T’s Wellness Guide to Milan

In Italian, “wellness” is pronounced in its untranslated English form, and generally met with a skeptical eye-roll — it’s an imported concept, and not a widely appreciated one in a nation that considers its own much-admired Mediterranean diet to be unbeatable. Yet while Italian ideas of good eating — rigid meal times, seasonal produce, high-quality olive oil, sweets for breakfast — are holding firm, Milan prides itself on being the country’s most internationally cosmopolitan city, and American health food trends are starting to creep in here, due largely to the burgeoning ambition to be a little more newyorkése, and the appealingly modern stylings of restaurants like Soulgreen and Plato. Sports and spas, on the other hand, have had their place in the culture since Roman times; today there’s no shortage of studios offering yoga and more, and spending hours pampering one’s face and body remains vital — only the products have changed. Read on for the city’s best places for health, beauty and serenity.

Eat

Soulgreen

Just east of Corso Como, Soulgreen serves up a plant-based, mostly vegan menu of soups, salads and heartier bowls that run the gamut of global cuisines, alongside juices, cocktails with fresh-pressed mixers, and biodynamic wines. The airy, greenery-filled space occupies a former bank, and keeps service running from breakfast through aperitivo and dinner. Piazzale Principessa Clotilde; soulgreen.com

God Save the Food

An institution in Milan since it opened in 2011, GSTF was the first Milanese restaurant to emulate New York cafes with contemporary interior design and all-day food service. (Rigid meal times, arrivederci, for better or worse.) The four eminently sleek locations across the city serve American plates, both healthy and not — from superfood salads and juices to pancakes and bacon cheeseburgers. Dining rooms are humming at all hours, yet this is one of the few spots in town where whipping out your laptop to work is permissible. The Carmine location offers outdoor seating in one of Milan’s loveliest piazzas. Via Tortona 34; Piazza del Carmine 1; Viale Piave 18; Rinascente Piazza del Duomo; godsavethefood.it

Forno Collettivo

In Italy, bread is not unhealthy, it’s life — as long as it’s very good. Forno Collettivo is reviving the tradition of great bread in Milan (previously shouldered mainly by the bakery Panificio Davide Longoni). Its bakery and restaurant serve organic, sourdough loaves made from a mixture of heritage and classic grains, alongside an impressive list of natural wines, beers and ciders, and a fresh, vegetable-driven menu of Mediterranean-inspired plates — from Italy, but also the Middle East and North Africa. This is the latest high-style locale from the founders of Milan’s swank Botanical Club, who brought a small revolution to the city in 2017 when they opened Champagne Socialist, their emphatically hip bar that introduced many locals to natural wines. Via Lecco 15; facebook.com/fornocollettivo

Bebop

No one should have to skip the pleasure of pizza in Italy, but if the esteemed traditional pies at the two outposts of the stylish pizzeria Dry are too indulgent for you, Bebop offers alternatives to suit every regimen, with gluten-free and unleavened kamut pizza, and classic recipes served on organic dough. In the warmer months, the wood-lined restaurant near Porta Ticinese expands with a handful of tables in its petite covered courtyard. Viale Col di Lana 4; bebopristorante.it

Plato

A modish, blue-toned restaurant designed by CLS Architects, Plato serves a menu filled with superfoods — berries, seeds, seaweed, beets and more — in a setting adorned with blown-up versions of Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s classic 19th-century architectural etchings. The inventive kitchen brings powerful ingredients to a run of Italian dishes — spirulina tortelli, moringa tagliatelle — and serves a comprehensive list of mocktails and naturally flavored waters, plus cocktails and natural wines. Via Cesare Battisti 6; platomilano.com

Radicetonda

In a country where saying you don’t eat meat can occasionally produce proposals of chicken or even pork from confounded waiters, Radicetonda is a sure bet for a 100-percent vegan menu of market-driven daily specials, plus street food mainstays like its popular veggie burger and club sandwich, all made with certified organic ingredients. The two locations — in Porta Venezia and Corso Lodi — are perfect for healthy takeout and casual lunches. Via Lazzaro Spallanzani 16; Piazza Buozzi Bruno 5; radicetonda.it

Tipografia Alimentare

Out of the way, but all the better for it, this cozy bistro faces Milan’s Martesana canal, a calmer, greener corner of this gray city. Conceived by a couple of Slow Food university graduates, it serves 100 types of natural, artisanal wines alongside plates featuring organic goods from the best small producers in Italy — one of the founders is the restaurant’s “food scouter.” The peaceful, light-filled rooms are filled with vintage letterpress furniture, where customers dally and read the daily papers and a library of food books. Via Dolomiti 1; tipografiaalimentare.it

Do

City Zen

Located near the University of Bocconi, Milan’s chicest yoga spot offers classes in a wide range of practice styles (including vinyasa, ashtanga and hatha) as well as Pilates, meditation and healing arts. Giant windows, minimalist design and a good dose of plants render the rooms in this vast former factory undeniably beautiful, and it’s a feel-good place to practice: The founder Carol Brumer invests proceeds into the Francesca Rava Foundation, which benefits disadvantaged children worldwide. Via San Francesco D’Assisi 15; cityzen.it

Hohm Street Yoga

A favorite among practitioners of meditative yin yoga, this pared-down studio near Repubblica also offers vinyasa, prenatal and beginners yoga, and ayurveda instruction. Classes fit the work schedule, with early-morning, afternoon and evening sessions, plus extended 90-minute weekend courses. Weekly slots with the founder Marco Migliavacca are especially beloved among Milan’s yogis. Viale Tunisia 38; hohmstreetyoga.com

Möt Studios

Inside a ’40s-era former lamp factory near Porta Garibaldi, Möt provides daily, pay-as-you-go barre, Pilates, TRX and yoga classes in small group formats or one-on-one sessions. The studio has a decidedly upscale bent — rooms are luminous and carefully designed, the locker room is stocked with natural products by Cowshed, and the studio has been designated to provide classes for Milan’s new Soho House, which will open in 2020. Viale Francesco Crispi 3; motstudios.it

Ceresio7

Perhaps the most Milanese of gyms, Ceresio7 was designed by the design studio Storage to pay homage to the sharp rationalist architecture of this monolithic ’30s-era building that once housed the national energy company and is now the headquarters of the DSquared brand. Besides personalized trainers and a flashy, gold-walled workout zone, the gym has an on-site spa, providing facials with Biologique Recherche products, located just downstairs from the equally stylized Ceresio7 restaurant and rooftop pool. Via Ceresio 7; ceresio7gym-spa.com

Bahama Mama

Named after the vacation-redolent cocktail, Bahama Mama uses nontoxic Smith & Cult nail polish alongside natural scrubs and treatments by brands such as Mansard and Dr. Vranjes as part of its manicures and pedicures. In a city where nail care studios are still a rarity, this is the one place that meets even a New Yorker’s demanding manicure standards. Viale Col di Lana 1; bahamamama.it

Palazzo Parigi

Inside the Palazzo Parigi hotel’s grand villa, this spacious, sunny spa has a strong Moroccan escape vibe; the luxurious pool is flanked by Moorish doors, treatments include ghassoul masks and savon noir rubdowns, and a pink marble hammam room is available for private sessions. For extra self-care after the spa, unwind with a tea in the hotel’s garden. Corso di Porta Nuova 1; palazzoparigi.com

Bulgari Hotel

An urban refuge tucked away on a quiet street in Brera, the Bulgari Hotel and its gleaming bar are a favorite destination for fashionable travelers, and the spa here is suitably glamorous, with a gold-tiled pool plus an outdoor hot tub that faces the lush garden — cultivated for centuries by monks and now the site of a buzzy aperitivo scene when the weather is agreeable. Most treatments use La Mer products; one very Bulgari facial massages the skin with precious stones. Via Privata Fratelli Gabba 7b; bulgarihotels.com

Davide Diodovich

This converted apartment in Milan’s western end is where Italy’s fashion set (including Margherita Missoni, JJ Martin and Mariacarla Boscono) heads for haircuts and holistic facials using Biologique Recherche products and an intensive massage technique invented by on-site legend Andre Malbert, the former makeup artist to Grace Kelly. For maximum tranquillity, cuts and treatments are administered in welcoming private boudoirs. Via Aurelio Saffi 25; davidediodovich.it

QC Terme

Occupying a sprawling Art Nouveau-era tram depot in Porta Romana, this spa gets jammed during peak times, but off-hour visitors to the former terminal can relax in the most extensive facilities in the city, including two outdoor pools surrounded by the 16th-century walls of the city. The aperitivo special includes flutes of prosecco and healthy snacks for berobed bathers. Piazzale Medaglie D’Oro 2; qcterme.com

Giselle Bridger

Offering more esoteric services than the city’s other wellness practitioners, Ibiza local Giselle Bridger spends part of each month in Milan, where she offers music-focused, meditative yoga at Mondo Yoga near Corso Indipendenza, as well as private studio sessions of cranial sacral therapy, sacred body rites (an anointing technique), aromatherapy and herbal cure consultations, plus workshops in ovarian breathing (a breathing technique which directs mental energy toward cleansing the reproductive system) and other arts of women’s healing. lunariainstitute.org

Shop

Centro Botanico

What started as Italy’s first natural food store in 1975 is still the city’s best source for organic and biodynamic food, herbs and products. Centro Botanico has a pharmacist, who is on hand to help with homeopathy and natural cures, and a beauty specialist gives tips on Mondays and Fridays. Piazza San Marco 1; centrobotanico.org

The Beautyholic’s Shop at Coin Cinque Giornate

The laboratory-like Milanese outpost of this Roman beauty shop, located inside a Coin department store, finally brings to Italy the natural beauty brands making waves elsewhere, offering organic makeup and skin-care products by Tata Harper, Vintner’s Daughter, Susanne Kaufmann and Kjaer Weis. Piazza Cinque Giornate 1/A; beautyaholicshop.com

Bioexpress

Italy’s northernmost region, South Tyrol, is a bucolic stretch of pristine mountains, and with this service, available either as a subscription or one-time delivery, you can order organic fruits and vegetables from the area’s farms right to your door. Most of the produce is grown by a group of local farmers that banded together to establish Bioexpress; goods hailing from warmer climes come from their network of organic producers. bioexpress.it

Cascina Cuccagna

This former farmhouse near Porta Romana is now the site of a restaurant, bar, hostel and bicycle repair shop, as well as Milan’s best weekly market for locally grown organic and small-production goods. Held in the farmhouse’s courtyard every Tuesday from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., the market sells fruits, vegetables, honey, wine, cheese and meats from the farmland in Milan’s outskirts — all available directly from the producers. Via Muratori 2/4; cuccagna.org

Fueguia

This Argentine perfume line, which will open its second New York location May 1, has an intimate drawing room-style boutique near Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. The brand sources unusual natural ingredients from the wilds of Patagonia — many of them employed for the first time in perfumery — to create intriguingly complex as well as single-note scents that are free of chemicals and available with squalene instead of alcohol (a potential irritant). Perfumes are produced in limited editions at the brand’s laboratory in Milan, where every detail is overseen by the founder Julian Bedel to ensure the fragrances are both distinctive and sustainable. Via Tommaso Grossi 1; fueguia.com

Run

Running routes in Milan, recommended by the Milan-based track and field athlete, and Nike brand ambassador, Najla Aqdeir.

Parco Sempione

This easy route in the center of Milan is a favorite among the city’s runners. A lovely green island in the middle of the buzzing fashion capital, Parco Sempione is the best place to go running during lunchtime. From its entrance at Via Byron, there is an external path of about two miles that you can follow, or you can choose your own path along the park’s many trails. See a 10K route.

Navigli

This route follows Milan’s famous canal, the Naviglio Grande, starting at the newly renovated Darsena (Milan’s former dock area) and moving into a greener area once you reach the Canottieri Milano, the city’s famous swimming and rowing club. This route is perfect for someone looking for a middle-distance run. See a 15K route.

Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli

A verdant park in the center of Milan, Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli has a running route of about 1 mile. It is one of the oldest public gardens in Milan and ideal for runners for its number of internal paths — plus, it’s located near a number of Milan’s most famous sites. See a 5K route.

Parco Nord Milano

A huge green park on the northwest side of the city, Parco Nord is easily reachable by the metro’s new purple line. Only a few minutes away from Milan Central Station, it covers an immense area and is perfect for longer trail runs with routes of 3 or 6 miles.