Illustration by Fig & Ginger, drawn from the review. The venue's own photo is on its way.
Historic pasticceria and café in Quadrilatero della Moda, Milan
Cova
Two Centuries of Panettone
Cova was selling cake in Milan in 1817, which means it was pulling coffee before Italy was a country. Antonio Cova opened it beside La Scala as a literary café, and the house will tell you Verdi and Puccini were regulars. Wartime bombs took the original rooms. In 1950 the pasticceria moved to Via Montenapoleone 8 and rebuilt the old salon with mirrors, linen and velvet banquettes, right as the street was turning into the fashion district.
Yes, it belongs to LVMH now, and there are Cova boutiques from Monte Carlo to Shanghai. Ignore all that. This is the original, and the reason to come is still the counter. The panettone is the house's calling card and has been for generations. The chocolates are small, serious things: gianduiotti, pralines and cremini, each wrapped by hand. The vitrine of small pastries looks like a jeweller's window and costs about the same per gram.
Prices are Montenapoleone prices, so be smart about it. An espresso taken standing at the bar is the cheapest ticket in the Quadrilatero, and it buys you the whole show: waiters in jackets moving like they were trained for the opera house, fashion buyers comparing shopping bags, an old Milanese lady ordering exactly what she ordered last week. Sit down for tea if you want the full ceremony. Buy the panettone either way.
- Order this
- Panettone Cova, Gianduiotti and cremini from the chocolate counter, Piccola pasticceria from the vitrine, An espresso of the house blend, standing
- The damage
- $$$
- Go
- A weekday morning for an espresso at the bar, or December for the panettone
- Find it
- Via Montenapoleone 8, 20121 Milano
- Website
- pasticceriacova.com