Giardinetto
After a full day around Lake Como, we drove all the way back to Lake Orta for dinner at Giardinetto in Pettenasco, a Michelin Guide restaurant overlooking the lake. By then, we were tired, hungry and probably not fully prepared for what was coming.
Dinner was a seven course degustation menu by Chef Simone Gamba, with wine pairing. Before the proper courses even started, the bread service arrived like a course of its own. Brioche, sourdough, breadsticks and more, beautifully presented and dangerously easy to keep eating. I have a weakness for good bread, so this was already bad news for my stomach.
The menu started with marinated trout with dill, bottarga and green apple sorbet. Fresh, clean and nicely balanced, this was one of my favourites of the evening.
Next came beef tongue with cuttlefish, parsley and sweet pepper. Beef tongue is not always something I would naturally order, but this was beautifully handled and another dish I enjoyed more than expected.
There was also fusillone with white garlic, black garlic, smoked eel and parsley bread, followed by eggplant Parmigiana. Both were more intense and comforting, especially after the lighter opening courses.
The lamb came in two preparations with beetroot, horseradish mousse and potato croquette. This was probably my favourite savoury course of the night. Rich, tender and satisfying without being too heavy.
Cheese followed, with Gorgonzola and Mottarone cheese, before dessert of sea buckthorn, olives and white chocolate.
By this point, the wine pairing, seven courses and our enthusiastic attack on the bread had completely defeated us. We were so full that we ended up being the last table to leave.
A long dinner after a long day, but a memorable way to close our stay around Lake Orta.
