Casa Bernardi

A Michelin-starred Italian in the Costa Blanca hills: worth the drive from anywhere on the Marina Alta

At the €€€ price tier, Casa Bernardi sits in a compelling position: a Michelin-starred tasting menu experience on Spain's southeastern coast that doesn't ask you to fly to Bilbao or drive to Barcelona to eat at this level. For a special occasion dinner in Alicante province, this is the strongest case you'll find for Italian contemporary cooking outside of Italy itself. If you're weighing it against the region's Spanish fine dining options, the format here is meaningfully different — tasting menus built around Italian technique applied to Alicante's seasonal produce, rather than the Valencian or Basque traditions you'll find elsewhere.

Casa Bernardi earned its Michelin star in 2024, which makes this a recent arrival in the guide — and one worth tracking before it becomes harder to book. That recognition is not a coincidence. The kitchen, led by Ferdinando Bernardi from Rimini, operates around two tasting menus, Terreta and Casa Bernardi, structured to show different faces of the same philosophy: Italian rigour applied to local Mediterranean ingredients. The Terreta menu leans into the regional terroir of Alicante, while the Casa Bernardi menu functions as a broader statement of the kitchen's technical range. For a first visit, the choice between them is a genuine one worth considering before you arrive.

What this kitchen does technically

The credential that matters most here is pasta. Michelin's own write-up flags pasta cooked al dente as a point of distinction, in a coastal Spanish context, where Italian technique is rarely the focus, that discipline carries weight. The kitchen's approach to pasta is not decorative; it's structural. The Spaghetti Carbonara built on a base of mantis shrimp is a clear example of how the cooking works: a classical Italian preparation recontextualised through a hyper-local Alicante ingredient, where the briny depth of the crustacean does real work in the dish rather than serving as garnish. The cuttlefish lasagna operates on the same logic, pasta form and method from the Italian tradition, with Mediterranean seafood driving the flavour. This is the kitchen's clearest point of difference from the progressive Spanish fine dining scene: the grammar is Italian, the vocabulary is local.

Working closely with local suppliers, the kitchen commits to seasonal Alicante produce throughout both menus. That seasonal dependency is worth factoring into your visit timing. The menus will read differently in late spring than in autumn, if you're travelling specifically for this meal, it's worth checking what's current before you book.

The setting and the occasion case

Casa Bernardi sits in an refined residential area in Partida Pedramala on the outskirts of Benissa, with a terrace that looks out over the sea. For a date or celebration dinner, the combination of the terrace, the tasting menu format, the Michelin recognition makes this a direct first-choice in the Marina Alta. The formality is calibrated for special occasions without being stiff. The €€€ pricing puts it below the €€€€ tier of Spain's most recognised fine dining rooms, Quique Dacosta in Dénia or Ricard Camarena in València, for instance, which makes Casa Bernardi a more accessible entry point into Michelin-level cooking on this stretch of coast.

If you're visiting the Marina Alta for more than one night and want to build a trip around the food, the wider area has more to explore. Our full Benissa restaurants guide covers the local picture in detail, Casa Cantó offers a regional Valencian counterpoint if you want a second dinner that shows the other side of local cooking. For accommodation and wine context, our Benissa hotels guide and Benissa wineries guide are worth consulting before you plan the full itinerary. There's also a Benissa bars guide and Benissa experiences guide if you're planning a longer stay in the area.

Booking and practical notes

Dinner only, Tuesday through Sunday. There is no lunch service listed, so if you're planning a midday meal, this is not the right venue. The tasting menu format means you're committing to the kitchen's structure for the evening, plan for two to three hours minimum and don't book onward plans immediately after. Given the 2024 Michelin star, booking well ahead is the correct approach; tables will not hold at short notice, particularly on weekends in summer when the Costa Blanca is at peak season. For Italian Contemporary fine dining with a comparable tasting menu format elsewhere in Europe, Agli Amici Rovinj in Croatia and L'Olivo in Anacapri offer useful reference points for what this category delivers at its upper end.