By David Kaufman
On a balmy summer evening earlier this year, a well-dressed crowd of locals and tourists were perching and posing in the Luxury Terrace bar atop the Boscolo Milano hotel (from $360), a short stroll from the city's fashion-filled Golden Triangle. Sipping Prosecco and nibbling on stuzzichini, the crowd made the most of the stunning setting - Milan's only rooftop bar directly facing its historic Duomo.
Opened last year, the bar is the latest addition to the 154-room Boscolo, a converted 1920s office building now filled with colorful, contemporary design, a Michelin-level restaurant and the city's largest spa. Yet with its groovy vibe and cosmopolitan clientele, the bar also espouses a new side of Milan itself - an open, urbane and international destination seeking to reassert its rightful status as a true global capital of cool.
Indeed, while Milan may be best known for its bi-annual fashion weeks - including spring 2015, which ended Tuesday - the city is gearing up for what may be its most important cultural coming out yet, Expo Milano 2015. Launching on May 1 and running for six full months, the Expo intends to leverage what Milan does best - fashion, design, food, and luxury - onto a truly global scale. As Andrea Illy, chairman and CEO of illycaffè and a key Expo sponsor sees it, 'Expo 2015 represents a truly historic opportunity to showcase on an international level Milan's incredible potential, intrinsic value, and inherent beauty.'
Set on a site nearly two miles long and costing roughly $775 million (so far) to mount, the Expo is a big-ticket bet for a city better known for more exclusive gatherings like April's annual Salone del Mobile furniture fair. But despite the risks involved, Expo 2015 is already proving a potential hit. A record 144 countries - from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe - are slated to participate, while the Expo will feature a series of first-of-their-kind themed 'clusters' anchored around the concepts of nutrition, food, and sustainability (the coffee cluster, for instance, is being sponsored by illycaffè). With splashy national pavilions typically stealing the Expo spotlight, the clusters, organizers believe, offer smaller, agrarian, more commodities-based nations a chance to shine amid the big guys. The food theme also capitalizes on one of Italy's key lures - its iconic cuisine and the well-known health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
As Expo Milano enters its final six months of prep time, the entire city - if not much of the Italian population - is gearing up for its debut. Already, more than 2½ million tickets to the Italian pavilion - a $50 million confection designed by Rome-based architect Nemesi & Partners - have been booked. Altogether, Expo organizers anticipate some 20 million attendees - most arriving from within Europe, though it's hoped that farther-flung attendees will use the Expo as a jumping-off point for larger Italian itineraries.
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While the Expo site nears completion, within Milan itself, a wide range of compelling new cultural and culinary hot spots will serve as alluring compliments to all the Expo action. Among the most innovative is Larte on Via Manzoni. Opened last October in association with Altagamma (the Italian luxury trade group), Larte is - at its core - a modern Italian restaurant. But around that core lies a cafe and design gallery both serving and selling some of Altagamma's most prestigious member brands - from Alessi and Artemide to Santo Versace and Illy Coffee. 'These brands represent Italian excellence coming together in a unique retail format,' explains Mr. Illy, who is also Altagamma's chairman. 'Larte offers the best of Italian lifestyle by matching food with art, wine, design, culture, and fashion.'
Meanwhile, a pair of Milanese museums - one bijoux, the other grand - are giving the city's cultural scene a modern edge. Close to the Boscolo is the Villa Necchi Campiglio, an 80-year-old rationalist gem best known as the key backdrop for the 2010 Tilda Swinton film 'I Am Love.' Almost entirely designed by architect Piero Portaluppi for the industrialist Necchi-Campiglio family, the villa - which also served as the WW II-era HQ of the Italian Fascist Republican Party - offers a severe-yet-serene look at the type of haute-bourgeuoise Milanese life once espoused by the city's urban aristocracy.
Opened to the public since 2008, the Villa is well worth booking a tour and an extra few hours wandering its gardens and dining in its tasty restaurant.
Meanwhile, overlooking the Piazza Duomo is Museo del Novecento - or the Museum of the 20th Century - which opened in late 2010 in the 50s-era Palazzo dell'Arengario. As its name suggests, the Museo is a totally contemporary affair, showcasing Italy's premiere collection of 20th century art - with a special focus on Futurism and Arte Povera. Fans of artists such as Morandi, Modigliani and de Chirico will swoon over the seminal works inside, while even the most committed classicist will be snapping Duomo-front selfies from the Museo's top floor.
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Of course, even amid all the high culture, Milan remains committed to the good life. Indeed, as exemplified by Larte, the worlds of fashion and cuisine are increasingly colliding across Milan. Close to Larte, the fashion-filled Armani/Nobu is fresh from a major make-over. Meanwhile atop the Dsquared2 headquarters is the dreamy poolside restaurant Ceresio 7, which is both decadent and delicious.
For shopping, the Golden Quadrilateral remains high fashion's ground zero - and increasing attention should be paid to Via Gesu, which is anchored by the Eden-like Four Seasons Hotel. Tiny and compact, Via Gesu has emerged as a key source of ultra-fine Italian menswear - including brands such as Kiton, Brioni and soon Caruso, which was founded by former Brioni chief Umberto Angeloni.
While it's still too soon to see how the fashion crowd embraces Expo 2015, back at the Boscolo, the hotel is developing a series of events - from cooking shows to art exhibitions - to bring the Expo into its corridors. Also slated are numerous private events - no doubt the most eye-popping will be up at the Boscolo's Luxury Terrace bar with the Duomo front-and-center.
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