Hermitage - VARESE

The location of this restaurant is splendid, it has an amazing view over Lago di Varese and is a perfect spot for a romantic dinner or a shady lunch in the summertime. I attended a special event held by the restaurant that was a wine and food tasting combined with an art exhibition and jazz piano concert. As it was a tasting event, we did not order from the menu, however I can strongly recommend the bread salad with mussels excellent, the fish 'soup ' with shaved mushrooms and the roast beef perfectly cooked. The 'gnocci fritti ' were light and charming the pasta (large shells with lightly sautéed zucchini and mushrooms) was on the bland side for my taste. My husband has lunched there before and he particularly enjoyed the tartare. The dessert offerings were so so, I much preferred the large plates full of fresh, perfect cherries that were offered after the meat. The wines were presented by Albani Casteggio Vineyards. I tasted two of the three wines available and they were two of the most excellent glasses of wine I 've had here in Italy. The first was a sparkling rheinish riesling that was in fact the best glass of Italian bubbly that I 've had. A middle spectrum dry it did what Italian wines do at their best, it took an excellent grape and let it shine without any extra fussiness. The second was COSTA DEL MORONE 2004 reserve...dense, interesting, provocative, I kept my sips small to enjoy exploring the different flavors. It 's rare that I 've tasted a wine that offered so many surprises and held my interest so thoroughly from first to last. The music was jazz piano by Paolo Paliaga, truly enjoyable though a bit hard to hear well as he was playing on the outdoor patio area. The 6 paintings on display in the first room were eye catching and looked great with the rest of the decor and continued to be worth additional viewing over the course of the evening. The most attractive area in this season was the outdoor patio/seating area. Beautiful, cool and inviting with a romantic view; I also saw several large families and their children enjoying the space to run and play that was adjacent to the seating. Still, with all of the activity it was nonetheless easy to hold a conversation and be heard so I would recommend it as both a good bet for families and couples. My husband enjoyed it previously as a location for business lunches. Price/Value ratio certainly good.

Excellent, spontaneous find. Family run. Quirky. Really food food and wine. Nice atmosphere. Eclectic clientele. Great service. Very relaxed. Try the scampi and calamari gauzzetto!

Absolutely gorgeous cuisine and service. Very atmospheric setting. As soon as you become a frequent visitor, you’ll get special offerings. Crude seafood and seasonal mushrooms and truffles are stunning. 100% recommended

A beautiful discovery. all excellent dishes, excellent service. We'll be back!

Beautiful place, very tasty risotto and nice staff. the place abita hard to get to the restaurant, but as soon as they are there it is beautiful outside and very romantic the interior is a little outdated, but have something to it. the food we started eating risotto, that was very delicious! I really recommend trying. the second course was good, not too special, but decent and well done. the service was very friendly and good, the price is on the more expensive side, but the money worth