The client and their mission
Experts in travel for over 80 years, Fodor’s Travel, an imprint of Internet Brands, provides highly curated, award-winning travel information through its popular website, guidebooks, eBooks, and mobile apps.
Using my extensive knowledge of Italy, I’m a contributor to Fodor’s Essential Italy and Florence and Tuscany guidebooks, updating more than half a dozen books (Fodor’s Travel publishes a total of 300 print and eBook guides) since 2019; I also write online-only articles.
Storytelling
Ultimate Guides
Fodor’s Ultimate Guides offer recommendations and advice from experts with strong relationships with a city and its history. This is an excerpt from my guide to Milan.
Everything you need to know before heading to Milan for the first time.
Tap your phone to a subway turnstile to whisk through neighborhoods, grab dim sum or pizza for lunch, and window-shop endlessly, whether your budget is Hermès or H&M. This is Milan, but it could also be Paris, or Madrid, or New York. After five years of living in Italy’s fashion and commercial capital, I know the spots that prove it’s the country’s modern cosmopolitan city, but also show it’s still Milanese. Places to eat risotto, to see buildings festooned by the city’s Belle Époque past, or to browse decades of Italian design icons. While Milan’s Italianness doesn’t hit with postcard-perfect skylines or towering marble statues like some cities do, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there; you just need to know where to go and what to do.
These are my tips for experiencing the best of Milan: from the top things to do to the best places to eat (plus a few things you should avoid).
Storytelling
Editing
Essential Italy Guidebooks
From a lakefront villa that was named the number one hotel in the world to a shop selling just-made sandwiches by the meter, my updates for Fodor’s guidebooks include fact-checking and researching the places that travelers don’t want to miss. Miles of walking, copious note-taking, and deciphering handwritten menus are all part of the job. Here’s one entry I wrote for a gelato shop that caught my attention with its unusual vibe.
Eta Beta
Matteo Mutti’s gelato flavors have personality—like cheesecake with red pepper, rosemary, and pineapple, which might sound strange, but leaves a delightful impression on your taste buds. Other standouts are “Anni ’90,” inspired by Mutti’s favorite tastes of the ’90s—sour cherry and chocolate chip—and “Disaronno,” swirled with a Lombardy liquor that is infused from apricot pits. The classics like pistachio and vanilla are also represented along with a selection of gelato popsicles, cakes, and sundaes in cups, cones, or brioche bread, to add even more flavor combinations. Mutti—who is also the inspiration for the gelateria’s logo—is often behind the counter serving up his inventive creations. There are a few small tables, or better, enjoy your gelato while exploring Riva.