Loste and the City: a new café was born in Milan. Is called Lost, is in via Francesco Guicciardini 5, Porta Monforte area, and the first thing it tells about is the courage and enthusiasm of those who have chosen to open in a difficult time of closures and curfews. The coffee shop has been open since Stefano Ferraro, chef and for five years head pastry chef at Noma, the award-winning Danish restaurant, e Lorenzo Cioli, sommelier, to take care of the cafeteria and wines. They met right at Noma in Copenhagen, in one of the best restaurants in the world and a great avant-garde cooking laboratory.
Noma was just a stop for two globetrotters who fled abroad years ago: Stefano left Turin for London tired of university, he worked with Jason Atherton between Dubai and Sidney and then in Japan, Hong Kong and Mexico. Lorenzo, a Tuscan from Borgo a Buggiano, entered the world of wine in London with Nuno Mendez and moved to Vancouver before arriving in Copenhagen.
Loste is their café in progress, they invested all their savings in it. Neither they nor their wives Machiko, Japanese and Ilze, Lithuanian, are part of the project from Milan. But they chose Milan “because it is the city that makes the most sense in Italy today, it has an international catchment area, it is open to innovations”. And Milan is not sure: the first customer is from Beirut, then there is the Korean designer, the colleagues from the trendy clubs, young professionals with a confident and relaxed air, despite everything.
Despite everything, Loste (from the initial of their names), opened just as they wanted it: a corner of Northern Europe with minimal furnishings designed by architect Giulio Marchesi with the cargo bike parked outside, the menu written on the wall, the offer for reduced hour: sweet and savory pasta, coffee and wine.
The coffee, espresso, cortado, cappuccino, flat white, is a 100% Arabica from Costa Rica by Volcan Azul toasted in Copenhagen, as clear as it is used in the North, by April Coffee. The result is fresh and acidulous, “a thoughtful choice that brings flavors forward”. And it goes very well with sumptuous pastes of butter and flavorings.
For wine, for now, a few selected labels from the most particular natural ones: “I am a converted naturalist, I come from a very classic base: at first it is difficult to switch to artisanal products, but then there is no turning back” says Lorenzo who explains how “the first step is to adapt to the offer of coffee and pastries, we will start with lunch with wine by the glass and an aperitif, bread and focaccia cooked in a wood oven – legacy of the pizzeria that was there before -, some cocktails ».
Stefano is busy in the laboratory where he weaves cruffins with elegant and hypnotic gestures. We ask him where Loste’s idea comes from. “The project was born as a restaurant two years ago in Copenhagen, we found this place that we liked but it wasn’t big enough, then Covid arrived and it seemed more sensible to start with a more contained project: hence the cafeteria. This is a beginning, it is by no means an arrival, we hope to open the restaurant later this year. The cafeteria will remain, but we want to be ready with the restaurant when there is a recovery ». What kind of cuisine will you do? “It will be fundamental to approach the ingredients, all Italian, but I want it to be a path that, as Italians, reflects our experiences around the world: Asia, Latin America, Latvia, England”. The talents are back, they have clear ideas and courage to spare.
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