Several attempts have been made in Milan to combine fashion and cooking, but “alta moda” and “alta cucina” have never really married well, no matter how chic the restaurant’s interior.

Even the Trussardi Alla Scala Restaurant on the Piazza Scala, which belongs to the fashion house of Trussardi, used to be a place where people went for a quick business lunch rather than to celebrate evening gourmet rituals. But since renovations were finished in 2006, those looking for a quick lunch are also happy to return in the evening - and this fact is owed to the menus put together by Andrea Berton. In order to meet the owners' high expectations of the new restaurant, Berton insisted on a new, modern kitchen and a team of at least eight chefs before renovations began. Since the restaurant opened he has established a very serious gourmet kitchen, which draws from Italian tradition while stripping it down to its basics and combining it with new trends.

Andrea Berton, born in 1970, was introduced to the world of fine dining by the master of modern Italian cuisine himself: Gualtiero Marchesi, whose restaurant in Milan was the first Italian restaurant to be awarded three stars by the Michelin Guide in 1985, took Berton under his wing, teaching him the sheer simplicity and perfect composition of his cuisine. After a stint at Marchesi student Carlo Cracco's Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Berton had another opportunity to hone his culinary skills to perfection - this time with Alain Ducasse at the Louis XV in Monte Carlo. In 1997, Berton earned his first Michelin star at La Taverna di Colloredo in Monete Albano, and directed the culinary fortunes of the Marchesi Group as Executive Chef from 2001 to 2005.

Despite the prominence of his teachers, Andrea Berton has developed his own style: clear compositions with only the minimum of ingredients, whose individual flavours are always clearly accentuated. Andrea Berton's menu includes, for example, grilled scallops with green tomato marmalade perfumed with ginger and a crispy sculptural sheet of fried scallions. Berton also loves to vary traditional dishes, serving, for example, Steak Milanese in small cubes or Risotto Milanese with calf's sweetbreads. And he's always good for a surprise variation on the pasta theme - ravioli stuffed with Baccalà (dried cod) and served with chili sauce, or ravioli stuffed with buffalo mozzarella and caressed by cauliflower sauce and marinated anchovies.