19TH CENTURY DINNER at VILLA ARCONATI
Saturday 17 May a journey through time, taste and “bel canto”

Fondazione Augusto Rancilio inaugurates a new line of cultural activities in which art, history, music and taste merge: it is a series of themed dinners, with menus designed specifically to ensure that diners are totally immersed in the atmospheres “of a time gone by”.

The first appointment will be Saturday 17 May 2025 with a 19th Century Dinner at Villa Arconati.

In the splendid Sala Rossa, diners will be able to enjoy the splendor of 19th century tables in a triumph of flavors expertly prepared with a menu that proposes dishes chosen from the recipe books of the great families of the time. The dinner will evoke the late 19th century in its setting and atmosphere, a lively era projected towards a future of great social, political and gastronomic innovations. Upon their arrival, after a welcome cocktail, the Guests will be accompanied on a guided walk that will take them to discover some of the most representative areas of the Villa, enjoying the live accompaniment of some of the most famous opera arias by the great Maestro Giuseppe Verdi and by one of the ancient "hosts" who will recall the customs and traditions of the end of the century.

THE EVENING PROGRAM
7:30 pm Welcome Cocktail in the Museum Room

followed by a guided walk through the most representative rooms of the Villa
accompanied by live Opera arias

8:00 pm Dinner in the Red Room with a 19th-century menu
and singing interludes of Verdi Arias

THE MENU
Welcome Aperitif
Crispy garden vegetables, canapés in bellavista, rustici emiliani, bubbles

Pantry Service
Homage to the Spring of Music
Cream of zucchini with mint
drops of robiola cheese from Roccaverano
nocciola gentile del Piemonte

First table service
Homage to the Milanese opera tradition
Carnaroli rice with Franciacorta, castelmagno, caramelized pears and toasted almond flakes

Second table service
Homage to the great 19th-century cuisine
Beef fillet with green pepper
Red potatoes sandy

or

Vegetable timbale with crispy Altamura bread with thyme and taleggio sauce
Red sandy potatoes

Dessert
Homage to Luisa Busca Arconati
Torta Gigia

White wine
Red wine
Still water
Sparkling water
Coffee

LUISA BUSCA ARCONATI and THE RED ROOM
The room chosen for this elegant 19th century dinner was not chosen by chance! The Red Room of Villa Arconati is, in fact, unique within the Villa. Its style is totally different from the Lombard baroque style that predominates throughout the rest of the building, because the room was built at the end of the 19th century: the Pompeian red walls, the larch wood paneling, the coffered ceiling with gilding and the neo-Renaissance decorations see the triumph of the elegant symbolist and decadent taste of the late 19th century. The reorganization and decoration of the room were commissioned towards the end of the 19th century by Countess Luisa Sormani Busca, then mistress of the house, who made it an elegant daytime lounge dedicated to games and leisure. The room was enriched by imposing gilded mirrors, large paintings, small sculptures, an infinite number of ornaments, sofas and chairs, and at the back there was a billiard table. The coats of arms of Luisa Busca Arconati Visconti and her husband Pietro Sormani are proudly displayed on the stucco overdoors and above the large fireplace in the room. The room was, in fact, modernized following their marriage in the summer of 1873. The decorative frieze on the upper part of the walls, which depicts a dance of small playful cherubs in bright colors, bears the date 1877 and the signature G. Campi: Giacomo Campi was an artist active in Milan from the 1870s, after having worked in the Vatican at the Roman College with the famous painter Francesco Podesti. Luisa Busca Arconati inherited the property in 1870 at the age of just 16. Her story, which began tragically, as she lost both her parents and her five little sisters at the age of 12, is closely linked to the Castellazzo because her uncle, the Marquis Antonio Busca – a great lover of the arts and a respected man of culture of the time – decided to leave the Villa di Castellazzo as an inheritance to her, who was its longest-lived owner: Luisa Busca was, in fact, the owner of the Castellazzo for 58 years, always demonstrating a great love for her Villa.

19TH CENTURY DINNER AT VILLA ARCONATI
Saturday, May 17, 2025 – 8:00 p.m.
Cost per person €85.00 – drinks included
(children from 2 to 7 years old €50.00)
Sala Rossa di Villa Arconati
Via Madonna Fametta 1, 20021 Bollate (MI)
LIMITED PLACES
RESERVATION REQUIRED by Sunday, May 11

For information and reservations:
info@fondazioneaugustorancilio.com
02.3502217