Exploring the flavours of lake Garda and Garda Trentino…
If you have been reading my blog or following me on my social media for a while, you’d know that I spent a wonderful time in Italy this summer. It was honestly one of my best vacations ever! And the highlight of our Italy trip was spending a few days in Lake Garda, more specifically in Garda Trentino; a piece of heaven on earth.
We have visited so many amazing restaurants, fell in love with the wine, and have done some foodie activities that I will be talking about in this post. If you are planning to visit Lake Garda, then you definitely need to read this post and the other post that I’ve recently written about visiting Garda Trentino.
Il Re Della Busa
A gorgeous candle lit fine dining restaurant located at Lido Palace. Lido Palace is a luxurious hotel in Garda Trentino that only contains suites, and no regular rooms. Food is prepared by the exceptional chef Giuseppe Sestito, where he combines beautiful flavours to create outstanding dishes while you enjoy the food with live music and a relaxing atmosphere. Definitely a great date night spot. The menu is inspired by the lake and all of the fish is sustainably sourced locally from lake Garda itself.
The service at this restaurant was outstanding, we were really impressed as the chef came and explained every dish to us, what really inspired him and how it was prepared. It was honestly one of the best dinners that we had in Italy, a night that we always remember.
After dinner, we moved to the terrace area to enjoy some live music with a glass of wine. The singer played the piano and sang modern songs that we know and love. I cannot recommend this restaurant enough, and I will definitely visit again next time I’m in Garda Trentino.
Il Ritratto
No words that can describe how lovely this restaurant is. It’s a family run restaurant owned by an award winning Chef Aldo, his beautiful daughter works with him as a waitress and his brother is also a chef that cooks in the restaurant. Can you imagine how much love and effort goes into running a business like this? I have a thing for family owned businesses, and this was really showed the effect of seeing the owner take care of his own business.
This absolutely stunning restaurant is located in the heart of Arco. The ingredients are locally sourced, are brought to the restaurant on a daily basis and everything that they cook with is fresh. You will be surprised, but there isn’t even a freezer in the restaurant’s kitchen. As we were allowed in the kitchen and even learned how to cook a local recipe, we got to see how everything is done and the high standards that they follow. There is a small seating area outside, and another inside. The restaurant inside consists of 2 floors and can accommodate a good number of guests. After a 3 course meal, we were asked what was our favourite thing that we have eaten. I honestly couldn’t answer that question, because that’s what happens when you seriously enjoy every single dish that you eat.
The wines that we had in this restaurant were exceptional, we tried 5 different kinds of wine. But my favourite was what had for dessert. As we were treated to a glass of Vino Santo; definitely the best wine that I have ever tasted in my entire life. We were told that this wine is really special to the area, and was made during the ‘holy week’ every year. Vino Santo is also known to be served during special ocassions. However, every wine that we have tasted in Garda Trentino was excellent, and we came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as bad wine in Garda Trentino!
Ristorante La Berlera
A very interesting restaurant that looks like a cave as it’s built inside natural rocks. A one of a kind, and not similar to anything that I’ve seen before. This restaurant is run by a Latin American wife and an Italian husband who is actually A michelin star chef. The dishes are also exceptional, inspired by the local cuisine of Garda Trentino but with a modern twist as they managed to come up with something distinctive.
If you visit this restaurant then I would highly recommend the veg and herbs tempura, as it was out of this world. But everything else we have tried was truly delicious and interesting. It’s also definitely a good place to try Carne salada del Trentino; a local to the area beef dish that you must try when you visit.
The ambiance of the restaurant is very relaxed, yet sophisticated. The staff were very attentive, and this restaurant will definitely not disappoint you.
Ristorante La Terrazza
After a stroll around the lake, we had lunch at an excellent restaurant called La Terrazza. It’s a lovely small fish restaurant that offers a great choice of fish dishes from the lake, and nice wine. With beautiful views overlooking the lake, we got to try at least 8 types of fish dishes and none of them disappoint us. We had a glorious platter with 6 differently cooked fish, my favourite was the fried fish balls. We also had the most amazing fettuccine truffle pasta that we still talk about until this day.
It’s such a lovely spot to have good food, relax and enjoy the views of the lake. We thought that it was not only beautiful, but also peaceful and a great place to have a chat over some great food and wine.
Azienda Agricola Fratelli Pisoni
Because wine is such a big deal in Lake Garda Region, you won’t want to miss a wine tour and learn more about wine making in the area. Garda Trentino is the home of Vino Santo, that translates into the holy wine. Trust me, when you try the wine it’s going to be love from the first sip. I have never ever in my life tasted such delicious wine. Sweet but very sophisticated. We made sure that we had Vino Santo every single day during our stay in Garda Trentino, and of course we did not leave Garda Trentino without a bottle to take home with us!
We went on a wine making tour at Azienda Agricola Pisoni to see how regional wines were produced at a local winery. This winery produces white and red wines using the biodynamic farming methods. The process of wine making itself fascinates me, and it was our first experience to actually go into a winery and learn about the steps and the process. Some wines at this winery take up to 30 years to be ready to be sold, while other wines are sold as young wines and are enjoyed fresh.
We really loved the wine tasting part, as we got to taste 5 different wines that were made at the winery. And we started from the youngest to the oldest wine finishing the wine tasting experience with a glass of Vino Santo. The wines were very impressive, and reflected the true colours of real Italian wine.
We also visited the vineyards, and you could clearly see the care that is put in the vineyards and what really went into the delicious wines that we have tasted during our tour. If you visit Lake Garda and you’re passionate about wine, then this is an activity that cannot be missed!
During the month of November, there will be 3 very special days in Garda Trentino as they are launching an Garda con Gusto Gourmet event, read more about it.
Disclosure: We were guests of Garda Trentino Tourism Board. All opinions are our own.