Acanto

Verdict: A Reliable €€€€ Hotel Dining Room That Earns Its Michelin Plate

Acanto carries a 4.6 Google rating across 412 reviews and a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025 — a consistent signal that this is not a hotel restaurant coasting on room-rate captives. Situated inside the Principe di Savoia on Piazza della Repubblica, it is one of the few Milan hotel dining rooms worth booking as a destination in its own right. Chef Matteo Gabrielli, who brings international experience to a kitchen that prioritises traditional Italian cooking executed with modern technique, is the most meaningful recent change here. If you are visiting Milan for the first time and want a dependable, formal-leaning dinner with serious wine depth, Acanto delivers. If you want boundary-pushing creativity, look at Contraste or Enrico Bartolini instead.

Portrait

The arrival point matters for a first-timer: Acanto is accessed through the Principe di Savoia, a landmark hotel on Piazza della Repubblica that puts you in central Milan with good transport access and the kind of entrance that sets a formal-dinner tone before you sit down. The dining room is classic in style — the kind of room where service moves quietly and the table spacing allows conversation without effort. That formality is part of the proposition; this is not a place to arrive in trainers after a aperitivo crawl.

Matteo Gabrielli took the helm recently, and the direction he has set is worth understanding before you book. The focus is firmly on traditional Italian cuisine, with risotto alla Milanese held up as a signature. The technique in the kitchen is modern , methods that allow ingredient quality to read clearly on the plate rather than obscure it , but the reference point is classical. For a first-timer to Milan, that is actually a sound reason to choose Acanto: you get a serious, technically grounded version of dishes the city is known for, rather than a menu chasing international fine-dining trends. If you want the latter, Andrea Aprea or Cracco in Galleria offer more overtly progressive menus at the same price tier.

The wine program is one of the strongest arguments for booking here. Wine Director Torrence O'Haire leads a team that includes sommeliers Patti Robison, Philip Greenwood, Diego de Cordova, and Leonardo Pisano , an unusually deep bench for a hotel restaurant. The list runs to 375 selections with a total inventory of 1,700, with strengths in Italian wine and a general markup that places it in the mid-range pricing tier (wines across a range of price points, not exclusively collector-level). A corkage fee of $35 applies if you bring your own bottle, which is worth knowing if you are arriving from a visit to producers in the region , or after exploring Milan's wine scene more broadly. The World of Fine Wine 3-Star Accreditation the list holds is a verified credential that puts Acanto's wine program in a small category of hotel restaurants globally. For comparison, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence and Osteria Francescana in Modena operate at higher wine-list prestige levels, but Acanto's depth is notable for a Milan hotel room.

Cuisine pricing sits in the $$ band , a two-course meal in the $40–$65 range before beverages and service , which positions Acanto as one of the more accessible €€€€-rated rooms in the city on a per-dish basis. The overall spend will rise with wine, and the wine-to-food ratio is something to plan for here given the list's depth. Lunch and dinner are both served, which makes Acanto a reasonable choice if you are time-pressed and want a serious midday meal without the full commitment of a tasting menu evening.

Late-Night and After-Hours

Hotel restaurants carry an inherent advantage for late dining: kitchen hours tend to extend further than standalone restaurants, and Acanto, operating inside the Principe di Savoia, is a sound choice when you need a reliable dinner option later in the evening. Milan's standalone fine-dining rooms , including Innocenti Evasioni and 28 Posti , tend to run on tighter kitchen schedules. If you are arriving on a late flight, attending an event at one of the city's venues, or simply want to eat well past 9 PM, Acanto's hotel setting makes it a more practical option than most of its peers in the €€€€ bracket. Confirm specific last-seating times directly with the hotel before booking, as hours are not publicly listed. The wine program's depth also makes Acanto a plausible choice for a drinks-led late visit: a table with a bottle from the 375-selection list, rather than a full dinner, is a reasonable use of the room. For a broader look at late options across the city, see our Milan bars guide.

Booking and Access

Booking difficulty is rated Easy. Acanto does not require weeks of advance planning in the way that Milan's starred rooms do , Seta or Enrico Bartolini at two Michelin stars will require more lead time. A few days' notice should secure a table for most dates, though weekend evenings and Fashion Week periods will tighten availability. General Manager Diego de Cordova, who also holds sommelier credentials, oversees the floor , the kind of dual role that tends to produce a service experience with stronger wine integration than a separated GM and sommelier structure would suggest.

For first-timers staying near Piazza della Repubblica, Acanto is the most convenient high-quality dinner option within the hotel itself. If you are based elsewhere in the city, it is worth comparing against Don Carlos, another well-regarded hotel dining room with a different character, or checking Altriménti for a less formal alternative. For context on where Acanto sits within Milan's broader restaurant scene, see our full Milan restaurants guide.

If you are using Milan as a base to explore northern Italy's wider fine-dining circuit, Acanto makes a sensible anchor dinner before day trips to Dal Pescatore in Runate, Le Calandre in Rubano, or Piazza Duomo in Alba. For those tracking international fine-dining programs with serious wine depth, Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico represents the next tier up in the region. Further afield, if wine-program depth is the primary criterion, Frantzén in Stockholm and FZN by Björn Frantzén in Dubai operate comparable programs at higher overall price points. For hotels in the area, see our Milan hotels guide, and for local experiences beyond the table, our Milan experiences guide covers the broader itinerary.

Practical Details

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Acanto worth the price?

• For a hotel restaurant, yes , the Michelin Plate (2025), 4.6 Google rating, and World of Fine Wine 3-Star accreditation on the wine list make the price defensible.
• The cuisine pricing runs $40–$65 for a two-course meal before wine, which is accessible for the €€€€ tier. The overall spend climbs with wine, and the list is deep enough to push the bill significantly higher if you lean into it.
• Compared to Seta (2 Michelin stars, harder to book) or Cracco in Galleria (1 star, stronger creative identity), Acanto offers the lowest booking friction at this price tier and the strongest verified wine program among Milan's hotel dining rooms.

What should I wear to Acanto?

• The Principe di Savoia is a grand, classic hotel and the dining room reflects that register. Smart casual is the floor , tailored trousers and a collared shirt or a dress for dinner. No formal dress code is published, but arriving in casual streetwear will feel out of place.
• Milan's dining culture at the €€€€ level trends toward neat and considered rather than black-tie; a blazer covers most situations comfortably.

What should I order at Acanto?

• Risotto alla Milanese is the dish the kitchen identifies as a highlight, and it is the most direct expression of chef Matteo Gabrielli's traditional-first approach. Order it.
• Beyond that, the menu focuses on Italian meat and fish dishes built on ingredient quality rather than elaborate construction. Let the sommelier team guide the wine pairing , with four sommeliers and a 375-selection list, this is where Acanto's depth is most practically useful.

Is the tasting menu worth it at Acanto?

• If tasting menu format is your preference, Acanto is a reasonable choice , but it is not the most compelling tasting menu at €€€€ in Milan. Andrea Aprea and Contraste offer more distinctive tasting menu experiences at the same price tier.
• Where Acanto justifies a longer meal is when you are pairing dishes with the wine list , the sommelier depth makes a multi-course format a better vehicle for the list than a two-course à la carte visit.

Is Acanto good for solo dining?

• Yes. The hotel setting, attentive professional service noted by Michelin, and easy booking make it a low-friction solo option in Milan's €€€€ tier.
• The wine list's range of pricing means you can anchor a solo dinner around a well-chosen glass or bottle without the pressure of a shared table's expectations. For a first-time solo visitor to Milan, Acanto is a more comfortable room than a tighter, buzzier standalone restaurant.