliki < strong>Pierrakea, an elegant Greek lady who brought the atmosphere and flavors of home to the heart of Milan by opening a place that tells the story of her country through food.

“My place”, he explains, “offers a different cuisine from that which everyone knows in Greek taverns: with a menu full of Mediterranean and Balkan influences, because Greece is a hybrid land born from encounters and crossings of many peoples over the centuries".

For the interior, Vasiliki relied on her personal taste, painting the place with warm Mediterranean colours, inserting informal furnishings with a vintage flavor and, above all, carefully studying the lighting so that there was a welcoming light above each table.

In the kitchen is Gikas Xenakis, who in 2020 received the award for best Greek chef from the Gault & Millau.

Born in Thebes, Gikas works on the recovery of traditional dishes linked to his childhood combined with Balkan dishes, and in both cases he makes use of small local producers who guarantee quality while respecting the territory.

Milan welcomed Vasiliki's proposals with enthusiasm, appreciating its philosophy.

“I often tell my guests a motto of my beloved grandfather who helped me a lot in life. He said: Throw yourself into everything, you just need to know how and when to get out of it… and if you go back and don't know how to eat, drink and love, even if you have done everything else, you have failed for me ”.

Article by Anna Martinelli