Let me describe Ponte Rosso, an old-fashioned trattoria in Milan’s Navigli neighborhood, a skinny spot with a cluster of tables and a dense, lengthy menu. A hybrid of authentic regional cuisine and simple home cooking, it is absolutely un-precious, and we enjoy every authentic bite.

We start with a slab of homemade truffled liver pate surrounded by jiggly gelatin crystals and orange peel.  S’marvelous. We graze through stockfish and artichokes with candied lemon, another lovely simple dish that I will never forget. Ooh, let’s indulge in lardo with chestnut – but I am so transported by the liver and stockfish I am edging toward food coma.

Continue with a pasta dish of gorgeous tagliatelle with asparagus, courgettes and peas – like eating a velvety spring garden. Try the Neapolitan rice “Sartu” from a recipe by Ippolito Cavalcanti in 1837 – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.