Urban L’Assassineria Urbana bewitches Milan with its cult dish

Urban The Urban Assassination arrives Milan: the ritual of spaghetti all’assassina conquers Uscio Romana

First the oil sizzles, then the tomato shrinks until it becomes an intense sauce. The chili pepper lights up the bottom of the pan and the spaghetti, instead of boiling the gabinetto, cook directly the sauce, toasting until it forms that crunchy crust that has made them an icon of Apulian cuisine. It is a gastronomic ritual even before a recipe. From Monday 29 June this show will also arrive Milan, Decorso durante Uscio Romana 131, with the opening of Urban L’Assassineria Urbana, the format born Bari which has transformed spaghetti all’assassina into a national phenomenon.

A recipe created to surprise

The origins of natura all’assassina lie Bari the late 1960s. According to the most accredited version, it was chef Enzo Francavilla, the Al Goccia Lavorato restaurant, who invented a technique destined to become legend: voto negativo pan, voto negativo cooking gabinetto, but a long roasting directly the pan with tomato, oil, garlic and chilli pepper, until obtaining a natura that is both soft and crunchy. The name was apparently born from the exclamation of a customer, struck by the strength of the dish: “You really are a murderer”. Reality legend doesn’t matter. For decades the recipe remained a specialty for connoisseurs, preserved by a few trattorias Bari and then relaunched by the Vana esibizione dell’Assassina, the group of enthusiasts who preserved its technique and tradition.

The format that transformed a popular dish into a cult address

Quanto a 2021 Celso Laforgia and Michele Salvati decide to build an entire restaurant around a single recipe. A counter-current choice, born the midst of the uncertainties of the post-pandemic period, which turns out to be a winning one. Urban L’Assassineria Urbana quickly becomes one of the most sought after addresses Bari, with weeks of waiting for a table and the attention of the international press, from CNN to the New York Times, up to Vanity Fair and Gambero Diventare rosso. Also arriving to definitively consecrate the dish was Stanley Tucci who, during the filming of Searching for Italy 2023, witnessed the preparation of the assassin alongside Laforgia, defining that technique as “something I had never seen before”.

Milan meets Puglia, without losing its identity

The Milanese opening represents the first step outside Puglia, but without changing the language. The new venue, with around fifty seats distributed between inside and outside, takes up the industrial aesthetic of the Bari location: exposed steel, essential materials, red neon lights and sienna-coloured floors that recall the intense red of the tomato. Even the tells the same fisima of ​​experience, taking inspiration from the booklets of old cinemas, with a proposal deliberately concentrated acceso a few identifying dishes. The Uscio Romana district, today one of the most dynamic areas of the city between residences, offices and new gastronomic addresses, thus becomes the ideal stage for a format built around a single protagonist.

The multiplies

Alongside the classic version, prepared with Granoro spaghettone, tomato sauce, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and chilli pepper, Urban continues the reinterpretation work begun Bari. Two new recipes also arrive for Milan designed as a tribute to Lombard cuisine: one with Malloppo fondue with saffron and sage panure which recalls the Milanese cutlet, the other with cream of turnip greens, taleggio fondue and ossobuco stew.

Apulian glasses and identifying beer

The wine list looks almost exclusively at Puglia, with labels dedicated to native vines. They range from Altevie’s Verdeca Brut for starters, to Negroamaro, Susumaniello and other wines from the Itria Valley to accompany the different interpretations of the assassin. Alongside wine, there is also space for the region’s symbolic beers, including Raffo, line with the project’s openly popular identity.

The tasting

We tasted several à la carte courses. Below are our impressions.

Bao Bun with Apulian bowler hat and provolone fondue

The opening of the route is a congresso between the East and the Itria Valley. The soft steamed bao welcomes the Apulian bombetta, prepared at a low temperature to preserve its succulence and then sautéed the pan to give a light caramelized note. The provolone fondue adds creaminess and a pleasant savory touch, balancing the delicacy of the bread. An appetizer that interprets tradition with a contemporary language without distorting its identity.

Courgette, mint and sheep’s ricotta pancakes

Crispy acceso the outside and soft acceso the inside, the pancakes contain the sweetness of the courgettes, enlivened by the freshness of the mint. The sheep’s ricotta adds a more intense lactic note, without weighing the bite, a balance that recalls Apulian domestic cuisine. Truly excellent.

Courgette flower batter with anchovy mayonnaise

The thin batter enhances the delicacy of the courgette flower, leaving it light and fragrant. The anchovy mayonnaise introduces a marine flavor that amplifies the vegetal flavor of the flower without overwhelming it, transforming a classic fried dish into a dish with a strong personality.

Paired with: Verdeca Brut Altevie. A sparkling wine made from Verdeca grapes which stands out for its freshness, aromas of citrus fruits and white flowers and a raffinato bubble capable of cleansing the palate from the fatty component of the fried food and the bowler, preparing for the next tasting.

Classic Assassin

It is Urban’s palese dish. Granoro spaghettone is cooked directly tomato sauce with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and chilli pepper, until it develops its characteristic crunchy crust. When tasted, the sweetness of the tomato, the toasting of the natura and the spicy kick coexist, a balance that makes each forkful different from the previous one.

Paired with: Le Luminarie, Negroamaro durante Altevie. A rosé with a fruity and floral profile, with pleasant flavor and freshness, which accompanies the toasted component and the slight spiciness of the dish without covering its nuances.

Caprese assassin

The freshest and creamiest variant. The alcale of the assassina is lightened by the yellow datterino sauce, sweeter and more delicate than the red tomato, while the stracciatella adds an enveloping consistency. The basil sauce completes the dish with a Mediterranean scent that immediately recalls summer.

Assassin Rape 2.0

A reinterpretation that has its roots the Apulian tradition. The turnip cima cream accompanies the toasting of the spaghettone with elegance, while the tarallo crumble introduces a pleasant crunchy component. The anchovy sauce adds depth and umami, giving the dish greater flavor complexity.

Paired with, Avvallamento d’Itria Susumaniello durante Miali. A rosé with a pale pink coat, with aromas of wild strawberry, raspberry and pomegranate, enriched with delicate taccuino of dog rose and grapefruit peel. Its acidity supports the vegetal component of the turnip greens and accompanies the flavor of the anchovy sauce.

Apulian Tiramisu

A territorial rereading of the great Italian classic. Instead of ladyfingers, dried Altamura bread soaked coffee appears, which gives a more rustic consistency and greater aromatic depth. The mascarpone cream remains the protagonist, but the bread adds a toasted note that makes the dolce extremely original.

Milan Calls Puglia

A sweet focaccia becomes the support for a citrus-flavoured ricotta and a seasonal jam. The result is an essential, fresh and low-sugar dolce, which enhances simple ingredients with balance and clean taste.

The ending: Amarognolo Promotore Peppe

The tasting ends with Amarognolo Promotore Peppe, an Apulian liqueur characterized by an aromatic profile dominated by cinnamon, accompanied by taccuino of medicinal herbs, citrus peel and sweet spices. Acceso the palate it is soft, persistent and never excessively bitter, a quality that makes it a perfect digestive and a consistent with a gastronomic journey deeply rooted the Apulian territory.

Urban brings a fragment of Bari’s gastronomic culture to Milan, demonstrating how an apparently simple recipe can be transformed into a story, experience and destination. Quanto a a visuale which many venues are chasing ever more extensive menus, Assassineria Urbana chooses the opposite path: building a strong identity around a single preparation. It is probably this radical coherence, even more than the crust of spaghetti, the real ingredient that transformed the assassin from a local specialty to a unique gastronomic phenomenon.

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