So when we were in Milan we ate a lot of pizza and gelato. Actually we ate nothing but pizza and gelato, because that's how we holiday. I've made a list of my favourite places to eat those two things, as much for myself as for you guys, I want to make sure the next time I'm in Milan I know where to get the best salted caramel ice cream.
Always start with savoury, that's the rule. Milan is known for pizza al trancio, which is thick deep pan pizza served in two sizes - medium or large. We had medium, and that was plenty. You can get different toppings but mostly we stuck to margherita - you don't need much else when the sauce is that fresh and the cheese is that bubbly.
Pizzeria Da Giuliano
This place was excellent. It's the pizza I'm staring at in the top picture. I think if you speak in Italian you can order things other than a slice, but we don't speak Italian and we only wanted a slice. I dream of this pizza.
Spontino
Perhaps the most well known place for al trancio, there are a couple of these around the city. We went to the one next to the Duomo for lunch where you can stand at a bench to eat it with a plastic knife and fork, and another one in the evening for a sit down slice. The latter was obviously vastly more enjoyable but no more delicious. This was my favourite pizza, the base was perfect. Also on their website they have the recipe they've been using since 1953, so you can make it yourself at home if you can't wait to go to Milan.
Luini
OK not strictly pizza producers, this is one of the oldest bakerys in the city (they've been going since 1888) and they're famous for their Panzerotti, a sort of deep fried calzone which comes in sweet and savoury flavours. We got the classic mozzerella and tomato and it was well worth the queue (go early).
Now to the gelato. Do I need to explain gelato to you? I sure hope not.
Cioccolati Italiani
This is a chain, but Italian chains are not like British chains. I fell in love with this place gelato, I couldn't get enough. This was partly because they topped every cup with melted chocolate that set quickly making a hard chocolate shell you could scoop up the gelato with. They have cafes where you can sit in and have your treat in a classy glass bowl with a proper spoon, but I think the only way to really eat gelato in Italy is to be walking around with it.
Vasa Vasa
There is a branch of Vasa near to Pizzeria Da Giuliano, so I recommend doing one after the other. Or one, then the other, then the other again. When we stopped here we saw loads of locals buying takeaway gelato that the servers would box up into polystyrene cartons for them so they could have at home. That's living, guys.
There were other places we ate but those were top of the list. God I can't wait to eat all that again someday.