Marcel Boum: eat African in Milan and be happy

It’s all true what they say about Milan, sometimes it’s snooty, sometimes it’s “ugly”, it works and sometimes it forgets to hear. At the same time it is also true that it is rich in suggestions and possibilities, and knows how to become the city of many. It welcomes because it offers everyone a chance: here one lives, experiences, gets to know, sometimes loves. Milan has also become the city of Prince who is 29 years old, was born in Brescia, but has parents from Ghana.

It is he who has been managing since June 1, 2022 Marcel Bouma tiny little place which serves the best recipes from all over the African continent, a street food of original flavours. A project born from the encounter between Gaia Trussardithe chef Cesare Battisti of Ratana (yes, he is the king of Milanese cuisine, but he did a full African immersion), and dalla Red Cross who send here those who need to work and feel part of the city.

In all eight round wooden tables, 7 raffia chandeliers with a warm light, African music, a welcoming environment, with a small counter overlooking the street (via Savona), for making cocktails on the roadand an open kitchen from where Prince bakes rice and vegetable dishes, variations of hummus in all sorts of ways, soups, baked appetizers, a fantastic Mpotompotosweet potato puree with sautéed ribs and lime, sweet pepper and peanut tart or a Wali Wa Nazi, coconut rice, avocado, basil, burma curry, lime and ginger. For now, all vegetarian dishes, but soon there will also be some fish or meat dishes.

In Milan there have always been African clubs, the famous Ethiopians of Porta Venezia, together with the bars loved by those who understand that the richness of a big city is the encounter. But Marcel Boum (which is the name “Mario Rossi” of West Africa, and here he has become a symbolic character capable of representing cultural unity through food) is different: it is easy, young, relaxing. It’s not like entering an ethnic restaurant in Milan, but like entering a place that could be anywhere, on the streets of Dakar or Dar es Salaam, or here in via Savona at 13.

The motto of the place? An African proverb: “What you’ve never seen you find where you’ve never been”. The walls are decorated with work from the cooperative in aid of the disabled Many hands who has drawn so many faces that are always different: they are the many «Marcel Boums», the many people of the world who meet here. On the wall another African proverb: «When the roots are deep there is no reason to fear the wind». In short, if you are strong, you know how to explore and to explore you can also just come here and sit at a small table.