Illustration by Fig & Ginger, drawn from the review. The venue's own photo is on its way.
Natural wine bar in Città Studi (Acquabella), Milan
Bar Nico
The Pasta Factory With the Afghan Hound
Before it was a wine bar, Via Cesare Saldini 2 was a tyre shop, then a pasta factory. The old Pastificio Bolognese sign is still up, and at night it glows under red light. Chiara Pino and Riccardo Ganelli left the fashion business to open Bar Nico, named for an Afghan hound who appears on the logo and, on a good night, in person.
The room is concrete, steel and the original terrazzo, warmed by wooden chairs and wine bottles pressed into service as candleholders. The list runs past 300 labels, mostly natural and biodynamic, mostly from small growers in Italy and France, with the odd detour abroad. The food is what the owners call mangiarini, little things built to go with wine: cheeses, salumi, crostini, preserves, hummus, savoury tarts, marinated olives. In season the kitchen goes a step further, and labneh with beets and grapes has turned up on the counter.
There are no reservations and no time limit on the table. The second rule matters more than the first. A wine bar that lets you sit as long as you like, with nobody hovering to turn the table, understands what wine is for. The catch is the crowd. Designers and creatives wait on the pavement for seats, dressed better than you or me. Get there when it opens and claim a stool.
- Order this
- Ask for a natural French or Italian glass, Salumi and cheese, Crostini and marinated olives, Whatever seasonal plate is on, such as labneh with beets
- The damage
- $$
- Go
- Right at opening in the early evening, before the pavement queue forms
- Find it
- Via Cesare Saldini 2, 20133 Milano
- @bar___nico