There are places born from a journey, others from an intuition, and others still from the meeting of stories that seemed destined to intersect. Luceferma is all these things together. Located in Milan, in the beating heart of Via Amatore Antonio Sciesa, this new space is not simply a bar or a restaurant: it is a manifesto of hospitality, a corner of the South that has found a home in the North, a "Mediterranean Bar" where time seems to stretch.
In this brief article, we interviewed Daniele Milonia, who together with chef Bianca Celano are the minds and hands that created Luceferma.
So, how did it all start? Were we four friends at the bar wanting to do something magnificent?
Daniele: More or less, yes. But I have to say that Luceferma I had written down two years ago. It had stayed in the drawer: it wasn’t called that yet and was definitely not located in this neighborhood. It came back to light when I met Bianca. Bianca and I had met on another project, through mutual friends we have in the world of cuisine, art, and design. She thought of me to entrust me with consulting on the interior design and communication part.
Actually, when we then met and talked about this, she wanted to create a continuous breakfast. I, having frequented airports a bit more often in recent years, had realized that the food inside these transit spaces is not dictated by the external light. If you arrive at the time that is breakfast for you, you eat breakfast. So I thought it would be perfect to create a place in Milan where, at any hour you arrive, you can have sweet or savory, hot or cold breakfast, offering a continuum throughout the day.
Once we agreed on this, the culinary signature remained. Bianca is very experienced with ingredients, quality, and craftsmanship. I wanted to explore everything the Mediterranean gives us, because we in Italy are at the center of the Mediterranean and have been the world’s hub for many centuries. I liked the idea of exploring all the influences and heterogeneity that have existed over the years. At that point, the idea of "stopping the light" was born, and I proposed to call it Luceferma, also giving a culinary indication: Luceferma - A Mediterranean Bar.
The Menu: A Mediterranean Fusion
Let’s talk about the culinary offer. There’s a lot of Sicily and Puglia, but not only, right?
Daniele: Exactly. Bianca is from Catania, I am from Puglia, so our roots are evident. But we wanted to explore the heterogeneity of the entire Mediterranean basin, which for centuries was the center of the world. On the menu, we have spices like za'atar (of Arab and Moroccan influence), a bitter from Greece, and we carry on continuous research by inviting chefs from different regions of Europe. Even the classics are reinterpreted: last week we introduced a cinnamon roll (typically Nordic), but Bianca revisited it using raisins soaked in Pantelleria’s Zibibbo. There is always a search for contrasts and grafts in everything we offer: from the container to the content, and vice versa.
How do you manage seasonality, a topic very dear to those who love the land?
Daniele: Seasonality is a pillar. Our menu is identity-driven but constantly changing. For example, our "seasonal toast" has a fixed base of shokupan bread that we buy from the guys at Honest, enhancing the local artisan network. Currently, the vegetable filling is asparagus-based, but it will change as soon as the land offers new ingredients.
Space, Light, and Color
The atmosphere conveys a precise feeling: it feels like being on a beach at sunset. How did you work on the interior design?
Daniele: We wanted to escape the cold clichés often seen in Milan. We chose warm tones that contrast with each other: the walls have a "cappuccino" colored resin, the kitchen windows are a very strong orange, the counter is sugar paper blue and contrasts with the burgundy chairs and the tables in enameled lava stone in burgundy.
Light is also fundamental: we designed a system hand in hand with the Italian company Buzzi&Buzzi, a light manufacturer. All light points are customized. We can adjust the intensity and thermal gradation, moving from a cooler light to a very warm one, evoking the sunset itself.
There is also an important space dedicated to art and collecting...
Daniele: On the walls, we have a constantly active temporary exhibition. We inaugurated on April 9, coinciding with the opening, with the exhibition Stopping to Move. We selected three artists: one digital (the_other_view), one painter (Mario Silva from Banquet Gallery), and a textile project (Arda, with the two tapestries in the last room). The exhibition will change in January and will be updated every six months.
As for the six totems you mentioned, each is entrusted to a different artist or designer. Each of them has created a limited edition collection that can be purchased both inside the store and on the website. These will also change every six months.
From the container to the content, Luceferma is an invitation to stop, to look at the light, and to rediscover the flavors of the Mediterranean.
