Expo2015
Now I'll cover our day spent at Expo2015, one of the cornerstones of the trip. Originally I thought about the race, a couple of days in Paris, Geneva to see CERN and the LHC, and then Switzerland departing Zurich. Lynne was mildly interested in this until she found out that the Worlds Fair, EXPO215, would be in Milan. And the theme was food! Lynne went to the Munich Olympics in '72, and she also saw a Worlds Fair in San Antonio, so she easily talked me into changing plans.
We bought our tickets for Friday July 31. We boarded the M1 subway at Buonarotti, and took it directly to the Expo location.
The main street is 1500m long. Do the math, that's a mile! You can't even see the end in this picture. On both sides are many large trade show booths representing each county. There are about 130 countries with exhibits at the fair. Many also had ground displays featuring local food crops and farming practices. Many companies had displays, tractors, food processing, etc.. We didn't even see a 10th of the place.
Birra Morreti, my favorite Italian beer.
The American pavillion.
The French Pavilion.
For us the best is yet to come. As planned, we get to the American pavilion first thing and arrange reservations for dinner. It slowly dawns on us that the restaurant is not at the Expo. It is in Milan. In fact, it's in the Seven Stars Galleria hotel, in the heart of Milan. So we would need to get back home at some point and get ready for dinner.
We spent the morning and early afternoon at the Expo. That was not nearly enough. It really would take at least a week to see just the highlights. There was a 1-2 hour line to get into the Japanese booth. We had no idea what was at the end of that line, but we quickly decided we didn't have time. A quick check of the Expo page for Japan does not shed any light. Maybe it was sushi?
We got back to the hotel about 4 and relaxed for a while. We got dressed and then took the now familiar subway to the Duomo stop, to be on time for dinner starting at 6:30.
Finding the entrance was not easy. We got down to the Galleria, and were standing right in front of the elevator without knowing it. Finally the girl working at the entrance for the Da Vinci museum showed us where the elevator was.
The destination is actually the James Beard American Restaurant.
Does that view look familiar?
Dean, holding court!
Once we found the place, we were
treated to a fantastic evening! Staring with Zonin Prosecco, and appetizers, we then sat down to a
fabulous 5 course meal. The sommelier had selected a set of wines to go with each plate. He did a wonderful job with the pairings, and at the end of the meal, Lynne stood up and thanked him in front of the entire crowd.
Menu
Dean's tortilla soup with South of the Border flavors
Rocca di Montemassi Vermentino Calasole 2014
Barbequed shrimp taco with mango/pickled red onion salad and smoky citrus vinaigrette
Ca'Bolani Pinot Grigio Superiore Friuli Aquileia 2013
Chicken fried Lockhart quail on jalepeno creamed corn with green tomato relish
Rocca di Montemassi Rocca di Montemassi I.G.T.
Maple-black peppercorn soaked beef tenderloin on Anson Mills jalapeno grits with butternut squash taquito and smoked chili aioli
Masseria Altemura Sasseo Primitivo Salento I.G.T.
Warm peach buckle with blueberry jam and Bourbon vanilla ice cream
Castello Del Poggio Brachetto Spumante Piemonte D.O.C.
What a fabulous dinner. Afterwards, Lynne and I walked arm in arm through the Plazas of Milan and the Galleria at night. It was a perfect evening!
