Riccardo Camanini redefines the link between tradition, territory and continuous experimentation, turning time into a real ingredient.
The chef
“The philosophy of our restaurant is to pay homage to the quality of time”. Of all the statements made by the Camanini brothers, this seemed the most accurate. I went for lunch at Lido 84 on a sunny day at the beginning of the year. Lucky weather aside, eating at Lido 84 is not complicated affair, but certainly complex, that is.

Chef Camanini is not making a straightforward cuisine, it is a type of gastronomy that requires reflection, and in a world where we run around like the balls of the now vintage pinball machine, it is not an easy challenge. I mean, an award-winning chef like Riccardo Camanini, could “make life easy” for himself and come up with a more simple and easily understandable cuisine, the location would also play in his favor in this choice.


But no, Camanini puts on the table a cuisine that to understand it must first be explained and then metabolized, a cuisine made of great technique and a pinch of provocation. But let's take it one step at a time.

Riccardo Camanini trained from a very young age with masters like Gualtiero Marchesi, Raymond Blanc, Jean-Louis Nomicos, Alain Ducasse and from these teachings he has developed a style all his own that combines technique, memory and the present day. Eating his dishes, it is not difficult to understand that Camanini is a man who has dedicated his profession to the search for the essence of the ingredients, which in fact are all captured from first to last in every single course.

But the chef's style is not limited to the walls of the kitchen, it is a gastronomic experience that should be considered as a whole, which certainly includes the food, but also every detail of the atmosphere in this place a little out of the dizzying present.
The restaurant
In 2014, when Lido 84 opened, Riccardo Camanini was 40 years old and in dire need of change. Together with his brother Giancarlo, he took over a dilapidated building in picturesque Gardone Riviera, creating their restaurant. Caressed by camphor trees, olive trees, oleanders and bougainvillea, while reflected in the iridescent waters of Lake Garda, the restaurant stands on what was a retro lido belonging to an elderly lady.


"We wanted to respect its legacy and kept the name Lido 84. We made very few changes to the building, but we designed a décor inspired by the colors of the lake, the Art Deco of the 1960s and the works of the famous Italian director Federico Fellini,", the Camaninis explain.


I wish I could use a more appropriate term to describe this insanely beautiful location, but I can't find it. The plates, the flatware, the fabrics, are all details that feed the eyes and souls of hedonists and beyond. From the risers of the amuse bouche, to the mother-of-pearl buttons that close the fabric of the breadsticks in the bread service, via the barks on which the cakes are placed and the centerpieces of precious Italian-made collections-everything is in the right place to give beauty.


Rounding out the experience is Giancarlo Camanini, the jewel in the crown of this place that, I repeat, is not just about cooking. Giancarlo Camanini is the biggest star around whom all the tables in this perfectly balanced system orbit, which includes even small smears from the youngest waiters due to the freedom to learn that Giancarlo allows, another characteristic of the greats.
The dishes
Okay, but what do you eat in 2025 at Chef Riccardo Camanini's Lido 84? I did not eat the famous Cacio e Pepe in pork bladder, I had already tasted it on another occasion and I dare to say that it is a dish that maintains its relevance.

But should you wish to try it, there is an opportunity to do so along with other iconic chef's dishes such as Hare à la Royale, a 1775 recipe by Marie-Antoine Carême, which traces Camanini's French school.

I wanted to try the Oscillazioni menu, which is defined by Lido 84 itself as “a journey between flavors, tradition and innovation”. This journey is designed for those who want to indulge in novel courses that play between the past and the future, a tribute to the chef's creativity and experimentation.

We begin with the Shrimp with pomegranate and lovage. Slightly bitter, with citrus and yeasty notes that mingle with the sweetness of the dish. The kale leaf, covering the raw shrimp, is an important element that not only makes the taste work, but gives the necessary chew that uncooked crustaceans lack.

The second course is the Eel, with creamed purple cabbage and nigella. The use of herbs and spices is skillful in this course. In this dish the nigella offers aromatic, gently spicy and peppery nuances. But here it is the lake eel that makes the difference. Its texture is tenacious and its flavor is both intense and delicate, a symbol that the choice of an excellent raw material already makes half the dish.

I continue with the Spaghettone, Butter, Beer Yeast, another chef's classic that was, in my opinion, the forerunner for the butter pasta trend that has been the talk of recent seasons. Camanini came up with this dish in 2016, and among other accolades, it was featured on the menu at In Situ, the restaurant of the Museum of Modern Art (Moma) in San Francisco. This is a very important dish of great significance that should lead, those who improvise themselves as food critics, to reflect on the fact that what they so enthusiastically eat today and call contemporary, almost always has a root in the past and comes from the intuition and above all the courage of a visionary mind. And I don't want to dwell on the fact that the addition of nutritional yeast on pasta is today (it is worth mentioning that Camanini came up with it in 2016) a new genius idea because it is reminiscent of the umami of the much-loved Parmigiano that is not expected in a vegan diet. I close this discussion here.

We move on to the first courses and it is the turn of Pasta Riccia with cannolicchio liver, cannolicchi and toasted sesame, a dish that is excellent in the flavor and texture of this shellfish that usually, when cooked, runs the risk of becoming rubbery and unpalatable. Camanini tells the tale with a soft and enveloping, almost creamy texture.

Rice and Kohlrabi is the dish I enjoyed most in these Oscillazioni. Smoked and fried eel, hazelnuts, and rue, an aromatic herb with bitter and persistent hints, belonging to the subfamily Rutaceae. This is a dish incapable of tiring, reminiscent of smoked cheeses, and the cooking of the rice is exemplary.

Outside the Oscillazioni tasting, I was served the Pennone e Ricci di Mare. So this is one of those dishes that, as I said before, requires you to use your mind. It is a very large pennone, boiled and to be dipped, using your hands, in the sea urchin sauce. What does the chef want to communicate to us with this dish? The quality of the pasta. Those who frequent many restaurants for work or for passion are used to eating pasta made from selected grains, dried at low temperature for very long times and drawn with materials that preserve its characteristics. Those, on the other hand, who enter this world today have so much to discover about it, and it is here that I found the chef's provocation, but also his desire to tell the story of a simple and commonly used ingredient, elevating it to the sole protagonist.

The course is just over halfway through and continues with Savoy cabbage, cumin, mountain pine vinegar and avocado. This is the only Oscillazioni dish that puts vegetables at the center, and I must say that if this is the chef's way of treating vegetables, I hope in future tastings to taste many more.

Braised Saddle of Venison with nocino, wild garlic and Vermouth is one of the two meat courses of the course. The medallion is cooked well, tender and succulent, telling us about the mountain overlooking the lake. Simple and well-executed, perhaps the chef at this point in the course wants us to rest before the punchline.

The savory courses close with Fusillo 84 h. Perhaps it is not accurate to call it a savory course; it is very close to a pre-dessert because of its soft hints. The fusillo is cooked for 84 hours at a controlled temperature and is then preserved inside a date mustard and Lagavulin. The pasta remains surprisingly tough and demonstrates the chef's experimentation with this ingredient. The fusillo is served with pigeon tartare and foie gras, elements that further intensify this dish with a strong character that is not suitable for all palates.

The itinerary ends with a tasting of shared desserts: a long cannoli that diners cut and portion independently, a rose cake that is not flaky but much more like a large leavened cake, and a mouthwatering marron glacé cream with a crunchy yogurt sheet that extinguishes the sweetness of the famous French (or Piedmontese, we don't know yet) dessert.

At the end of the trail, the sun begins to set and the lake is filled with many silvery lights, the feeling is that of having just sat down at the table, and a smile escapes me as I think that the Camaninis are right, their Lido 84 is a tribute to the quality of time.
Contact and info
Lido 84
Corso Giuseppe Zanardelli 196 - 25085 Gardone Riviera (BS)
Phone: +39 0365 20019
E-mail: info@ristorantelido84.com