Bianca sul Lago is the fine-dining restaurant at the Bianca Relais in Oggiono. On the shores of Lake Annone, Filippo Oggioni creates a culinary experience that focuses on ingredients, quality, and exceptional service.
“Capturing the essence of flavor.” This is how Filippo Oggioni sums up his cuisine. A simple and almost obvious definition that accurately describes the work at Bianca sul Lago di Oggiono, where the chef oversees the entire culinary offering at the Bianca Relais, from the Drop Restaurant & Lounge Bar to the fine-dining experience. There is a moment in the day when Lake Annone transforms along with everything happening around it.
It is precisely at that hour that Bianca sul Lago is at its best. The restaurant’s large windows blend with the hues of the water, and the landscape becomes a natural backdrop to the dinner as the light slowly shifts until sunset. Inside the Bianca Relais, a five-star boutique hotel part of the R Collection Hotels group, the restaurant led by Filippo Oggioni represents the culinary heart of a hospitality concept built around tranquility, nature, and well-being in the broadest sense of the term. This philosophy is also reflected in a small vegetable garden that greets guests before they enter the restaurant. It isn’t large, but it is exceptionally well-tended. Here, vegetables, flowers, and aromatic herbs grow, which are continually featured in the dishes, infusions, and even the welcome water. It is the first taste of a cuisine that builds its identity around the raw ingredients and respect for their seasonal availability.
Bianca Relais: the boutique hotel overlooking Lake Annone
Overlooking the shores of Lake Annone, Bianca Relais is a five-star boutique hotel that has made tranquility its hallmark. The property, with its contemporary design yet perfectly integrated into the landscape, is designed for those seeking a getaway from the hectic pace of city life, where the lake takes center stage. The rooms and suites, all characterized by a minimalist and refined design, blend seamlessly with the outdoor surroundings thanks to large windows that maximize natural light and the view.
Rounding out the hospitality experience is an intimate yet thoroughly enjoyable spa, featuring a sauna, Turkish bath, sensory showers, a relaxation area overlooking the greenery, and an outdoor hot tub. Next to it is a small gym—simple yet well-equipped—for guests who wish to work out during their stay. It is within this setting that Bianca sul Lago’s culinary experience takes place. The restaurant is not a separate entity from the hotel but complements its philosophy with hospitality rooted in attentiveness and a commitment to quality, where the local region is a constant theme in the culinary narrative.
Drop Restaurant & Lounge Bar: Experience the Lake from Breakfast Through After-Dinner
Alongside the culinary journey offered by Bianca sul Lago, the Bianca Relais also features the Drop Restaurant & Lounge Bar, designed for lunch, a more casual dinner, or simply to enjoy the terrace overlooking the lake. Here, too, the cuisine bears the signature of Filippo Oggioni, but with a more direct and immediate style.
While the gourmet restaurant offers an in-depth exploration of Oggioni’s philosophy, Drop places greater emphasis on the lake region. This is evident in dishes such as the lake ceviche, which, upon closer inspection, resembles sashimi far more closely in its cut and texture than the classic South American dish. This choice gives a voice to the lake’s fish, restoring it to its rightful place of prominence. Even more impressive is the pike, one of the iconic freshwater fish and perhaps also one of the most difficult to prepare. When the raw ingredient isn’t excellent, or the cooking isn’t flawless, there’s a risk of detecting that characteristic muddy note on the plate. Here, the exact opposite is true: the flesh is firm yet juicy, the flavor is clean and deep, complemented by a skillful use of aromatic herbs that enhances its complexity.
The spaghetti with nettle pesto and lake shrimp is particularly interesting—a dish that underscores the restaurant’s commitment to showcasing the local region even through simpler preparations. It is likely here that the lake plays the most prominent role in the Bianca Relais’s menu, becoming the central theme of a cuisine that is accessible and never boring. The bread deserves special mention; it is made with a skill that reflects a solid mastery of the art of baking. With a thin, well-formed crust, proper air pockets, and a balance between fragrance and softness, it accompanies the meal with the same importance as any other course.
Filippo Oggioni and His Cuisine
Filippo Oggioni’s career has taken him through some of the most significant kitchens in Italian haute cuisine. After years of training with Silvio Battistoni, Alessandro Breda, and Silvio Salmoiraghi, he earned his first Michelin star at Vecchio Ristoro in Aosta, a restaurant he still owns and where he serves as Executive Chef. His culinary journey places absolute emphasis on ingredients and a cuisine focused solely on flavor. When speaking with him, one interesting aspect immediately stands out: Oggioni never thinks of technique as an end in itself. Every choice stems from a desire to highlight an ingredient, convey its identity, and, whenever possible, also celebrate the work of those who produce it.
“In my own small way, I also try to educate people,” he says, explaining how selecting ingredients is a fundamental part of his daily work. The eggs come from free-range farms, the honey from small-scale beekeepers, and the meat from farmers who share the same production philosophy. Rather than crafting the usual saccharine narrative about sustainability, Oggioni prefers to put it into practice, choosing products with a story behind them and people who can tell that story. Even the structure of the menu follows a specific, personal vision. In fact, the chef attempts to redefine the traditional role of the first course within the tasting menu. Spaghetti becomes an opening act, rice a side dish, and tagliolino a comforting finale.
The “Pensieri” Menu at Bianca sul Lago
The aperitif is served right in the vegetable garden with three small tastings: a roasted bell pepper and orange aspic, a tartlet with potato and horseradish salad, and a pea salad with mountain yogurt and sorbet made from the pods. This last course, fresh and with a pleasant tang, prepares the palate for the next tastings. We then move inside the dining room, where the sunset over the lake literally streams into the restaurant through the large windows. Next come a cream of Selva egg and spring curry, served inside its shell, and a plin of capricciosa salad presented in a bamboo steamer surrounded by herbs and flowers. These two dishes immediately demonstrate how the use of the entire ingredient is a fundamental principle of Oggioni’s cuisine.
The “Pensieri” menu opens with a spaghetti soup with slightly spicy apricot and basil, a tribute to the Marchesi tradition. Here, one of the chef’s most interesting traits emerges clearly: each dish takes a precise flavor direction and follows it through to the end. The acidity of the still-slightly-unripe apricot, the deliberately softer texture of the spaghetti, and the botanical element of the basil come together to create a surprisingly comforting, fresh, and deep combination. The subtle spicy note that livens up the palate is intriguing. The Beluga Caviar with Green Sauce is a dish of great elegance, inspired by the traditional Piedmontese salsa verde but reinterpreted using wild lake herbs such as hops and watercress. Beneath the iridescent beads lies a panna cotta with a subtle milky note, while the sauce is lightened with seawater and rounded out by a faint hint of vodka. A dish that is magnificent in appearance and rich in aromatic nuances, where each herb subtly alters the flavor of the next bite.
One of the most successful dishes on the menu is probably the “Astice in cagnone.” On one hand, there’s the barbecue-grilled lobster, with a delicate smoky note; on the other, a simple “riso in cagnone,” a traditional Lombard dish made with boiled rice, butter, sage, and cheese. It’s a meeting of culinary simplicity and sophistication, where the prized crustacean takes on an almost homely quality, and the rice—notoriously humble—is elevated to the point of becoming just as much the star as the lobster itself. La Carne California, built on a continuous dialogue between cooked and raw elements through various preparations of the spring onion, impresses with its balance and precision. The texture of the fillet is melt-in-your-mouth, and each element finds its own place without overpowering the others. A deliberately sweet dish that elegantly sets the stage for the next course. The pièce de résistance of the tasting arrives with the Pigeon, Olives, and Cherries. Here, Oggioni crafts a dish rich in nuances, where the sweetness of Vignola cherries meets the savory depth of olives prepared in various forms, alongside gentian, pine nuts, and capers. The pigeon is cooked with great skill—juicy and full of depth—while the filet carpaccio with sweet-and-sour cherries and the grilled piattoni salad round out a course that offers a satisfying, multi-layered eating experience.
The savory finale is Tagliolini with Pigeon Bolognese, a dish prepared using the bird’s thighs cooked according to the classic Emilian recipe—that is, with milk. It is a deliberately comforting dish that reaffirms one of the chef’s core principles: using every part of the ingredient, without waste but, above all, without sacrificing pleasure. Finally, the dessert,Strawberries, Rhubarb, and Hibiscus,concludes the dining experience with the same philosophy that has guided it from the start: very little sugar, plenty of freshness, and a tartness that cleanses the palate. The slightly gelled hibiscus herbal tea, the sorbet made from garden-fresh strawberries, and the raw rhubarb come together to create an elegant, light finale that is consistent with the entire gastronomic narrative.
A dining room (which we needed) that embodies hospitality
A significant part of the credit for the overall experience undoubtedly goes to the dining room, led by maître d’ Paolo Bariani, just 24 years old. His presence is striking for the intelligence with which he approaches service. Bariani leads a young, well-trained team that is perfectly aligned with the restaurant’s philosophy, demonstrating that elegance need not necessarily go hand in hand with rigidity. But above all, what matters is their training, presence, intuition, and the desire to be there in that moment, doing that specific job. This is precisely one of the most successful aspects of the experience at Bianca sul Lago. The dining room staff naturally reads the table, adapting the pace of service and the level of interaction to the guests’ personalities. With those who wish to explore each dish in depth, a spontaneous gastronomic dialogue emerges; with those who prefer a more private dining experience, the service becomes discreet without ever seeming distant.
As the evening progresses, the atmosphere becomes progressively more relaxed, almost intimate, without ever losing the refinement expected of a restaurant of this caliber. Guests enjoy themselves, engage in conversation, and feel welcomed, yet every gesture remains precise, timely, and respectful of the setting. It is a prime example of what a fine-dining dining room should be today: well-prepared, attentive, and thoughtful, capable of guiding the guest from the moment they arrive until they leave. This service plays a decisive role in the quality of the experience, reminding us that hospitality isn’t measured solely by the dishes served, but also by how we feel during those two hours spent at the restaurant.
Contact and Info
Bianca sul Lago c/o Bianca Relais
Via Dante Alighieri, 18 – Oggiono (LC)
Website: https://www.rcollectionhotels.it/bianca-relais/index
