There is a lunch spot, Antica Trattoria Ambrosiana, in Niguarda, my neighborhood in Milan, that I miss terribly and am sending love. I hope they will be able to reopen after the quarantine. It is open only for lunch, and a complete meal costs ten euro (eleven with coffee). There is no “ a la carte” menu. You must go with the flow. There are no substitutions. But there is a vegetarian option if you ask. 

I always arrived alone, but was usually asked to join tables with others, everybody Italian, mostly people who work in the neighborhood. Nobody ever spoke to me in English which I greatly appreciated because these lunches were great opportunities for me to practice my Italian in dimensional, nuanced, and animated conversations. 

During one lunch the owner attempted to serve me rabbit, which I refused using the only legitimate excuse possible - that I had just read Italo Calvino’s short story “Il Coniglio Velenoso” - The Poisonous Rabbit - the night before. This was to be the source of many jokes during future lunches. –E