Milan

Concierge.com's insider take:

This innovative Italian restaurant has put central Milan back on the gourmet map of Italy with its unrepentantly contemporary Italian food. Chef Carlo Cracco added a second Michelin star to his tally in 2004 and long ago shook off the "trained under Alain Ducasse" qualifiers to emerge as a major player in his own right. Still, not all Cracco's gambles come off: The spaghetti with sea urchins and coffee sounded like it couldn't possibly work, and didn't. However, a secondo of steamed spigola (sea bass) was perfect, a tribute to simplicity, despite the oddness of the accompanying vegetables (purple Peruvian potatoes, anyone?). There's really no need to order more than two dishes, as a regular stream of amuse-bouches fills up the gap, but for those determined to spend, there are multicourse tasting menus at about €85($120) and €125($175). The ambience of the basement dining room is austere modernism, all marble facing and somber grays and browns. Service was a little uncertain and even occasionally surly on our last visit, with a gulf between the assurance of the able maître d' and the learning-on-the-job approach of his young apprentices. But overall, this is worth trying at least once if you want to touch the city's culinary peaks.

Closed Sunday. Open for lunch Monday through Friday. Dinner nightly.