Gianni in 1978 at the age of 17 left Sicily to work at Bar dell’Angolo, a popular piano bar in via Fiori Chiari in Brera. His talent soon led him to be called to the nearby and very trendy Locanda Solferino owned by Sabrina Ciuffini and Curzio Castelli. These are the years of the “Milano da Bere” and Brera is the center of the city’s nightlife. Motivated by the personal success he had at Solferino, Gianni takes over a failed shop a short distance away and opens his restaurant in 1980.

He calls it La Briciola (breadcrumb in English) because at the beginning it was all very small. The original rooms occupied, in fact, only a part of the current space, the one on the left of the entrance, which dates back to 1869 and was a warehouse for carriages, which Gianni then expands by gradually acquiring the adjacent shops.

La Briciola has been like my home for 40 years, a place where you can eat well and stay together like in a family

(Gianni Valveri, owner)

Little by little the place becomes the meeting point of the whole Milan that counts: from here passes the history of fashion, from Ferrè to Versace, up to Armani, still a regular customer today, from Cindy to Naomi. Just look at the many photos on the walls of illustrious customers to understand that La Briciola is truly an international point of reference.

The interior reflects all of Gianni’s passions, such as that for modern antiques and contemporary art. The venue is, in fact, like a theatrical studio that completely changes the scenography every six months. Gianni loves to go to antique dealers and markets where he bought many of the original furnishings, such as the paintings with pigs that come from a brasserie in Paris, the art nouveau lamps, the old signs, and the resin statue of Betty Boop, all under a cascade of suggestive colorful fairy lights.

The cuisine, orchestrated by the chef Massimo Micheli with the help of Stefania Valsecchi, the dining room manager, combines tradition and innovation. The menu never misses the great classics of the Lombardy region, such as Milanese cutlet, grilled Angus fillet with potatoes, carpaccios, risotto al salto or truffled gnocchi. Gianni personally takes care of relations with his trusted suppliers, such as the one with the Caffè Barbera di Messina, his city of origin, with the Tuscan farms that supply him with the best meats or with the Campania producers of real buffalo mozzarella that arrives fresh every day.

Another great passion of Gianni is wine: the cellar has about 3000 labels for 500 different qualities of wine selected from the vineyards of the area and the most prestigious wineries in particular in Tuscany, Franciacorta, Piedmont and Sicily.

But Gianni’s greatest passion remains that for his family, the bella vita and smiling people, a love that translates into the magical atmosphere, intimate and lively at the same time, that makes La Briciola so unique and special.

The Secret

To celebrate his “friends”, Gianni has established an original custom: the famous regulars of the restaurant – from Moratti to Fiorello – have their own chair personalized with a silver plaque bearing their name.

Useful Info

La Briciola
Via Marsala 2
20121 Milano
Tel. +39 02 6551012

First courses: 20 — 25 euro
Second courses: 20 — 25 euro