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August /September 202 2 IX MAGAZINE and a love that manifest an admiring contemplation for the beauty of nature and a respect for time, the chronological one of the succession and cyclical nature of the seasons and the more interior kairological one that marks the opportune and mature timing of things that happen. This baby-faced chef has the ability to tiptoe into things without moving anything, without making a mess, without leaving signs of trespassing. He is fascinated by a world of small things that can only be grasped by those who sit down and have the patience to observe going beyond the first glance. I learnt long ago that love is in the details and that the infinitely small can open up to the attentive observer in wide and diverse worlds like a game of fractals whose richness of detail is a continuous discovery. What seems small does not have in its size a limitation but a richness. You can tell from Alberto’s gaze that he knows this too. AN OPEN-AIR MEADOW I feel the hortus conclusus semplicium revived, the fertile garden of herbs and essences of medieval convents, a confined space of chaste and pure fertility that is joy and pleasure par excellence. Like the hortus for the convent, so Horto for Milan is a refuge that sums up the intimacy of the most secret thoughts, the jealous working field of the man devoted to the earth or of a writer, an artist or a chef who finds space in a garden sovereign in its rules of harmony and balance even in its wildest dimension. And in the fast-paced Milan as only it knows when it is at the service of business know-how, of finance in which the fastest algorithm wins, of fashion that is consumed and passes, the hortus conclusus becomes a garden of the spirit where one can somehow dedicate oneself to retreat and meditation in a locus amoenus that does not deny the metropolis but allows one to live it without the trepidation of city life. SITTING IN THE GRASS Horto’s terrace is an open-air meadow where you can trample the grass while enjoying the sun and the rain, the snow and the winter and the summer, the dark and the light. In this way we learn to enjoy mankind and feel responsible for the beauty of the world because we are not holidaymakers or tenants in nature but we must inhabit the planet as if it were our father’s home. And from the garden we go as we came, bringing a little of your gravel, a little of your herbs, a little of your infinity and a little of your light with a little more hope, with a little more wisdom. SUSTAINABLE, AUTHENTIC AND LOCAL At Horto, food in the heart of Milan is approached according to the ethics of Michelin-starred chef Norbert Niederkofler, the strategist who guides the St. Hubertus restaurant at the Hotel Rosa Alpina in San Cassiano, one of the most renowned destinations for Italian cuisine, with the concepts of sustainability, local sourcing and rediscovery of authentic cuisine. An ethicality that is not limited to food but becomes a constituent part of the architectural, design and lifestyle choices of the entire brigade. AN ETHICAL HOUR FOR ETHICAL TIME MANAGEMENT “We drew an ideal line that did not exceed the distance that can be covered in an hour from the Horto headquarters and began the search for our ingredients by scouring the territory as if we were a team of foragers-gatherers,” Alberto explains. ‘Within this ethical radius of action,’ he continues, ‘we have rediscovered farmsteads, historic butcheries, dairy farms, and breeders that amaze in a landscape that is, in the eyes of most urban people,’. Milan is not only one of the most densely populated areas in Europe. Lombardy’s capital is an industrious and enterprising city in which one lives life and is never at a loss for words, but it remains a wise city that has been able to preserve its most rural roots by taking endless care of its countryside, where rice fields, vineyards and a rich horticultural system interconnect with lakes and rivers rich in freshwater fish. IN SEARCH OF LOCAL PRODUCE Local ingredients are sovereign in Horto’s kitchen. Alberto enhances their goodness without overpowering them, patiently waiting, listening and serving his territory without pretending anything. The protagonists in the kitchen are the producers, the territory, the ingredients, the recipes, the timing. Only much later comes the chef who tames and enhances their strength. COOK THE MOUNTAIN With Cook the mountain, Norbert Niederkofler’s philosophy of life and thought, we cook the land for the unique values it represents. “In doing so, we take care of it, we ensure its survival, we care for its essence and the aesthetics of the landscape,” explains Alberto. The mountain is a well-defined and identifiable food horizon. It has its own basket, a unique network of producers. Culture, identity and history make it an unrepeatable unicum, a story that is born according to a lexicon and syntax that would not mature the same elsewhere. COOKING THE MOUNTAIN AT EVERY LATITUDE A: Horto does not repeat the menus of Niederkofler at St. Hubertus. It would make no sense. We would violate the beauty of Milan and its territory. But the products are local, sustainable and we fight food waste. Cooking Milan Horto’s ‘mountain’ cuisine but in coherence of principles. COOK THE MOUNTAIN THUS BECOMES COOK MILAN... A: Yes. Because everywhere there are products, cultures, identities, stories to be enhanced.