Mistral Restaurant of the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni (Bellagio)

To be a lucky man has always been quite clear to me. Of course, as with many of us, it hasn’t always gone right, but I certainly can’t complain, quite the contrary. Especially after trying the Mistral Restaurant I am about to tell you about.

All the more so when we talk about the gastronomic and oenological life, if I talk about good eating and good drinking, I really could not have asked for much more. Only in love has it been definitely better for me, but that is something else we would be talking about. But then is it really so? Is it true that talking about love in this talk, in this piece, is so misleading?

No, definitely not, love is an integral, foundational part of what I am telling you. And not only for me, but also for the other people who are full participants in this story.

Irina, my partner, has a company working in extra-luxury tourism. With her, to worthily celebrate our 10th anniversary, we went on a ten-day trip that took us to Tuscany, Lake Como, Lake Garda, Emilia and back to Tuscany, to Montalcino, where we met. Thanks to his work, his network of friendships and acquaintances, we always stay in luxury hotels or facilities.

The Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni and its top restaurants

This was also the case at the beautiful Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni the 5*Luxury, in Bellagio, on Lake Como, where we stayed three nights.

In my life I have been to hundreds of restaurants, of all types, levels, settings. In Italy and abroad. For almost 12 years I have also been a restaurateur. I love eating at restaurants, I love to experiment, I love traditional cuisine, I love cooking in the round, without reservation, with my whole self. I also know many food critics of the highest value, and often, before or after going to try a restaurant, I compare myself with them.

I did the same here, but the news came to me dated, fragmented. More of memories than recent experiences. Good memories but still dated. Also on Ettore Bocchia, the executive chef of the hotel and its Mistral Restaurant, I have found little online except that he was the one who brought molecular cuisine to Italy and has been working here for over thirty years. I am genuinely puzzled: is it possible that a semi-unknown chef has been in charge of the catering of such an important hotel for over thirty years and I have never even heard of him? Just in these times where catering has filled the television channels with highly followed reality TV themed shows?

The gastronomic Mistral Restaurant

Be that as it may, the first night we sat at the Mistral, the gourmet restaurant of the Villa Serbelloni. Gorgeous veranda room with a view of Lake Como, almost touching it so close it is. Finely set tables, elegantly dressed dining brigade, with the maître d’ in a smart blue suit. I ask if I can say hello to the chef, and after a very few minutes a smiling man appears, with whom I exchange a few jokes: I ask him to let us eat whatever he wants as long as he keeps us entertained. He remains interjected and asks what this means to me. fun and food. A few quick exchanges about other restaurants, recipes, and great chefs, and that’s it: he’ll make our menu, as a surprise, then for the next few days we’ll see. He also loves cooking deeply. It’s clear as day.

Top kitchen for three lunches and three dinners

It is really not possible for me to give you a complete list of all the dishes I ate during the three lunches and three dinners, but I can tell you that after more than twenty years I tasted again a superlative Canard à la presse I ate at La Tour d’Argent in Paris, yes, as then prepared with the press at the side of the table to create the accompanying sauce. Or a divine Spanish Foie Gras, from Extremadura, that of Eduardo Sousa, made without gavage On geese. Not to mention the “étoile” oysters, the huge and very delicate claws of the large Russian crabs from Kamcatca, the large langoustines, huge fish (turbot, grouper, sea bass), shellfish, seafood, which come to him mostly from Galicia.  

Then homemade stuffed pastas, sauces sometimes justifiably ethereal, while at other times far more assertive. Another fantastic dish was a grouper fillet, wrapped in the green part of fresh spring onions and then fried in sugar. Yes, you read that right, fried at very high temperatures in sugar but protected and kept moist by the spring onion leaves. What an unmatched flavor and texture! The chef is from Fidenza and grew up “alongside” the legendary Cantarelli. Just dedicated to Mirella Cantarelli, he recreated their legendary Rice savarin, which I was lucky enough to taste. Then Poached Eggs with white asparagus, Asetra caviar and Siberian caviar.  

A classic French-inspired cuisine

As far as I can tell, Chef Bocchia’s present-day cooking has nothing molecular about it except for a maniacal attention to the tiniest detail. Instead, I find that in the results it is very classical and also very French, in the best and noblest sense of the word.

Also very good are the various desserts made by the very talented Manuel Ferrari with whom we spoke early that morning that, at the invitation of the chef, we went down to the kitchen to see the arrival of the catch-what a sight!

Ah, if all this is not enough for you there is also a magnificent selection of cheeses, with even a Bitto Storico Ribelle with a few years on its shoulders. But if I wanted, I could also tell you about the wonderful cured meats and various homemade breads….

Maître and sommelier of the highest caliber

Finally, two more than obligatory notes for the splendid, millimetric, but also friendly, room service, with many plate finishes done by the lamp with the very talented maître who without ever flinching conducts a large and tight-knit orchestra. Finally, applause for the beautiful wine list, the result of true love and true knowledge, offered by a young and friendly sommelier with a secure future.

I swear to you, after these three days it was hard for me to say goodbye to Chef Ettore Bocchia. Although quickly, we shared so much and he promised to come visit us in Rome. He made me promise that I will take him to the restaurants of the Roman chef friends I told him about. When that happens, I will tell you about it. That is also a promise.

But the question that forms the background to this long and heartfelt piece has gone unanswered: while the Italian gastronomic world is teeming with often improvised chefs, such a good chef, with the hotel’s two restaurants practically always full, with very large turnovers, with such a high international audience, how can he remain so under the radar?