Confessions of a Wino

Stresa, majestically overlooking Lago Maggiore, in the foothills of the Italian Alps, should be a gourmand’s dream.  But sadly it caters to every tourist-trapping, pension-grabbing, fruit-juice-slurping, pie-eating, over-eating, day-trip-loving, coach-travelling, lip-smacking, tongue-slavering, downbeat, yester-year tourists from all of England and sometimes Italy.  The Germans are too sensible, or too time constrained to visit, and the Americans are all credit-crunched.

Although a beautiful town, unfortunately one of the best things to come out of Stresa is the regular boat to the islands and in less than an hour, Pallanza, where there is a single restaurant with something worth eating.

Caffé Bolongaro was the first place visible from the ferry port, and suspiciously conspicuous in a “come hither Tommy the tourist” sort of way.  But a walk around the town revealed nothing better.  For once the place nearest the dock was the best option available.  On reflection it’s obvious why ladies of the night patrol the docks.  As I sat down I remembered the cosy, idyllic lakeside views from the eateries on Isola Bella where we could so easily have stopped.  The fish from the lake is allegedly so good that they send out video crews early morning to videographically verify the provenance.

Pallanza is not as attractive as Stresa (and well short of Isola Bella) and also a bit disconnected.  The view of Pallanza from Isola Madre is nice enough but landing at the dock gives you the impression that you are yet another tourist sheep being brought to the Thomas Cook tannery to be fleeced yet again.

Actually, the cheesiest place in town was full of good food (not just cheese), well served, by nice waiting staff, only one of whom had the Italian affliction of smoking outside the door, blowing tobacco smoke hula hoops out of crisp packet shaped cheeks.

The wine I ordered to accompany my cheesy, but tasty, Italian clichés of Pizza Capricciosa and Spaghetti Carbonara was a local wine, Grignolino d’Asti 2007 Tanuta Garetto.  The colour of strawberry jam, it tasted of rhubarb and red fruits with a bit of sharpness on the nose and a slight taste of salt.  For a young Italian stallion of a wine, I expected more tannins.

If you had served me this wine cold and shut my eyes, I would have said it was a medium quality Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc.  So the wine was OK, once chilled, and it didn’t take as much persuasion as an English resto to get an ice bucket to achieve the Grignolino to SB transgenderisation.

The food, though, was another story.  The number of different conflicting translations precludes me naming all the ingredients of the Capricciosa Pizza, but removing the 100% of the capers and 20% of the Oregano would have been the only possible improvement on this top drawer oven produce.

The Spaghetti Carbonara was a master-class in how to cook pasta with plenty of crispy bacon but not too cheesy or heavy in the way the rest of the world likes to cook this rich dish.

On the way home, passing the islands of Isola Madre and Isola Superiore, I wondered why Isola Bella was named so.  A quick picture from the ferry gave a clue.

Find yourself in Stresa and want a good lunch?  Head for Pallanza on a full day “hop-on, hop-off” ferry trip (for a handful of Euros) to Pallanza via the islands.  If you miss Superiore, then eat in Pallanza and don’t stray far from the ferry port – you will not improve on Bolongaro.

Ristorante Pizzeria Bolongaro, Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi, 9 28922 – Verbania (VB) Italia.
T. +39 (0)323 503254

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 7:06 am and is filed under Italy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.