A winning team doesn't change: for its new location on Lake Garda, the Rana family is again counting on young chef Francesco Sodano, who has an important international background. He will bring to the tables of Riviera a Mediterranean cuisine with familiar accents, declined in a technical and creative sense.
The news
The Rana family has taken a liking to it. The restaurant that bears its name in Vallese di Oppeano, in the Veronese region, already awarded a star, was not enough. Now they are opening a new address in one of the most beautiful places in Italy: Punta San Vigilio, on Lake Garda, now an international gastronomic destination. It is the Riviera project, which includes a panoramic terrace and beach club in addition to the fine dining restaurant.
For the food, the choice was to rely again on Francesco Sodano, former chef of Vallese di Oppeano, who designed a special menu for the occasion. The concept is that of summer vacations, declined with different ways from the parent company. As much that cuisine is refined and avant-garde as this one embraces the comfort of the Mediterranean and celebrates Italian gastronomic culture in particular, without sacrificing technique and creative lunges.
Thus it is that the salt-laden breeze of the South blows over the shores of the lake, with Campania-inspired dishes such as Pacchero con coccio and green chili or Devozione, pasta with Corbarino tomatoes. Spain is lapped up in the Grilled Octopus with Galician emulsion and parsley chlorophyll, but there is no shortage of territory, starring in Trout, sour cream, passion fruit and dill chlorophyll.
Having gone through important international experiences, Sodano nimbly reinterprets the greatest icons of our cuisine. The schnitzel, for example, becomes swordfish Milanese, shared like an elephant ear. Nor can one miss the risotto cooked in basil extraction, engorged with creamy 30-month Parmigiano Reggiano and textural contrasting Trapani almond beaten, which ends up composing a sensation of semi-Giennese pesto. Among the desserts, Sodano's signatures, such as Tiramigiù and Raspberry Cheesecake, stand out, with competition from an extensive Ice Cream Menu, also prepared with plums, raspberries and mulberries from the family orchard.
The wine cellar favors whites, with a wide selection of French or Italian bubbles and still references from the most vocated Italian regions; without disdaining often prestigious Italian and French rosés and reds, which are creatively paired with fish, as well as dessert wines to close on a sweet note. The Riviera Restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday inclusive, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. for lunch, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. for dinner.
