Contraste (*) Milan

Been wanting to go here for quite some time.

Did the riflessioni menu which I only saw another 2 tables get out of our whole seating. I kinda get it, the restaurant has some signature hits that you’d want to get. Part of me even wishes I had done the riflesso but it seemed to be more in the spirit of the restaurant to go with the more far-out option.

First few dishes I was a little skeptical. Further than that I wondered whether or not the meal would even approach my lofty expectations. By the time I hit the first fish course of Bonito, marrow, plankton and sauerkraut I was feeling pretty immersed.

I think you go and try this if you want to buy in. Big time buy in. Basically I was closing my eyes the whole time and trying to synthesize whatever was on the plate, disregarding the constituent parts, and trying to taste each dish as a single thought or memory. Something to consider, they asked something of you. This may not be everyone’s idea of a good time/spend.

The menu fostered this notion well. Mid-meal tasting the baba… which had been soaked in orange wine, paired with a glass of the same orange wine, and dry ingredients served in a glass to mimic scent profile of that wine was in no way subtle.

Not to say it was unwelcome. I really appreciated the invitation to freak out a bit. These people are letting it fly.

12ᵗʰ NOVEMBER 2025

Hops, grapefruit, basil seeds, fusillone and parmesan
Plantain, pakchoi and oysters
Green beans, strawberry and dulse
Atlantic bonito, bone marrow, plankton and sauerkraut
Mango, lobster, coffee and olives
Chestnut, prosciutto and tuna bottarga
Pork, black cabbage, peanuts and wasabi
Pineapple, potatoes and coffee
Peanuts, tendons, caviar, passionfruit and roast
Bread and orange wine
Watermelon, clams and chicken
Veal liver, lavender, kimchi and pine nuts
Canard, tomato, bergamot and beans
Macambo, corn, chipotle and mullet bottarga
Scallop, prickly pear leaf, elderflower and cardamom
Caviar pasta, garlic, evo oil, chili pepper and aged chocolate
Roses cake with vanilla ice-cream

Some beautiful bites, for sure the bonito, lobster, pork, pineapple/potato, tendon, bread, duck, scallop.

The caviar pasta, which was essentially an aglio olio with cocoa on top, as the pre-dessert/penultimate course was absolutely tremendous.

After a beautifully attentive service we shot the shit with chef and some of the staff out front for a while.
I thought things were beautiful. I really love the story these guys are telling and the compassion with which they do it. 100% worth , could be * but honestly rather them be * and keep being bold. For whatever that’s worth. Had a blast, so stoked I got there. More than anything, bottom line, I felt satisfied and taken care of.