A morning on Lake Maggiore has a rhythm, and much of it is decided at the table. The water here has fed the villages for centuries, and you can still taste that history in a plate of perch or a bowl of risotto served within sight of the ferries. This is not a place for fuss. It is a place for lake fish and good wine, for a terrace above the water and a slow coffee that stretches into the afternoon. Below is where I eat when I am on the lake, and why each place earns its spot.
The Flavours of the Lake
Before the restaurants, a word on the food itself, because knowing what to order is half the pleasure here. The great speciality of Lake Maggiore is its fish. Persico, the perch, is the one to seek out. You will find it two ways: folded silkily through a risotto (risotto al pesce persico), or as a breaded fillet, crisp at the edges and delicate within. The other name to remember is lavarello, also called coregone, a whitefish so gentle in flavour that a good kitchen barely needs to dress it. Alongside the fish you will meet the wider Piedmont table: more risotto, soft polenta, and reds worth lingering over. Ask for a Gattinara or a Ghemme, both grown in the hills not far from here, and you have the makings of a proper lake lunch.
A practical note before you set out. From November to March many lakefront restaurants close for the winter, so if you are travelling in the quieter months it is always worth checking ahead rather than arriving hopeful at a shuttered door.
Eating in Stresa
Stresa is the natural base for most visitors, and happily it eats very well. My choices depend entirely on the mood of the evening.
For something refined and a little creative, I book Ristorante Lo Stornello. It sits centrally and turns out polished Italian cooking and seafood, the sort of meal you dress for. When I want lake fish in a more intimate setting, I slip into the old lanes to Il Vicoletto, tucked away and quietly confident, where the menu leans on the lake and the wider Mediterranean. On a warm evening, though, nothing beats a table with a view, and for that I climb to La Rampolina, a hillside terrace that hands you the lake laid out below as you eat.
If it is honest, traditional Piedmont fare I am after, the trattorias deliver. Osteria Mercato and Trattoria La Botte both do the classics with no pretension, and they are where I send anyone who wants to understand how the locals actually eat. Stresa is one of the loveliest of the best towns on Lake Maggiore precisely because it holds this range so gracefully, from white-tablecloth to wooden-bench, within a few streets of one another.
My advice on booking: in high season, and especially for the terraces and the smaller rooms, reserve ahead. The good tables fill early, and a walk-in on a July evening can be a disappointing business.
The Island Lunch on Isola dei Pescatori
If you do one thing at the table on Lake Maggiore, make it lunch on Isola dei Pescatori, the fishing island. This is the meal I recommend above all others, and it is a genuine highlight of any island day.
The island is small, lived-in and unshowy, and its two water’s-edge restaurants are the reason to come. Ristorante Verbano and Trattoria Imbarcadero both set their tables right at the water, so that you eat lake fish with the channel lapping beside you and Isola Bella seeming to float across the way. There is a particular magic to sitting there with a glass of white and a plate of perch, the ferries sliding past, the palace gardens shimmering opposite. I never tire of it.
Pair the island lunch with a morning spent exploring the palaces and gardens of the Borromean Islands, and you have what I think is the finest single day the lake can offer. Arrive at the table hungry and unhurried, and let the afternoon take care of itself.
Eating in Cannobio
Travel to the far north of the lake and Cannobio rewards you, both for its beauty and its cooking. It is a lovelier, sleepier place than the busier southern shore, and the food follows suit.
On the harbour I make for Lo Scalo, a well-regarded lakefront table where the setting and the kitchen are equally considered. It is the sort of place you settle into for a long evening as the light goes down over the water. For something more rustic and rooted, I head inland a little to the Grotto Sant’Anna, which sits beside the Sant’Anna river gorge. Eating there, with the sound of the water in the gorge below, is a different pleasure entirely, cooler, greener, and utterly removed from the resort bustle. The two together make a fine argument for spending a night or two this far north rather than day-tripping and rushing back.
The Café Ritual
Not every meal on Lake Maggiore needs to be a meal. Some of my happiest hours here have been spent doing very little at all, which brings me to the belle-époque café ritual.
The idea is simple. You take a slow coffee and a pastry on the Stresa waterfront, and you watch the ferries come and go. That is the whole of it, and it is perfect. This is a lake that grew up in the grand era of European travel, and something of that unhurried elegance survives in the habit of sitting still with a good coffee.
For the pastry, my loyalty belongs to Pasticceria Marcolini, a historic café and pastry stop that has been going since 1959. I like to begin a morning there before the boats fill up, or to end an afternoon there once the day trippers have thinned. Either way, order well, sit near the water, and give yourself permission to do nothing for an hour. On Lake Maggiore, that is not idleness. It is the point.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the local dish to try on Lake Maggiore?
Reach for the lake fish. Persico, the perch, is the signature, served either as a silky risotto al pesce persico or as a crisp breaded fillet, and the delicate whitefish lavarello (coregone) is well worth seeking out too. Round it off with a Piedmont red such as Gattinara or Ghemme.
Where is the best lake-fish restaurant?
It depends on what you want from the setting. For lake fish with your feet almost in the water, the two restaurants on Isola dei Pescatori, Ristorante Verbano and Trattoria Imbarcadero, are hard to beat. In Stresa, Il Vicoletto does beautiful lake fish tucked away in the old lanes, and up in Cannobio, Lo Scalo is my choice on the northern harbour.
Where should you eat on the Borromean Islands?
On Isola dei Pescatori, the fishing island, where Ristorante Verbano and Trattoria Imbarcadero both set their tables at the water’s edge with Isola Bella floating across the channel. An island lunch here is the meal I recommend above all others, and it pairs perfectly with a morning among the palaces and gardens.
Any café recommendation?
Pasticceria Marcolini on the Stresa waterfront, a historic café and pastry stop going since 1959. Take a slow coffee and a pastry, sit near the water, and watch the ferries come and go. It is the belle-époque ritual of the lake, and one of my favourite ways to pass an hour here.
Related
Read more in the Borromean Islands guide, discover the best towns on Lake Maggiore, or return to the complete guide to Lake Maggiore.
