Lazzaro 1915

The story

Lazzaro 1915: Michelin-Starred Italian Contemporary Dining in Pontelongo, Italy

A Century of Family

Lazzaro 1915 occupies the family home of the Siviero clan, a building that has stood in Pontelongo since before the First World War. The story began in 1915, when Lazzaro Siviero and his wife Elena, refugees from Trieste, bought a modest tavern and turned it into a trattoria called "Alla città di Trieste." For generations, the family served travellers and traders who came up the river from Chioggia. Today, the restaurant bears the founder's name, and the spirit of that old trattoria remains alive in the kitchen.

The People Behind the Kitchen

Chef Piergiorgio Siviero trained at some of Europe's finest restaurants — the Kulm in St. Moritz, Aimo e Nadia in Milan, Alain Ducasse in Paris, and the Plaza Athénée. But in 2005, he chose to return to Pontelongo to continue the work his grandfather began. In the kitchen, he works alongside his aunt Dilva, whom the family calls their "culinary memory," and his mother Maria Pia. His sister Daniela runs the dining room with warmth and a natural gift for hospitality. The restaurant's website describes the team as "the latest interpreters" of the family's culinary DNA.

Contemporary Italian Cuisine, Rooted in the Land

The menu at Lazzaro 1915 is a study in Italian contemporary cooking that respects the past while looking forward. The chefs describe their approach with the phrase "Campagna Liquida" — liquid countryside — as if the earth itself could dissolve into an ingredient, then into a dish. Starters might include a capasanta di Chioggia with coral mayonnaise and gratinated marrow, or a carosello barattiere (a local cucumber) with almond seeds. Among the primi, spaghettone Fracasso with cuttlefish and its liver, black garlic, oil, and chilli stands out, as does a vialone nano risotto with marcesina stravecchio cheese, mussels, and porcini. Main courses range from horse filet alla Bismarck with banana in bagna caoda to a seared calamari with juniper oil, agretti, and chimichurri.

The tasting menu, called "DNA," offers a curated journey through the kitchen's intuitions. Dishes change frequently, capturing what the team calls "snapshots" of creative moments. Wine pairings are drawn from a carefully built list that the restaurant describes as "much more than a tool — a story."

A Michelin Star for a Family Legacy

In 2026, Lazzaro 1915 was awarded a Michelin star, a recognition that honours the precision and research that Piergiorgio brings to the stove, and the seamless front-of-house work of Daniela. Yet the restaurant remains a family affair at heart, where the dining room is still the family's "dimora" — a home that has been lived in for more than a century. It is a place where contemporary Italian cooking meets a long, honest tradition, served with a genuine smile.