Iyo Aalto — Milan, Italy

As the city of Milan swells year by year, so too does its increasingly cosmopolitan restaurant scene, with Japanese restaurants — from homespun cafes, to buzzy noodle bars and high-end sushi — leading the pack both in number and quality. The indisputable champion among them? Michelin-starred Iyo, which has been so successful, its creator Claudio Liu, has opened a second outpost in Porta Nuova, the city's budding business centre.
Local architect Maurizio Lai has conceived a no-expensed-spared interior. Together with Poliform Contract, furniture and fittings are custom-made from a sleek palette of Canaletto walnut, Grigioverde Porphyry stone and brass. Cut roughly, the grey-green stone adds a grainy texture to the walls, which are punctuated with vertical slits to soften the stone’s intensity and introduce light. Lai then devised a monumental installation comprised of staggered layers of smoked, backlit glass to mark the entranceway, a motif that is carried through to the dining room in the form of a suspended grid of similarly illuminated panes. 'We used natural materials throughout to imbue the space with a welcoming, home-like feeling,' Lai explains of the concept, which occupies the ground floor of a newly-constructed skyscraper.
Organised into two separate rooms, guests can choose between an eight-seater sushi counter or the 38-cover dining room, which serves an eclectic menu of Japanese bistro fare punched-up with European influences and ingredients. Offerings include dishes like seared tuna with wasabi and pak choi; eel, foie gras and kumquat; and Iberian pork with shallots and chingensai. This, along with a 1600-bottle wall-mounted wine cellar, designed to appease the strict Michelin standards, we suspect the stars will again be falling on Milan sometime soon.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Piazza Alvar Aalto, 20124 Milano MI
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Laura May Todd, Wallpaper's Milan Editor, based in the city, is a Canadian-born journalist covering design, architecture and style. She regularly contributes to a range of international publications, including T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, Azure and Sight Unseen, and is about to publish a book on Italian interiors.
-
Willy Chavarria: ‘We’re still so stuck in fashion‘s old guard’
As part of the August 2025 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper*, we invited three creative powerhouses to comment on the state of the States. Here, award-winning American fashion designer Willy Chavarria speaks on creative resilience, uniting with activist groups, and shaking up fashion’s old guard
-
Six Indian artists reframe the ladies compartment of a Mumbai local train
An exhibition by Method (India) at Galerie Melike Bilir in Hamburg explores a gendered space
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s The Fountainhead – a shining example of Usonian design – is now on the market
This quintessential Wright home – built in a vibrant mid-century neighbourhood – was named after a novel inspired by the architect
-
Il Sereno’s new Listening Suite is what phonophiles’ dreams are made of
Designed by Patricia Urquiola and Il Sereno founder and audiophile Luis Contreras, the new Lake Como-facing suite unites Japanese listening culture with Italian design
-
Inside Belmond’s most exclusive holiday villa yet, a lavish Ligurian palazzo
Once the theatre of lavish parties, Villa Beatrice is now a palatial haven of seclusion with easy access to Portofino’s Splendido, a Belmond hotel
-
The most stylish hotel takeovers to pop up at this summer
From Capri to Ibiza, luxury fashion brands are taking over seaside resorts with exclusive boutique pop-ups and bespoke poolside accessories
-
Detour Discotheque is bringing ‘the world’s dreamiest party’ to Puglia
The pop-up event, La Dolce Vita Disco, promises dancing, good food and sunshine in a 16th-century Italian farmhouse
-
Tune into the rhythm of Tokyo’s most ambitious record shop
Vinyl Delivery Service in east Tokyo’s Skwat Kameari Art Centre is spinning a new narrative for the traditional record store model
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Waldorf Astoria Osaka
‘It’s rare to work on a brand new hotel of this scale in Japan in today’s landscape,’ says designer Andre Fu about Osaka’s newest luxury hotel. Wallpaper* paid it an early visit
-
Five tranquil suites by Patricia Urquiola suspend visitors ‘between sea and sky’ in Capri
Patricia Urquiola dreams up a study in contrast and tradition for the next chapter of Jumeirah Capri Palace
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Rosewood Miyakojima: ‘Japan, but not as most people know it’
Rosewood Miyakojima offers a smooth balance of intuitive Japanese ‘omotenashi’ fused with Rosewood’s luxury edge