Trattoria del Nuovo Macello

This restaurant in central Milan was founded in 1928. Its head chef now is Giovanni Traversone, who heads a kitchen serving 70 covers. There was a short set menu at €60, including their signature risotto Milanese, as well as the main à la carte.

The wine list started at just €25 and there were lots of wines below €40, which was a refreshing change from London. The list included labels such Cascina Corte Nebbiolo 2022 at €39 for a bottle that can be found in the high street at €17, Cantina Togliani Crema l’Arsin 2022 at €60 compared to its retail price of €41, and Luigi Tecce 'Puro Sangue' 2019 at €80 for a wine that will set you back € 52 in a shop. I drank the very pleasant Brunelli Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino 2020, which was priced at €140 compared its retail price of €85 (£73).

There was a little canapé in the form of a cracked topped with chickpea mayonnaise with tiny carrots and capers. This was pleasant if unremarkable (13/20). There was a nice focaccia served, along with a sliced bread. The focaccia had light, airy texture. My starter was tagliatelle with beef ragu, using beef from Piedmont. The pasta had food texture and the beef flavour in the ragu was reasonably intense. This was a quite rustic but enjoyable dish (14/20).

The star of the night was Milanese risotto, which was simply stunning. This had carnaroli rice with silky texture, laced with saffron, the rice having beautifully absorbed its chicken stock, the dish enriched with butter and a little Parmesan. The result was a texture like velvet, the flavour superb, the flecks of saffron adding their distinctive colour and gentle bittersweet flavour. The only risotto I can remember being much better than this was at Le Calandre (17/20 is probably a mean score for this lovely risotto).

For dessert I had pistachio ice cream with chocolate sauce Bagai and salted pistachios. The latter added an extra texture, and the rich chocolate worked nicely with the pistachio flavour (14/20).

Service was friendly and the bill came to €197 (£179) but that mostly the quite expensive wine. The food element of my bill was just €57 (£49) including mineral water and coffee. If you shared a modest bottle of wine between two, and there were plenty of these on this list, then a typical cost per person ought to be around €80 (£69). Overall, this was a very enjoyable meal, with the remarkable risotto a genuine highlight.