Recently opened, the restaurant offers a line of cuisine that is attentive to the subject and the daughter
of a courageous, unconventional vision
I arrive after booking, on a rather anomalous January evening, marked by rampant concerns about the
omicron variant … I am greeted by an elegant and friendly young man, who I later discover to be Edoardo
Borgia, the patron of this Milanese restaurant to which he gives the name of family, in the west of the city.
The Borgia, open pre-pandemic and actually operational since 2021, in the most fluctuating months of the
Covid emergency, is one of those places that, right from the entrance, transmits directly, through the
environment with an unexpected design and without too many preambles , his own “committed” line,
almost a declaration of intent, such as: “Warning: this is not a restaurant like all the others, it is not a
parody of the dominant gourmettaro main stream, but a place of research and selection: of matter, dishes,
cuisine, service “. It can be understood from many details, including the indication, next to the door, in via
Washington 56, of a tasting menu, suggestively defined as Psyche, where one reads among other things:
“Do you really know yourself? From the dining room to the kitchen we discover your taste, we reveal your
desires through a freehand menu, designed by you and written by us “… It will have something to do with
the fact that Edoardo Borgia, even before being a restaurant entrepreneur, is a psychologist with a lot of
degree and specialization.
Perhaps it would be better not to worry too much about this premise, and if anything, it would be better to
rely directly on the expertise and talent of the chef, Giacomo Lovato and his brigade. In fact, Psyche is
nothing more than a sort of “Chef Surprise Menu” where the chef’s hand, experience and vision are totally
free. And what a vision! We were literally overwhelmed by the excellent sequence that reached our table,
starting with the tasty amuse bouche that opened up a rich, elegant and refined menu.
Giacomo Lovato, with experience in various gourmet restaurants, led by very famous chefs (a few names,
Carlo Cracco, Claudio Sadler, Matteo Baronetto: can they be enough?), Now makes available to the Borgia
and its patron (who has decided to open a gastronomic restaurant right here, where until two years ago
there was a bistro and the clothing outlet of his family: the bistro, however, continues with a series of
excellent proposals for midday) its freshness, its commitment and, let’s face it, his ingenuity.
The dishes reveal a solid stratification of experiences, with an uncommon ability to enhance taste and
technique through modern preparations, created naturally and without forcing, characterized by selection /
research of the best raw materials (so everyone fan, someone will say …) and by a wise use. Thanks to this
mastery, the dishes of Giacomo and his brigade give the deepest sense of a creative but solidly
contemporary cuisine, capable of attracting the curiosity of the guests, if not surprising them. A dish such
as the sweet and sour fake carrot or, even more, the pigeon in three ways of cooking reveal very well the
concept behind the chef’s work, based on the combination of “passion and rigor”. Yes, I chose Borgia
because, in this specific case, the technique is at the service of the heart and not, as often happens, the
opposite. Giacomo’s dishes (I am thinking of Tagliolini with salmon trout from Trentino and its eggs) express
this harmony between love for the material and definition of the dish: Tartare like a cutlet, warm veal
stock, fried bread and lemon is a fantastic example of the greedy vision that Giacomo Lovato puts in the
construction of the dish. The room is coordinated in an excellent way, by figures responsibly trained to
welcome the customer and to make him feel free in their choices. A concrete demonstration is given by the
pairing wine service, proposed by the restaurant manager Tiziano Sotgia, flanked by the sommelier Devis
Giuliano: a professional couple, led by patron Edoardo – able and careful interpreter of the customers’
“desires” – who never imposes to the guest the choice of a label but proposes a certain wine on the basis of
reasoned indications, not established a priori. Moreover, in a logic of profound dissonance with the
“photocopy” wine lists present in most of the starred restaurants, with the usual, predictable noble labels.
Here at the Borgia, even the wine list responds to innovative logic, of research and selection of the best
possible, without indulging too much in the bottles of “the usual suspects”. My opinion, expressed in
fiftieths, can therefore only be positive.
The numbers
Kitchen: 9
Wines: 7
Room service: 8
Location: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Total: 40/50
