by Blake N » Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:07 am
We visited northern Italy in 2006. In the lakes region we had some help from our business contacts, who were locals. We visited Lake Maggiore and had a great lunchtime meal at Ristorante Del Pescatore. Very simple fish+pasta dishes. Something called "frog of the lake" was a highlight. In Varese, there was Ristorante Teatro. It seemed gimmicky, with puppets all over the walls, but the food was great. Squid ink pasta was a highlight. There were other places in Varese that I cannot remember the names of (too much wine), but be on the lookout for incredible antipasti featuring beef nerve and uber-fresh mozzarella(still in the bag and sopping wet). In general, the pasta dishes and antipasti that we sampled in and around Varese were incredible and eclipsed most of the best food we've ever had in the states.
In Milan, we did not have help from the locals, so we relied on guidebooks. Not so good. We hit Nobu, which had great food, but I am not a cool person so I felt very out of place. We also went to Il Teatro in the Four Seasons. This was by far our most expensive meal in Italy, but middle-of-the-pack in terms of food and experience. And the place was absolutely empty.