Stella Orsini

DON CICCIO TRATTORIA
Milano 
2026


Don Ciccio in Sicily has ben a well known establishment for many decades, the first of two family restaurants being open since 1949.
After opening up a second trattoria in Palermo, the third generation of the owners decided to open up in Milano as well.

I was called upon to to do the concept and renovation with a very quick turnaround - 2 months - and limited budget. the brief of the owners was simple: make the place as honest as the food.

I could not do a replica of the 2 sicilian venues, as it would have felt completely fake in Milano, so I aimed at a typical milanese trattoria mood, with a Sicilian heritage.

The space had already been a restaurant, the layout already worked, so there was no stringent need - or time - to modify it.  I only played with colour and surfaces, as in most of my projects.

Given the wide and tall proportion of the space, I decided to work with wood panelling along most walls to re-proportion the space and give a touch of colour, plus pannelling is very typical in milanese restaurants.
   

The brand logo is dark red so it felt right to do the panelling of a dark red tone, although veering more towards brick red, as burgundy is very seen in milanese trattorie.

 

A warm beige on the wall in a darker tone on the ceiling make the space warm, especially at night with the vintage glass lights hanging from the ceiling.

The batroom was dreadful and I turned it around with a splash of colour on walls and ceiling and a couple of flea market mirrors and furniture.

Furniture has been kept essential in keeping with the trattoria mood: custom made simple dark wood tables and vintage “osteria” chairs.
The story of the family and of the sicilian traditions is narrated through photographs with vintage frames.

The area of the bar, now used to fill cannolis and serve siciliano amari, has been refitted with a copper top and a bottle shelf unit I designed - but I kept the green marble top of the previous bar.