Aperitivo time at Ceresio 7November 2016 ITALIA! 39Your correspondent with friend
Melanie Payge at Ceresio 7It’s always lively at 55 Milanosell his granny for a seat on one of
Ceresio’s custom-made poolside sofas
(€240 for the evening).
There was a queue of 35 people
waiting downstairs as we arrived to
take our seats. By the pool we were
scrunched up against two (in my
opinion) really rather super models.
Seeing I had my phone out they
kindly offered to take our photo. I
suppose it makes a change for them
to be behind the lens. Looking round
I reckoned I was about twice the age
(and twice the size) of everyone else on
the rooftop that warm, bright evening.DINNER AT 55 MILANO
The restaurant – black and filled with
monochrome art – was beginning to fill
up now, but we’d had our 30 minutes
by the pool and other people were
waiting so it was on to dinner at 55
Milano. Poor Melanie did her best in
shoes that were not meant for pounding
streets and she was relieved when we
got a table and could sit down.
55 is a more bohemian affair than
Ceresio 7 but the American Bar at
London’s Savoy would seem bohemian
compared to Ceresio 7. It’s a former
train station depot, dark with large
brass lamps and movie clips playing
over the canopy of the bar. Here we
met Paolo, one of the owners. I asked
him about the well-patronised buffet
islands which are part of the aperitivo
scene at 55. Paolo admitted that as long
as you have a drink in your hands you
can continue to hoover up snacks – and
there is so much food available, not just
snacks, that you’re virtually getting
dinner for the price of a cocktail or two.
By 10pm I was tiring and
Melanie had to take her feet home –
but for young people at the Mandarin
Bar, the New York Lounge, Ceresio
7, and 55 Milano the night was just
beginning. They would be dancing
past midnight and be back at work
first thing the next morning.
“How do they do it?” I asked
Melanie as Paolo tried to find out if
the taxi strike were over yet.
“They don’t drink like Americans
and the British,” she said. “There is
no Italian word for hangover.”
I’d had an insight into thoroughly
modern Milan tonight but I’ll be
back. According to Melanie, by next
year there’ll be a whole lot of other
new places to see.➤ BY TRAIN
Railbookers (☎ 020 3327 2440, http://www.
railbookers.com) offer short breaks
travelling from London to Milan by train
with two nights, including breakfast, at
the La Gare Hotel, which stands just an
eight-minute walk from the Duomo, from
£369 per person.
➤ BY PLANE
British Airways (☎ 0344 493 0787, http://www.
ba.com/milan) flies from Heathrow
to Milan Linate and Milan Malpensa
10 times a day. Prices start from £91
return, including all taxes and charges.GETTING THERE
IT144.48hrsMilan.sg4.indd 39 28/09/2016 13:50pm