Trattoria Toscana Il Cerchio (Milan, Italy)

Italy. Bella Tutti Grande Ferro!

This random gibberish ending with (almost) my name (meaning steel in Italian, I am proud to say) is just one reason I fell in love with this country during a vacation here in September 2017. Therefore, when a chance came up to join my boss Nigel for a 3 day work meeting in Milan, I did not have to think twice. There's work to do! And pizzas to eat! (Martin would be sad there's no volcanoes, so he went to Naples instead. I would like to now officially assure everyone, that we, civil servants, do not go on work trips because of our hobbies and interests. At least, not only because of them. Therefore do not worry, the country is in good hands).

The journey there went relatively smoothly, despite starting off with a late March repeat of a "heavy snow" in Wales, which just a couple weeks earlier prompted panic buying of all available bread and milk in the supermarkets and a complete shutdown of the country. Crazy people! Hah! Can they not survive a day without food? Ts ts.. I am very different, and this is why I packed up for the journey only 4 wraps, 2 breads, a soup with more bread, fruits and a box of cakes.

Nevertheless, when we arrived to Milan on Monday evening, the plan was to drop the stuff in the room and hit the city hard. That is, to go for a pizza. My secret intentions to combine the work trip with a new entry in the pizza hunt blog were soon to be dramatically uncovered. (Ok, maybe not so dramatically, but the word just fits there)

The Trattoria Toscana Il Cerchio was just round the corner and was one of the few above 4/5 stars rated placed around the central station. Considering this is a very touristy area full of hotels and tourists used to eating burgers in MacDonnalds, we were positively surprised by entering a relatively cozy interior with a touch of family atmosphere and a sign "1969" proudly displayed on the wall, which was definitely not just a reference to Bryan Adams' epic song or the year of invasion of Soviets to Czechoslovakia! It just seems like Italy still values the tradition and uniqueness of the restaurants, in contrast to clear UK's dominance of franchised chains and preference of burger uniformity.

We got quickly seated, provided with menus and made up our minds. Nigel went for Quatro staggioni and I chose just a pure Marinara, as for some weird unknown reason, I was not that hungry.

The pizzas came just a few minutes later, and we had barely time to explore the funny translations of the menu in "English" (for example, we liked "four chinds of cheese") or the Angelo Poretti beer (for example, we liked it). So - how were they?

Definitely up to expectations! These were proper size, the-right-amount-of-time baked pies that came unsliced. The main highlight of my pizza was the sauce. Well, there's not much more on Marinara, but that's why you should get one - it makes you enjoy the unique dough + sauce combo, the two main ingredients of a perfect pizza. All the other ingredients can definitely add up to the experience, but also act covering up the true facts, almost like Soviets invading Czechoslovakia saying "this is to protect you folks!". Let me stop talking about Soviets invasion though, I am not sure why I do this.

The sauce was simply very enjoyable, sweet, plentiful and where it combined with some saltier mixture and oregano, it was a pure treat! Nigel was also satisfied with the Quatro Staggioni, which came typically divided in four regions of olives, mushrooms, ham and artichokes, as if whispering "pssst, enjoy the ingredients, one by one!"

We finished them all, wetted the throats with the rest of the beer and set off back to the hotel. All in all, Toscana Il Cerchio is a either a highlight in the area, or Italian cuisine is simply damn good everywhere. Come to think of it, both statements are probably true.

But there was more to come, because as I said, this was just the first day in Milan ... : -) . 

Dough - 8
Ingredients - (none)
Sauce - 9
Atmosphere - 8
Service - 8

PS: Oh yes, I should probably include the picture of snow in Wales! Did you know this snow storm was called "Beast from the East" and was said to be sent here by Putin, president of Russia, almost like the tanks sent to Czechoslovakia during the Soviet inv... Damn! Again! No more talk of Soviets invasions!