Trattoria Da Pino ★
An inexpensive restaurant serving a classic workingman's lunch in Milan, Italy
Pino's is a working man's osteria of the old stripe: at first glance, nothing more than a neighborhood cafe. But walk past the bar and down a short hall and you'll be in a back room crowded with little wooden tables and one wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto an interior courtyard.
Marco Ferri packs his guests in elbow to elbow, fitting a trio of lunching businessmen, a young couple, and a lone traveler at a single table set with butcher paper place mats and a single, dime-store glass at each place. By 1pm, the place is packed and the dishes are arriving fast and furious from a kitchen run by Marco's brother Mauro and their Filipino partner, Severino.
The hand-printed daily menu is pure cucina casalinga (home cooking)—nothing fancy, and plenty of dishes that local mammas invented long ago to make use of the cheapest cuts of meat: insalata di nervetti con cipolle (a cold salad of pickled cow tendons tossed with onions), lingua salmistrata (tongue stew), cuore trifolato (heart casserole). Don't worry, there are plenty of less adventurous choices as well.
I'm partial to the salami with fresh figs; rice tinted yellow with saffron (very Milanese); pasta tossed with fresh tomatoes, arugula, and shavings of pecorino; a small fresh ricotta mold under a pesto made from arugula and pistachios; the odd but popular dish of veal nuggets in a corn-studded curry; and torta sbirsolona, a dry, dense, cookie-like cake (a typical Lombard treat).
The wine list is unusually solid, with some 45 selections of Northern Italian bottles, the priciest of which clocks in well under $25 (half cost less than $15). Another sign that this trattoria hails from a friendlier era is that you don't get a check. When you're finished, wander back up to the bar in the front room, recite to the cashier what you ate, and he'll tot up the bill.
Reservations are not accepted, but it can get crowded, so arrive early.
Tips & links
Details
Via Cerva 14
tel. +39-02-7600-0532
Mon-Sat 12-3pm
General dining tips
- "Pane e coperto" is not a scam: Nearly all Italian restaurants have an unavoidable pane e coperto ("bread and cover" charge) of anything from €1 to €15—though most often €2 to €5—per person that is automatically added onto your bill. This is perfectly normal and perfectly legal (though a few trendy restaurants make a big deal about not charging it).
- Find out if service (tip) is included: Don't double-tip by accident. If the menu has a line—usually near the bottom of the front or back—that says "servizio" with either a percentage, an amount, or the word "incluso" after it, that means the tip is automatically included in the price. (If it says "servizio non incluso," tip is, obviously, not included.)
Even if the menu doesn't say it, ask É incluso il servizio? (ay een-CLOU-so eel sair-VEET-zee-yo)—"Is service included?" If not, tip accordingly (10%–15% is standard).
Don't be stingy about tipping, though. If il servizio is, indeed, already included but the service was particularly good, it's customary to round up the bill or leave €1 per person extra—just to show you noticed and that you appreciated the effort.
- Tourist menus: The concept of a bargain prix-fixe menu is not popular in Italy. Some restaurants do offer a menu turistico ("tourist menu"), which can cost from €8 to €20 and usually entails a choice from among two or three basic first courses (read: different pasta shapes, all in plain tomato sauce), a second course of roast chicken or a veal cutlet, and some water or wine and bread. With very few exceptions, tourist menus tend to live up to their name, appearing only at the sort of tourist-pandering restaurants that the locals wisely steer clear of.
However, a menu à prezzo fisso ("fixed-price menu") is often a pretty good deal, usually offering a bit more choice than a tourist menu.
Then—especially at nicer (and pricier) restaurants—there is the menu degustazione ("tasting menu"), usually far more expensive (anywhere from €25 to €110) that is a showcase of the chef's best, or of regional specialties, and can make for an excellent way to sample the kitchen's top dishes.
- Book ahead: For restaurants that I am truly eager to try, I go ahead and book a table—at least at dinner. I find that a corollary of Murphy's Law seems to apply. If you prudently book ahead, you are likely to show up to a half-empty restaurant and feel a bit like a fool for having worried about finding a table. If, on the other hand, you just show up at the door expecting to find a free table, the place will inevitably be packed and its bookings full for the evening.
Italian dining phrases
English (Inglese) |
Italian (Italiano) |
Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
Good day |
Buon giorno |
bwohn JOUR-noh |
Good evening |
Buona sera |
BWOH-nah SAIR-rah |
Good night |
Buona notte |
BWOH-nah NOTE-tay |
Goodbye |
Arrivederci |
ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee |
Excuse me (to get attention) |
Scusi |
SKOO-zee |
thank you |
grazie |
GRAT-tzee-yay |
please |
per favore |
pair fa-VOHR-ray |
yes |
si |
see |
no |
no |
no |
Do you speak English? |
Parla Inglese? |
PAR-la een-GLAY-zay |
I don't understand |
Non capisco |
non ka-PEESK-koh |
I'm sorry |
Mi dispiace |
mee dees-pee-YAT-chay |
|
|
|
Where is? |
Dov'é |
doh-VAY |
...a restaurant |
un ristorante |
oon rees toh-RAHN-tay |
...a casual restaurant |
una trattoria
un'osteria |
oo-nah trah-toar-RHEE-yah
oon ohst-air-EE-yah |
I would like to reserve... |
Vorrei prenotare... |
voar-RAY pray-note-ARE-eh |
a table for two |
una tavola per due |
oo-nah TAH-voal-lah pair DOO-way |
...for 7pm |
per le sette |
pair lay SET-tay |
...for 7:30pm |
per le sette e mezzo |
pair lay SET-tay eh MET-tzoh |
...for 8pm |
per le otto |
pair lay OH-toh |
|
|
|
I would like |
Vorrei... |
voar-RAY |
...some (of) |
un pó (di) |
oon POH (dee) |
...this |
questo |
KWAY-sto |
...that |
quello |
KWEL-loh |
chicken |
pollo |
POL-loh |
steak |
bistecca |
bee-STEAK-ah |
veal |
vitello |
vee-TEL-oh |
fish |
pesce |
PEH-shay |
meat |
carne |
KAR-neh |
I am vegetarian |
sono vegetariano |
SO-no veg-eh-tair-ee-YAH-no |
side dish [veggies always come seperately] |
cotorno |
kon-TOR-no |
dessert |
dolce |
DOAL-chay |
and |
e |
ay |
...a glass of |
un bicchiere di |
oon bee-key-YAIR-eh dee |
...a bottle of |
una bottiglia di |
oo-na boh-TEEL-ya dee |
...a half-liter of |
mezzo litro di |
MET-tzoh LEE-tro dee |
...fizzy water |
acqua gassata |
AH-kwah gah-SAHT-tah |
...still water |
acqua non gassata |
AH-kwah noan gah-SAHT-tah |
...red wine |
vino rosso |
VEE-noh ROH-so |
...white wine |
vino
bianco |
VEE-noh bee-YAHN-koh |
...beer |
birra |
BEER-a |
Check, please |
Il conto, per favore |
eel COAN-toh pair fah-VOAR-eh |
Is service included? |
É incluso il servizio? |
ay een-CLOU-so eel sair-VEET-zee-yo |
Useful links & resources
- Public transit
- Bus/Metro/Tram: TK
- Airports
- Milano Malpensa: TK
- Milano Linate: TK
- Bergamo: TK
- Airport transfers (Malpensa):
- Bus (€TK; TK min): TK
- Private (€TK; TK min): Viator.com
- Taxi (€TK; TK min): TK
- Airport transfers (Linate):
- Bus (€TK; TK min): TK
- Private (€TK; TK min): Viator.com
- Taxi (€TK; TK min): TK
- Airport transfers (Bergamo):
- Bus (€TK; TK min): TK
- Private (€TK; TK min): Viator.com
- Taxi (€TK; TK min): TK
- Milan rail station
- Milano Centrale: Milanocentrale.it, TK add (TK loc)
- Buses to center: TK
- Car resources
- Emergency service/tow: tel. 803-116
- Highway agency: Autostrade.it (traffic info, serivce areas, toll calculator, weather)
- Italian automotive club (~AAA): Aci.it
- ZTLs: Ztl-italia.blogspot.com (lightly outdated, but handy, links to cities' traffic-free zones)
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