Milan’s new openings close the gap between the first drink and last dance

In a residential neighbourhood in the east of the city, regulars are propping up the bar at Banco d’Assaggio, an old-school wine spot of the type that proliferates around Milan. Follow the road for another 100 metres towards the park, however, and the scene changes altogether. Despite the lack of signage outside, the interior patio at Fiorin Fiorello is filling up with a fashion-hipster crowd sipping on French whites and nibbling from cheese platters. Inside, music is played through large custom-built speakers fixed to the walls.

A few years ago, places such as Fiorin Fiorello didn’t exist. The choice was between a fun, old-school joint or a more contemporary offering that didn’t always get it right. Maybe it has something to do with Milan’s new residents or perhaps the Lombard capital is simply playing catch-up with the likes of London, Paris, New York and Copenhagen – but new spots are emerging and there’s a definite Milan aesthetic being established, in which stainless steel and mood lighting play an important part.

For Luca Marullo, co-founder of Parasite 2.0, the design studio behind Fiorin Fiorello’s interiors (as well as Porta Venezia’s Sandì), the new wave of Milan bars has something to do with patrons’ changing habits. “The way you spent the night used to be aperitivo and then clubs,” he says. “Now people are spending more time in places like Fiorin Fiorello. You can drink, spend the evening here and even have a little dance.”

Entering the bar feels almost cinematic. Once through the door, you part a giant, elaborately hung curtain, revealing a bar that is decked out in raw stainless steel and manned by American sommelier and manager Louis Turano. A giant light box hanging from the ceiling changes colour from yellow to red as the night progresses (red lighting is a thing, pioneered by new-wave trendsetter Bar Nico, which featured in last year’s newspaper, as well as new opening Bar Sensa). At Fiorin Fiorello there are also references to old Milan: notably the radica (briarwood), popular in the 1970s, covering some walls; and the DJ booth located round the corner in a nook where drinking turns to dancing from Thursday to Saturday.

“The idea was to have a bar that did music and wine,” says Luca Fiore, one of its four co-founders. “It’s neither an enoteca [wine bar] nor a listening bar.” Still, it has probably drawn inspiration from other music-centric places that have sprung up of late in Milan, such as Mogo – from the team behind Bentoteca and Pan – and Corso Genova’s San.

Another feature of the new wave is New York-style bar seating, which is a nod to what Fiore calls “conviviality”. Milan’s bar resurgence has been led by Silvano, a wine-and-bites spot in the Nolo neighbourhood where diners sit at a stainless-steel bar. The bancone (counter) is also an integral part of excellent new opening Kiwon, a small-plates Korean restaurant and wine bar. With interiors designed by Milan’s Oooh Studio, there are conventional tables but the prime spot is on the raised chairs facing a large open-plan kitchen. “We love the counter, which is why we created it,” says Carmine Colucci, who met his fellow owners, chef Ha Neul Ko (whose family has a 40-year-old Korean restaurant) and Emanuele Romanelli, working at Enoteca Flor. “When we go out, we like to be there; you see everything. You never know what will happen at the bar.”

Kiwon’s dishes are a breath of fresh air for Asian food in Milan. They are a mixture of traditional fare and more contemporary offerings, although the presentation clearly leans towards the modern. Classics include simmered rice cakes called tteokbokki with vegetables, served with a gochujang spicy sauce made with fermented soya, as well as an excellent fried-chicken dish. More modern takes include a turbot carpaccio and a toasted sandwich filled with roast beef, marinated white radish and lightly spiced mayo.

A similar contemporary take can be felt at the buzzing Balay in Porta Venezia. Near Milan Design Week’s Spazio Maiocchi, it is hosting Monocle’s daytime pop-up café. A small, casual spot along the road from speciality coffee opening Rito, Balay serves funky beers, excellent wine and plates that pop in your mouth thanks to their interesting flavours. Despite only being a little more than nine months old, Balay has established itself as one of the city’s most popular destinations. Getting a seat can be tricky.

“Milan is changing in terms of modern Asian food,” says Balay’s founder, Ray Ibarra, who is from the city but has Filipino heritage. He cut his teeth at Milan’s Bentoteca, where he worked for six years before opening his own place after travelling in Japan. “Finally there is a young approach,” he says.

The food and drink at Balay is global and draws on the Philippines’ gastronomic influences, which span China, Spain and the Americas. Ibarra has created an intimate home-like feel, with jazz, soul and funk music playing on a Bowers & Wilkins stereo and pictures from the Philippines taken by his parents. Tables are pushed close together and metal shelves left exposed like the uncovered walls often found in the Philippines. The showpiece dish is the herby sesame prawn toast dipped in a banana ketchup (washed down, in our case, with an Austrian orange wine), while another winner is a deconstructed take on a devilled egg. “I’m happy that I had the courage to open something like this,” says Ibarra. So, too, is Milan.

Address book:

Fiorin Fiorello
Via Fratelli Bronzetti, 38

Sandì
Via Francesco Hayez, 13

Bar Nico
Via Cesare Saldini, 2

Bar Sensa
Via Garofalo, 21

Mogo
Via Bernina, 1C

San
Via Cesare da Sesto, 1

Silvano Vini e Cibi al Banco
Piazza Morbegno, 2

Kiwon
Via Macedonia Melloni, 35

Balay
Via Achille Maiocchi, 26

Rito
Via Achille Maiocchi, 18