A map serving up 35 of the BEST pizza spanning the 9 neighborhoods of Milan in 5 unique categories. About me: In 2017, after working for Gino Sorbillo in Napoli, I felt my obsession with pizza had to be shared. I founded the Milan Pizza Crawl as a means to show off Milan emerging scene. As I approach my 500th tour, it was hard to keep it to only 35! 🍕 A few highlights: On the global list of the 50 best pizzerias in Italy, 8 locations are in Milan including Modus who won the best new pizzeria award in 2022. Mexican-Italian pizzaiolo Simone Lombardi opened award-winning Crosta with a pungent pineapple pizza, controversial and celebrated for its reinterpretation with spicy Abruzzo Ventricina, fiordilatte and fresh cilantro, a riff on his mother's Tacos de Adobada. In summer of 2022, Denis Lovato opened to share his signature crispy crust "mountain pizza" paired with an impressive wine list (and kombucha!) in central Milan. I lead food tours in Milan and I am the founder of the Milan Pizza Crawl. Your purchase of the map guarantees an extra pizza stop on the tour - let me know you bought the when you book! Instagram @risottoandsteel www.risottoandsteel.com Buy this map and we’ll give you access to our entire map of over 100 pizzerias (also helpful as several locations on this list have 2-3 locations around the city - we have pinned them all).

Enter the charming neighborhood of Brera and you’ll soon forget all thoughts of the drab, industrialist Milan. Bohemian grit began to fill the cracks between the uneven cobblestone streets here after WWII, and by the 1960s, the local cafes and galleries brimmed with neorealist filmmakers and designers vying for the Compasso d’Oro award. Due north from Milan’s tourist-filled Duomo and past the storied La Scala, austere, modern palazzos make way for colorful residential buildings, their balconies overflowing with succulents, wisteria and honeysuckle. The name Brera comes from the Lombard word ‘Braida’ which means ‘green space.’ Once a fishing village where boats arrived on canals into Milan from the Northern lakes, today it is considered the most bourgeois neighborhood in Milan. To experience a hint of old-world Brera is to shop at the weekly outdoor mercato on Via San Marco, notable for its colorful, overflowing bouquets, ample fresh fish selection, multiple produce stands and Italian fashion staples such as leather gloves and cashmere sweaters. On the winding pedestrian streets, worthwhile boutiques and vintage shops are mixed with tourist-hungry restaurants (to be avoided – I recommend the old-school trattoria tucked away nearby). Brera freshly exhibits a new generation of designers and concept boutiques, and admiration of the supermodel-esque locals. Although more recently famous as a creative’s haven in the 1960s, Brera has for centuries attracted artists and designers who came to study at the art academy within the internationally celebrated museum Pinacoteca di Brera. Soon after it opened, Napoleon, the newly crowned King of Italy, is said to have intended the Pinacoteca to become the Louvre of Italy (Antonio Canova’s colossal marble statue of the monarch sits at the center of the palazzo courtyard today). To follow in the brushstrokes of the prestigious academy’s centuries of attendees is to shop at the historic art supply and print shop Ditta Crespi or flip through the engraved leather journal selection at Pettinaroli.

Italian espresso is all over Milan and no longer consumed only in bars, but also in markets, railway stations, bookshops and boutiques. Very good espresso is available all over the center of the city and so too is Starbucks as of 2018. 3rd wave coffee is slow to arrive in Milan as the city is saturated with really good espresso which always costs less than 1.50 euros. If you’re interested in old-school roasters, really good espresso and 3rd wave spots, this is the Thatch board for you.

Milan has long been known for old-school pasticcerie elegante. Now, young entrepreneurs are changing the flour and sugar landscape. From 19th century classic pastry houses to hip panifico, here are 14 bakeries defining Italy’s most avant-garde city.

The oldest and biggest Chinese district in Italy about 1km/.6 miles long is an ever-evolving evocative and colorful hub for international street food, historic boutiques, indie bookstores, natural wine and a new museum. This itinerary includes the largest store for ethnic food in Italy, my go-to spot for Chinese massage and a vast growing array of spots for ramen, dumplings (known as Chinese ravioli) as well as local coffee institutions and antique shops.

An itinerary I designed for the O’Rourke & Esteves family trip to Tuscany. This includes their beautiful villa and much more!