Milan’s palatial Park Hyatt hotel overlooking the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele is celebrating the arrival of a new chef at Restaurant VUN. Sourcing the finest quality ingredients, Andrea Aprea has developed a menu where dishes express a balance between Italian tradition and innovation. The experienced Neapolitan chef says, “In Milan I will draw on traditional recipes, both from Milanese and Italian cuisine as a whole, because this is a city that allows you to do so, unlike Naples where serving risotto alla milanese would be a bit risky.”
The new menu-- unveiled this week at Restaurant VUN-- includes 5 appetizers, 5 first courses, 3 meat entrées and 3 fish entrées. These 16 dishes are complemented by the Pastry Chef’s dessert menu. Aprea has also introduced a tasting menu which is divided into two parts-- Mid North and Mid South-- and includes several of the most representative dishes of Italian regional cuisine. Examples of reinterpreted classics: cannolo of cow’s milk and buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and basil pesto (a modern version of the Caprese from the Campania region); and a dish of bread, tomato, smoked provola and anchovies that's an innovation of the Tuscan tradition.
Special mention: A dish called, simply, my vegetable garden… which is made up of more than 40 cooked and raw vegetables, delicate and wild herbs, flowers, sprouts and tubers. We love the three dot ellipsis after the name of a dish. Aprea uses this device on the menu to refer to an experience that words aren’t enough to describe.
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