Davide Maci's return to his origins: at Villa Lario, fine dining is expressed through the products of the Belpaese. Between Italian spirit, territory and hospitality, the 360° experience at the luxury property in Pognana Lario.
The Facility
Shoes come off as if you were at the entrance of a sacred temple, not out of reverence, but rather because, while immersed in luxury and elegance, the atmosphere at “Villa Lario” is one of welcome and harmony. At Villa Lario it is like being at home, but with the service of a luxury hotel. Barefoot is the concept behind the philosophy of the luxury property, which is located in Pognana Lario, on the right branch of Lake Como. Every detail, from the furnishings, to the helpfulness of the staff, to the food&beverage offering, aims to ensure that guests-whether staying at the hotel or indulging in a gourmet moment in its refined spaces-feel pampered and surrounded by family warmth.
"‘Barefoot’ is the term that best represents our interpretation of luxury. This word emphasizes our desire to make the guest feel as if he is in his own private villa. When a guest takes off his shoes, it means he feels at home. For us, this is true luxury, even more than muffled and meticulous service. There are times, even in high season, when Villa Lario seems almost empty; the spaces of the 19th-century structure allow each guest to find his or her own space of intimacy and relaxation. Thanks to the location, Villa Lario is a truly unique location on Lake Como; the whole property lives on natural light until nightfall, when the sun sets,” says Raffaele Albanese, Food&Beverage manager, who arrived at Villa Lario in 2022.
Bold, well-delineated choices underlie the rebrending undertaken almost three years ago now. A gift that Villa Lario has given itself on the occasion of ten years of hospitality. It is not last-minute thinking, but rather the result of a desire to continue to raise the bar and offer an increasingly exclusive and taylormade service, taking advantage of the natural and architectural beauty of the place. The property, composed of eighteen luxurious suites, developed on terraces that reach up to the topaz-colored waters of the lake, has undergone a restyling of its logo and branding by English illustrator Olivia Sewell, while the interior design of Villa Bianca, the main body of the property, was signed by Pietro Castagna. Also with a view to increasing branding positioning, last year, Villa Lario welcomed in its kitchens the Como chef Davide Maci, who returned, after more than 20 years of experience in international hospitality, to his homeland.
Like the restyling of some of the rooms, so too is the residence's kitchen expressed in an interweaving of modernity, tradition, refinement and technique. Villa Lario, however, is not only a luxury property with refined and exclusive environments and a refined fine dining proposal, but also synonymous with mixology. Thanks to Raffaele Albanese, in fact, in the “Botanical Bar”, located in “Il Palazzo” one can taste cocktails that are the result of deep research and innovation, a “liquid” expression of the “farm-to-table” concept that here turns into “Garden-to-Glass”. Ambassador of values such as: “no waste”, “zero kilometer” and ethics. Thanks to Albanese's will, in the two hectares of the lush park with hundred-year-old cedars, there is also space for the cultivation of aromatic and botanical herbs, used in drinks as well as in dishes. At Villa Lario, the “barefoot” philosophy unravels in every component be it the environments, the cocktails or the dishes.
Here each guest can find his or her own dimension and rediscover his or her own time, savoring moments often sacrificed in the daily hustle and bustle. Thus the dining moment is juxtaposed with other unmissable daily rituals: the snack with summer ice cream (a project in partnership with Como's renowned Gelateria Rossetti); coffee time, thanks to the “Coffee Menu ” to celebrate the iconic Italian beverage in all its facets (coffee with the Moka; ristretto coffee; cappuccino; ginseng and Coffe Negroni) ; and the Italian-style aperitivo. Before dinner, drinks created by Albanese can be enjoyed with “Tapas all'Italiana”: fried pizza, panissa, maritozzo and other delicacies signed by chef Maci's creativity. Every moment of the day is marked by a perfect dualism between food and drink. "We are fortunate to have two separate facilities ( the Palazzo and Villa Bianca), there are those who see this as a limitation I, on the other hand, think it is a great opportunity to give different experiences to those who stay several days. We want to immerse the guest 360° within our property.
The experience at Villa Lario is a mix of retreat and rehab to detoxify from the daily routine. By choice we have not installed TVs in the room, a very strong decision, but one aligned with the goal of getting the guest to disconnect from the ordinariness of life. It is wonderful and sometimes surprising to see a guest sipping a drink while playing chess or reading a book. This is exactly what we would like to be able to bring to the guest's eyes,” Raffaele continues. Territoriality in Villa Lario takes on the guise of Italianism and seasonality in both the beverage proposal and the cuisine.
“To convey territoriality we like to play with the appeal between drinks and gastronomy. With a purely foreign target, we also try to wink at what is already recognized abroad as Italian, but affixing our signature. This is the case of the Negroni, the most drunk drink in the world, here transformed into our “Perfect Neg roni,” which is a Negroni with the addition of tarocco orange distillate that gives a boost to the taste. Fundamental to my creations, as well as Chef Maci's, is, as well, seasonality. Just as in the kitchen in winter it would be a nonsense to propose a spaghetti with fresh cherry tomatoes and passata is used, in the same way in cocktails we follow the life cycle of the ingredients and the alternation of the seasons,” he concludes.
The CHEF and the KITCHEN
After about twenty years of experience abroad , Chef Davide returns home, to the shores of Lake Como, to add a new piece to his rich career; perhaps the most important piece, that is, the one that combines his experiences abroad with his lake origins. Two decades of a career spent outside Italy alongside the highest names in world gastronomy: Bernard Fournier, Enrico Derflingher at Hotel Eden in Rome and at the Palace Hotel in St.Moritz; Pierre Gagnaire in London at the Sketch Restaurant and Gordon Ramsay at the Trianon Palace in Versailles. For the chef, the arrival at Villa Lario marks a true return to not only geographical but also culinary boundaries. At the luxury property in Pognana Lario, Maci, accustomed to venturing among exotic gastronomic cultures, proposes a cuisine with strong ties to the Italian territory, a “concrete, direct cuisine, aimed at the essence with a spasmodic use of the raw material to exploit all its nuances.”
The elegance of Villa Lario is the ideal context for the development of these simple but important concepts. "Here I have chosen to use exclusively Italian ingredients, a novelty for me given my background, where I often tended to emphasize my international stylistic note. I am extremely fascinated by the context in which I find myself, as are the guests who from the very beginning have been enthusiastic about tasting my cuisine that now wants to celebrate Italy,", confides Maci. This is a sharp turnaround for the chef's signature trait, perfectly in line with Villa Lario's desire to tell the story of being Italian. At the center of the menus, therefore, recipes and, above all, products of the Italian tradition. A great challenge because, as the chef points out, it is much more difficult to surprise with an ingredient known to all than with one from distant lands. “Contact with tradition is a cornerstone for me and it does not mean proposing something taken for granted or already tasted, but rather exploiting our wealth without going looking elsewhere for a treasure we already have in our hands. ”.
Each and every one of Maci's creations, from Italian Tapas appetizers to fine dining dinners, expresses its flavor in a perfect balance of expert technique and eclectic creativity. “A light, essential and modern cuisine” that “warms the heart” to celebrate the spirit of conviviality and the beauty of an all-around experience. "The chef of a facility like this must have the ability to adapt to guests' requests. Indeed, it is not just about a single dinner, but about welcoming and making guests feel good throughout their stay. I want a deep and sincere connection to what Villa Lario is all about. It happens that someone requests dishes not on the menu, I always try to do everything possible to please the diner, I want them to feel at home.” Honoring the Belpaese and the Italian ingredient go hand in hand both in the kitchen and in the drink proposal, as does Maci and Albanese's desire to bring the diner to experience a convivial moment in which tradition, research and innovation proceed hand in hand.
One example is the proposal to accompany food with herbal teas, brews, blends and spirits in addition to classic wine. "With the arrival of Chef Maci, a very interesting new chapter opens for Villa Làrio. The gastronomic scene has changed a lot on Lake Como in the last two years. We are thrilled to offer our guests but also customers from Como a destination that combines the warmth of a home, the beauty of Italian design and architecture, and the breathtaking views of Lake Como with a gastronomic proposal that celebrates conviviality, refined but uncomplicated cuisine, and Italian-ness," says Flore Pilzer, Head of Brand Villa Làrio.
THE MENU
Any evening spent in the evocative and sophisticated setting of Villa Lario cannot go without indulging in an aperitif, admiring the lake from the comfortable sofa or in front of the imposing and enchanting fireplace. Just reading it, the drink list “makes your head spin”...hard to choose between: the “Riva Mito,” which is inspired by the Milan-Turin and associated with the “myth” of the Riva motorboat, a must on Lake Como; the “Cacio e Pepe,” which embraces all five flavor profiles and stands out for its umami; the “Butter and Lemon” , which tends toward sour, thanks to the gin infused, roasted almond butter and lacto-fermented lemon syrup; and the “Evo Martini,” which with basil oil makes extra-virgin olive oil, an Italian ingredient beloved around the world, take center stage. How can one not be tempted, then, by a soft and crispy fried pizza to savor one of the symbols of Pensiola and anticipate the path designed by the chef for dinner. With an eight-course, signature dish menu that has marked the chef's career, Maci celebrates ten years at Villa Lario and his return to Como.
Tomato Smoked Tea tiptoes (strictly naked!) into the property kitchen. Extremely elegant and delicate, each sip allows the powerful smoky note of the tea and the Mediterranean freshness of the tomato to stand out clearly. Then follows the minimal-looking “red shrimp crudo, peanuts, pink grapefruit, lettuce, tomato.” At first glance, the protagonist of the dish seems to be the blanched lettuce leaf, actually it is just the secret door to savor the meatiness and sweetness of the raw red shrimp to which the crunch of peanuts and the citrus note of pink grapefruit give a really interesting and unexpected accent. The “Cod confit, Parmigiano mousse, onion compote, green apple,” brings us back to 2017. A course that combines a combination of texture, savory, sweet and sour with the precision of an alchemist to leave, then, a lively umami swerve that lingers in the finish. Enveloping and pandering are the “Linguine, lime sour butter, bluefin tuna roe.”
Thanks to the combination of butter with lime and the personality of the roe, umami here too envelops the masterfully cooked linguine. A dish that conquers the palate and makes no doubt...an encore would be necessary. The “Branzino in two cooking, beets, mussels, lemon” introduces the seconds. With this fish, the chef expresses his knowledge of technique as well as raw material to the fullest. Clear is how the same starting ingredient can lead to completely different, but, equally, satisfying results. In the first version, steamed sea bass is served with chard and mussel sauce; in the second, which is arrived at by passing through a delicate fish and seaweed broth, the fish is fried and accompanied by salted lemon. The meat is so melt-in-your-mouth that no cutlery is needed so much that it is presented as a skewer to be savored bite by bite.
“Lamb, spiced apple, goat cheese” expresses the soul of the kitchen. Plated like a drawing by Beatrice, the chef's daughter, and with clean, bold flavors, it is a true confidence and foray into Maci's life. The “Millefeuille, chantilly cream, salted caramel, ” concludes the course and reveals the chef's passion for classic pastry as well as his desire to bring a family holiday dessert into fine dining.
Photo credits: @NewsEventiComo
Contact
Villa Lario
Via Matteotti, 27, 22020 Pognana Lario CO
Phone: 031 537 5064
