Tag: trip

Trip out of town to Laveno Mombello on Lake Maggiore – Italian Cuisine

By cable car you get so high that you can see the Madonnina, go to the discovery of fortresses and hermitages or sit at the table, listening to the sound of the waves. What to do and where to eat (at Hotel Al Porticciolo) one hour from Milan

Birthplace of two symbols of Italy, Renato Pozzetto and Richard Ginori, today Laveno it has lost the reputation of "city of ceramics" to become the destination of a trip out of town for the Lombards. The location is strategic: just over an hour's drive from Milan and with a landing stage in the city center from which continuous ferries ply the lake to Verbania on the other side and the Borromean islands.

Where to eat: the star with the menu for 35 euros

Like many towns on the lake, the tourist venues mix with those for the citizens (which have nothing special in the eyes of those who come from outside in search of typical dishes and good food), but in Laveno there is a place that combines excellent value for money and starry cuisine.
Sitting with the water a few steps away, hearing the sound of the waves, enjoying the coolness of the lake is one of the reasons that made the restaurant The table of the Hotel Il Porticciolo the favorite place to stop to eat in the area. Perched on the rock between the hills and the lake, the terrace where you can eat in the summer is covered and so close to the water that you are literally on it: a wonderful location. A fortune, and at the same time the cross of those who, in addition to the sight, want to offer refined cuisine, quality raw materials and adequate service. Those who come for the view return for the kitchen; often docking right at the marina from which the hotel takes its name.
There Bassetti family manages this hotel with love and professionalism, so much so that in 2017 it deserves a Michelin star. In the kitchen at the time there were only Roberto, born in 1982, and his father Giovanni, who together with his mother Elisabetta are divided between the living room and the kitchen. Son of art, a degree in Tourism Sciences at the Iulm University of Milan, he left for the kitchens of Davide Oldani first, of the Four Seasons in Milan, and then ended up in France at the Atelier de Joel Robuchon, 2 Michelin stars in Paris and then by Yannick Allenò and at the Mandarin Oriental Palace always in Paris. In 2012 he returned home bringing with him a good wealth of experiences, to be declined in the family restaurant. Not an easy challenge when you glide over the grandeur of French cuisine and you have to deal with it lake fish (but not just that) and international tourists. Two restaurants, The Osteria where to have lunch or dinner a full menu at 35 euros choosing from dishes such as fried prawns, ginger and paprika mayonnaise, wild herb oil; a classic such as Tagliolini with fine herbs and brandy prawns or a lavender fillet cooked on one side, sweet and sour sauce, spinach and champignons. The table instead, always overlooking the terrace, offers a research cuisine. As good and delicious as a cocktail of eighties prawns, its Sicilian red prawn crudo, shellfish paper and romesco sauce is super technical, for a comforting result: tartare shrimp body, fried head and legs, a shellfish card made drying a broth of scraps. A concentrate of flavor. Spicy iodine spaghetti, dill oil, horseradish snow or At sunset: lamb, green apple and pepper lacquer. After lunch, or for guests, you can rent the hotel motorboat to discover the lake or you can ask for one of the two pedal boats with which to ply the water under the sun, enjoying the natural beauty.

What to see: by cable car or along the lake

In Laveno, life flows by the lake, along via Labiena, full of shops, and around Piazza Fontana, the heart of the historic center, bordered by old railing houses, Art Nouveau buildings, gardens and the beautiful Villa Frua, now home to the town hall and the library. A few steps away, the Perabò Palace in Cerro preserves the portico in a beautiful cloister Civic Earthenware Collection, but for those who want to fill their eyes with beauty, the best way is the one towards heaven.
From the center of Laveno you start by cable car, better to say by cable car up to 1100 meters, almost on top of the top of the mount Sasso del Ferror. Return ticket for 10 euros, close in the small open or closed cabin, in 10 minutes you get to enjoy a grandiose and enchanting panorama of Lake Maggiore, the Alps, the Prealps, the Lombard lakes and the Po Valley. You can see everything: from the Duomo of Milan to Lake Mergozzo, passing through the Varesini Lakes, the Sacro Monte and Lake Maggiore with the Borromean islands. You sit for an aperitif, a lunch at the bar or restaurant with a panoramic view, you relax on the lawn and you can even stay overnight; however, from 7.30 p.m. you don't go down to the valley until the next morning. On weekends, hang gliding enthusiasts launch themselves from here to glide towards the ground.

Outside Porta Laveno

Ten minutes by car, in the historic center of Casalzuigno, thanks to FAI you can visit (with extraordinary openings to be verified) the sixteenth century Villa Della Porta Bozzolo. Always ten minutes away by car, theHermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso Ballaro di Leggiuno, a monastic complex overlooking one of the deepest points of the lake. In the fourteenth century it was inhabited by a community of Augustinian monks, then it changed hands for several orders until today it became a Benedictine community. Since 1970 the hermitage has been owned by the Province of Varese which, in recent years, has been bringing it back to its former glory as well as making it accessible to all visitors with an elevator hidden in the rock. The staircase of two hundred steps instead allows you to take a walk to a panoramic point overlooking the hermitage, on a terrace overlooking the lake; pity that Covid-19 is inexplicably closed to the public in favor of the lift only (for a fee). On the road to Milan, in Angera, there is instead the Rocca, part of the Borromeo route. You enter the medieval garden, walk through the rooms of the Doll and Toy Museum and then you reach the historic rooms with fourteenth century frescoes; and a deadly view, which was why this strategic position had been chosen for the construction of the fortress.

Typical products

Between the provinces of Milan and Varese, in Laveno both pork and savoy cassoeula and bruscitt (minced beef and horse meat) are typical – in addition to lake fish. At home you can instead bring back typical products such as Formaggella del Luinese, a semi-hard matured cheese, made with 100% goat's whole and raw milk, Salame Prealpino Varesino and Varesino Honey, produced by a consortium of 36 producers of the territory.

Browse the gallery

ten (very large) clubs that immediately deserve the trip – Italian Cuisine

The rankings are important, but not necessarily have to be followed instead. From the last The World's 50 Best Restaurants we have chosen those restaurants that have a touch more than the others, although they are all valid. To book now, be patient …

To have time – and budget of course – it would be wonderful to shoot all the 120 restaurants named in the one season The World’s 50 Best Restaurants: it is not impossible, but definitely complicated. Among the experts, the British critic Andy Hayler is mentioned, who on five occasions managed to visit all three Michelin stars, which are more or less 110. But it is another championship, considering that 75% of the twisted is found in France, Italy, Japan and the United States of America. This year, at the awarding of Singapore, 25 nations were represented: a record that certifies the internationality of The World's 50 Best Restaurants and the fact that one can eat (very) well in countries once cut off from gourmet routes such as Turkey, India or Brazil . So for those who want to do the exploit, they are lurking thousands of miles.

Unique experiences

Obviously our selection is very personal and easily reversible. We have left out scientifically the restaurants that The World's 50 Best Restaurants has placed in a kind of Hall of Fame – creating many discussions – of winners of the past. No longer votable even if their restaurants are at the top, as is the case of Can Roca in Girona and Osteria Francescana in Modena (here: even if you are ready to wait a year, it is an unmissable journey). We have focused on places that are doing great cooking in this precise season, just like the others in the ranking, but with that extra touch that conquers or with new ideas. Expensive seats, but not necessarily very expensive. Exclusive in the sense that they should be lived peacefully, but conscious that they are not the norm, from the location to the cellar. Book now, have a lot of patience – since they are full months away – and have fun.

Mirazur-Menton

A jewel in the countryside, 200 meters from the border between Italy and France. A light and seasonal cuisine that Colagreco explains «takes the best from the sea, from the mountains and from the garden which in the last case is represented by the large interior gardens. The technique of the dishes is the daughter of her transalpine masters, the decidedly Mediterranean taste also because the strengths of the brigade are very Italian.

Noma 2.0 – Copenhagen

The last of the creatives, René Redzepi, is the second chapter of his story. More than ever Nordic, starting from the local that is a Danish farm, obviously of pure design. Only three menus in a year, twenty courses: fish in winter, vegetarian in summer, forest (also with game) in autumn. The signature dish of the new course? Trout eggs marinated in katsuobushi on a marinated egg gel. In comparison, Colagreco is a conservative.

Lido 84 – Gardone Riviera

From the first personal adventure to the top 100 in five years. Story from film that of Riccardo Camanini, weaned by Marchesi and past for the French school: pure talent, crazy application, ideas with continuous jet. In his small and suggestive local on the Garda there is a unique vision in Italy and it is not just great cooking.

Extebarru – Axtondo (Spain)

How to become the third restaurant on the planet cooking everything on the grill? And if that weren't enough, in a stone cottage near Bilabo? It takes a asador ingenious as the Basque Victor Arguinzoniz: every food, every dish – including desserts – undergoes at least one passage on the most famous grills of world cuisine.

Le Calandre – Rubano

The parent company of the Alajmo family is one bonbonniere on the Padana Superiore state road. Two tasting menus at the highest level, which express all the talent of Massimiliano Alajmo, with iconic dishes like the recent Cappuccino Murrina and Illusion, sweet with twenty variations on chocolate

Disfrutar – Barcelona

Three good guys of Ferran Adrià who have put to good use the teaching of the Catalan guru. A summit climb, very fast, naturally focusing on creativity, with a 30-course tapas style menu. Even more surprising considering the basic style restaurant. Unmissable place for the orphans of El Bulli.

Piazza Duomo – Alba

The top landing of an area with very high quality food and wine like the Langa. At the helm of the restaurant is Enrico Crippa, one of Marchesi's most illustrious students, with an exceptional hand on the vegetable. Take advantage of the two most famous greenhouses in our kitchen to create masterpieces such as Salad 21, 31, 41 … which in May is composed of a hundred varieties including flowers, herbs and vegetables.

Arpege – Paris

It deserves the trip because, beyond the ranking, it is the best French restaurant: Alain Passard is a true artist, particularly on the vegetable. Three Michelin stars since 1996, it was the first – five years later – to abolish meat and fish from its menu and then reintroduce them in small doses. Dishes that look like paintings, of a lightness often unknown to the transalpine cuisine.

Pujol – Mexico City

The top in North America. Thanks to the chef-patron Enrique Oliveira, the first to make Mexican haute cuisine, extolling the tradition: one of his signature dishes is the Mole Madre, Mole Nuevo or rather a game on the typical Puebla sauce, the basis of Aztec cuisine. He also runs Cosme in New York, led by Daniela Soto-Innes, the best cook in the world for 2019.

Central- Lima

It is the best restaurant in South America and remains cover of modern Peruvian cuisine, which is among the most complete in the world. The soul is Virgilio Martinez, a formidable researcher of local products: his tasting interprets the Pacific Ocean fish in 17 courses like the herbs growing on top of the Andes.

Everyone on a trip, but with the right sandwich – Italian Cuisine

At the lake, at the sea, in the mountains or in the countryside. Dreaming of a trip out of town is legitimate more than ever in these spring days and you will smile at the thought that when we talk about trips, the first thing we at La Cucina Italiana think about is: what do we eat?
And if sometimes the gastronomic itinerary is well delineated between one trattoria and another, in other cases what is needed is a bit of organization. And this is where we talk about one of our favorite packed lunches: the sandwich!
Greedy, simple, easy to carry and always good is the perfect idea to avoid searching for lunch at the last minute or to settle for proposals from the kiosks that are on the street. But since we want to treat it like a real lunch, let's review the basic rules to make it succulent at the right point:

The bread

The basic ingredient is often underestimated. Instead it is very important: it must be fresh, crunchy and it is important to buy it the day before our excursion. Secondly it is important to choose it based on the ingredients we will use for the filling. To avoid mistakes, orient yourself on a classic bread like ciabatta. If you like very soft rolls, opt for oil rolls.

The portions

When you move, you want to eat. To create fun breaks, find the right excuse to take a break or even because being outdoors puts a healthy appetite. Then play ahead and pay a portion for each participant on the trip. Unluckily, you will bring what remains at home.

The balance

When preparing a small hand you run the risk of eating something dry or excessively soaked. So it is important to balance the ingredients by playing with the different textures and treating them with cunning. mozzarella for example, which tends to release a lot of water, must be cut and drained in advance to prevent it from wetting the bread with its milk. In the same way you will treat the tomatoes.

The sauces

Sauces yes or no sauces? Let's say they are mandatory when the stuffing is not rich or moist enough. To avoid the fast food effect, however, we advise spreading just a veil on the top and inside!