“A space for flowers and music, a bistrot with cuisine” – this is the official description of Potafiori. I would also add that it is a come in, sit down and talk for hours kind of place.
Potafiori is a former flower shop, owned and managed by a local singer, has recently turned into a flower cafe/restaurant. After the hairdresser that was selling bouqetes in Bangkok, I was looking for a similar experience in the beloved Milan (and as you know she who seeks finds).
So here I am in this two weeks old chimerical place. The layout and the design is extraordinary and tasteful to the nines, not to mention the extremely beautiful flowers that are a real visual treat.
Apart from having brekafast/lunch/snack/dinner here, you could also enjoy a live jazz show by the owner who also performs in some of the most popular clubs in town.
I didn’t see the menu since we were there around 4 pm (if you haven’t ever been to Italy you wold probably not know that here the kitchens are only open for a very limited time for lunch and dinner), however, all we wanted at that moment was a refreshing drink and we could choose between water, sodas or ready-made juices.
However, despite the lack of more complicated elixirs to imbibe, this will totes become one of my favorite hangout places. And I will surely be back soon to try the food.
Update 25/05/2015 At the end, I returned for lunch only a few days after my first visit. The menu varies everyday but it always remains on the healthy side. On that day it featured buckwheat with crispy vegetables, quinoa with dry tomatoes, buckwheat burger with yogurt sauce, chicken with ginger (all priced 13 usd) and the dessert of the house (6.5 usd). All the dishes are beautifully presented and full of flavor.
Potafiori is in Salasco Str, 17, Milan; open daily from 8:00 to 24:00. Wi-Fi: Yes
Warning: The host is lovely, carrying and talkative. You could become best friends before you know it!
Do you like flower cafes or do you prefer plant free environments?
This is a beautiful spot to relax and eat… when they will serve you. Have to love Italy… you can’t mess with their food schedule but those flowers and plants are very easy to enjoy!
I would definitely prefer a cafe filled with flowers and plants! That looks lovely 🙂
That makes two of is! Flowers are good companions ?
amazing café love it! <3
i too am surprised when i read you saying in italy, eating places are not allowed to serve food during those times. i see the drinks they serve, but no coffee or tea… surely making it into a coffee place in between meals would increase traffic. the flowers look very nice, but not in itself an incentive to go there.
I’m not sure if they are not allowed or it is just an unwritten law. The lunch is served between 12-14:30, the dinner between 19:00-22:30. Of course there are some exceptions but can be counted on the fingers of your hand. When I’m hungry in between the meals I go to the chinese restaurants, they cook all the time. As for this place they should serve hot drinks, Italians can’t live without coffee. We just didn’t ask because it was such a hot day that we wanted something ice cold.
if the chinese restaurants can serve food round the clock, it means it is not the law, but the policy of the owners. perhaps cooks are expensive or no one wants to work outside the meal hours. in uk food is available all day, so i wonder how it is done in uk. as for serving coffee, i just remembered they cannot serve cappucinno after 12pm. haha. so one wonders what the italians do really. go home and have a siesta i suppose. haha.
One of the things that disapppointed me a lot during my first year here was that I can’t have a hot drink in the evening in the bars, only cocktails, water and sodas. Also if you ask for a juice during your meal they will be shocked. I guess that you are right, it would be expensive to have a cook all day long. However, it is also a cultural thing, Italians eat only during meal times, even if they had the opportunity to the otherwise they wouldn’t. If they are starving at 7pm they won’t have a dinner but a snack because it is not socially acceptable to eat so early.
i have heard of all these customs, but it is still a shock to hear it… though that bar thing, no hot drinks, that is also the custom in uk. no one ask for a hot drink in a bar. but as usual the bar does cater to it, with a long simmering pot of filter coffee that has been there for ages… haha. here in uk, no one refuse u anything, but whether u will like what u get is another matter. i guess with italians they just refuse to serve u substandard coffee if they cannot give u the real thing that fits their high standards.
if u want a hot drink, we soon learn to go to a coffee shop, and there are tons of them around. but maybe in italy there are fewer chain coffee shops like starbucks etc that open all day and late into the night. there are no tea shops though, and coffee shops sell weak tea of liptons dipped in hot water. tea has suffered with the rise of coffee drinking.
No chain coffee shops or tea houses here and if Starbucks can’t make it to Italy no one will. On the other hand, I had my best coffee/tea experience in Bangkok. In my opinion no one can beat Asians when it comes to an unforgettable customer experience. Wherelse can you have a cappuccino with a 3D foam bear on it (anytime of the day)?