Milan / Trippa: a modern return to the origins

I was never able to understand the popularity and success of Trippa until I finally managed to book a table at the beginning of April. Since its opening in 2015, with its succession of articles and awards, Trippa established itself as one of the best trattorias in Italy.

More than the spartan wooden tables, the paper tablecloths, the tiles that remind of oratory and the chromatic tones of the 60s, it’s the intense smell of Parmigiano at the entrance that unveils the ‘trattoria’ soul of the restaurant conceived by Diego Rossi and Pietro Caroli.

The secret of its success is the fact of elevating the simplicity of wild herbs and seasonal ingredients and the ‘poverty’ of quinto quarto and offal almost to a fine dining experience, that is not lost in the excess of plates’ doodles and the elegance of ironed up white tablecloth, but remains anchored to a 'commoner' concreteness.

Another element of Trippa’s popularity is the mood generated in the client who is visiting the restaurant for the first time, a mix of excitement and curiosity for what the chef with the Hachimaki headband will be able to take out from a lamb liver, cod tripe or the intestines of an unweaned calf... ingredients that are purified of their ‘aggressiveness’ and pungent flavor with the precious balance of acid elements and umami.

There is no much more to say. Call Trippa and ask for the first available table. Order the evergreen vitello tonnato (one of the few survivors of a daily changing menu) and for the rest just trust Diego and the staff: you will end up sinking your teeth in a warm bread topped with liver mouse, cracking sticks of fried tripe, cleaning up the leftover mellow sauce from your spoon, indulging in the natural sweetness of chestnut honey or the aromatic taste of pollen.