For swimming and biking, for sailing and surfing, for climbing and making out: There are many reasons why people seeking relaxation, leisure activities and, on top of that, romantic people go to Lake Garda. However, culinary delights are not usually one of these reasons. Pizza and pasta in the standard versions, as well as fish and increasingly also seafood, are usually found on holidaymakers’ tables around the lake, writes Christine Gräfin von der Pahlen in her book “A Guest on Lake Garda”. The usual “mass tourist monotony”, served in “zero eight-fifteen restaurants”, according to the author. Fills you up and often tastes good. But it’s nothing special.
However, von der Pahlen is interested in something special, and there are plenty of examples of this on Lake Garda and in its immediate vicinity. The number of exclusive hotels has increased in recent years and with it the number of ambitious kitchens. There are also more and more winegrowers with higher quality standards. This book is about these winegrowers, these cooks and these innkeepers. About their products and creations. “Visiting Lake Garda” enables a journey of discovery that deals with a lesser-known side of the region, which is otherwise extremely popular and well-explored with tourists.
An ice cream at the Gelateria Flora bar in Riva del Garda? Certainly good for the holiday feeling.
(Photo: Mayk Wendt/Callwey-Verlag)
Christine Gräfin von der Pahlen focuses her attention primarily on those restaurants that focus on local traditions and use regional ingredients. And it makes it clear that there is no such thing as a Garda cuisine. The lake is the intersection of three Italian regions: South Tyrol-Trentino, Veneto and Lombardy. This is also noticeable in the culinary world.
To the west or east bank, to the Riviera dei Limoni or the Riviera degli Olivi? According to the author, this is a decision between two worlds – not just in terms of landscape. And the north is not even taken into account separately. It belongs to Trentino, and from there von der Pahlen approaches the lake. It stops in Trento, in Arco, in Rovereto, in Drena, crosses the scree landscape of Marocche di Dro before reaching Torbole and Riva del Garda.
In Riva del Garda, the lake promenade is full of flowers.
(Photo: Callwey-Verlag / 2018 Trentino Marketing)
The Tyrolean influences on the cuisine there are clear – venison, beef, veal, prepared with chanterelles, wild blueberries, bacon. On the eastern shore of the lake, the cuisine changes. Veneto is primarily a risotto country; pasta actually plays a subordinate role. In Lombardy, on the other hand, you can taste the French influences on the local cuisine.
“Visiting Lake Garda” is divided into four large chapters, sorted according to the four cardinal points. After an introduction, we always go to specific hotels, restaurants or wineries with the associated restaurant. Von der Pahlen introduces these places and, above all, the people who shape them. She receives three recipes from each of them, which are printed in the book, along with instructions for preparing the meals. As well as a trip tip. You should definitely not overlook these little tips: they are about hiking and drinking wine, about walking routes, swimming spots and, again and again, about the restaurants that the chefs you visit like to go to when they want to dine out.
One of the particularly beautiful places on the lake is Punta San Vigilio, a headland between Garda and Torri del Benaco.
(Photo: Mayk Wendt/Callwey Verlag)
These are usually simpler places that still serve good food. Christine Gräfin von der Pahlen sometimes heads for these. However, their focus is clearly on star cuisine around Lake Garda. It’s almost a little one-sided and sometimes seems unimaginative. However, one thing becomes clear when you (read) visit these restaurants: Michelin-starred cuisine can be quite unpretentious. At least that applies to the majority of those presented by von der Pahlen – little show, little fuss, a concentration on the essentials, that seems to be the current philosophy in upscale cuisine around Lake Garda.
In contrast to this is Christine Gräfin von der Pahlen’s style: she likes to write lavishly, and adjectives can’t be too worn out for her not to use them: lakes are generally picturesque, castles are enchanted. And many things are on everyone’s lips or are conquering everyone’s hearts. If you don’t mind that too much, she has a knowledgeable companion who is able to characterize restaurants in a nutshell. So that you are able to decide for yourself which address you personally find tempting and which you don’t.
Christine Countess von der Pahlen, Mayk Wendt: Visiting Lake Garda. Callwey Verlag, Munich 2024. 240 pages, 45 euros.