Ever since I saw the film ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’, I have been infatuated with Wes Anderson. His creativity is like no other I have ever seen. I appreciate how all the details fit together from color scheme, to casting, to every soundtrack. As soon as I found out that he designed a bar in Milan I was all over it. Bar Luce was everything I dreamed it would be. I was probably more excited about visiting it than anything else we explored in Milan.   Located next to the Prada Fondazione, it was quite the trek for us. There wasn’t a direct line on the bus or the tram for us to arrive there so we began the long hot walk into what seemed to be nowhere.  After about an hour of walking we arrived, covered in sweat and so thirsty.  We walked in and fell in love with the vintage apothecary look immediately.

 the counter at the wonderfully quirky Bar Luce in Milano

for a wider picture that gets in more of your background, use a clip on fish eye lens! you can find one here for $24! 

Once we found a table, we took in all the details that made Bar Luce so special. Pinball machines were designed after The Life Aquatic and the short film, Castello Cavalcanti, and the jukebox was filled with songs from all the classic films. The cases were full of delightfully colorful pastries and even the glassware was quirky.  There were so many tiny things working together to make the feeling of walking on set to any Wes Anderson film come alive and it was done perfectly.

the custom made pinball machines and juke box, even every spec of color on them was customized for this bar.

all the baked goods 

We decided to sit down for table service. After a long look through the menu, I decided on ordering the René, which was made with Espolón Tequila, St. Germain, cucumber, sugar, and lime. Served over ice, it was the perfect drink to have after the hour long walk we had taken to get here.  Christie tried the house Bloody Mary, which was a nice treat as it is hard to find one while living overseas, or a good Bloody Mary at least.  We sucked them down probably a bit faster than we intended but that was nothing new for us.

our Bloody Mary and René 

To our happy surprise, our server kept bringing us little plates of snacks which, had we spent more than a few days in Milan we would have realized were customery when you order a drink, but unbeknownst to us we were sure our server was just hooking us up. Feeling drained from the long walk and and enticed by all the drinks we didn’t intend to have but had nonetheless, we emptied those dishes like we hadn’t eaten in days.

the adorable and delicious snacks, menu and reserved for table service sign and even the tile worked together so well.

had to stop to take a picture in front of the gold wall as we slightly stumbled our way back out into the streets.

a well spent afternoon with a better hair day than most. 

As usual with Christie and I, we ended up spending more time and money than planned in Bar Luce but enjoyed every minute of it. The drinks were outstanding and on top of that affordable. They also offer aperitivo in the afternoon where small dishes come with the drinks if you are looking to save a few euros. Obviously you can go the other route and splurge here as well because its not very often you find a really good cocktail bar, and its pretty much never that you find a bar designed by Wes Anderson.

If you’re curious about our travels in Italy, you can read more about our adventures in Modena, Cinque Terre, and Rome.