Villa Pizzini

The story

Villa Pizzini, Verbania: Modern Country Cuisine High on Mottarone

A Meal That Climbs a Mountain

On the slopes of Mottarone, overlooking Lake Maggiore, Villa Pizzini offers a singular dining experience: a tasting menu that mirrors the ascent from lake to summit. Called “The Path,” it is a journey measured in meters above sea level, where each course reflects the ingredients and landscapes encountered at that altitude. The kitchen’s modern cuisine is rooted in the territory, a point of pride that recently earned the restaurant a Michelin Recommendation.

The tasting menu begins at 193 meters with cold-smoked Alpine char in a purple cabbage broth, then rises through courses of foraged nettle tagliolini with trout roe, locally hunted game, and fresh butter from nearby Baragiooj farm. At 1,300 meters, you reach summer pasture cheese, and at the peak, a dessert of fior di latte ice cream and zabaione. It is a concrete, delicious geography lesson.

For those who prefer to build their own meal, the à la carte menu offers dishes like the “Cardinali of Villa Pizzini” – ravioli filled with Parmigiano Reggiano red cow’s milk cheese, finished with alpine butter and fresh black truffle – or a Wellington made with hunted game, Mottarone cheese, and mushrooms. Vegetarian and vegan options are available upon request.

The setting is a villa with outdoor seating, welcoming both children and dogs. This is country cooking refined by precision, with an interesting wine list to match. On Mottarone, Villa Pizzini proves that the best way to know a mountain is to eat your way up it.