Restaurant in Bressana Bottarone, Italy
Dual-register kitchen, serious duck, easy booking.
Novanta holds a Michelin Plate in 2024 and 2025 and operates at the €€ price tier — making it one of the better-value recognised tables in the Bassa Pavese. The kitchen runs two distinct registers: a simple, genuine lunch menu and a more gourmet evening format built around Lombardian duck dishes. Book an evening slot for a special occasion; come back for lunch to see what the kitchen does when it is not showing off.
At the €€ price tier, Novanta in Bressana Bottarone offers something specific and worth your time: a dual-register kitchen that operates as a genuine weekday lunch spot and shifts into a more considered, regional dinner experience at evenings and weekends. That two-speed format is the entire reason to plan your visits strategically. One lunch, one evening — and you will have eaten at what Michelin has recognised with a Plate award in both 2024 and 2025. For a special occasion, the evening menu is your entry point. For sheer value, the lunch menu is difficult to beat in the Bassa Pavese area.
Novanta sits on Via Roma in Bressana Bottarone, a small comune in the province of Pavia, in the Bassa Pavese — the lower Po plain of Lombardy. The restaurant is accessible via the A21 motorway, which matters if you are driving from Milan, Pavia, or Piacenza. The setting is rustic and warm, consistent with the regional style of the area rather than the stripped-back minimalism you find in Italy's larger city restaurants. The feel is authentic rather than designed, which suits the food.
The Google review score sits at 4.8 across 168 reviews , a strong signal for a venue of this size in a town this small. That kind of score, sustained over a meaningful volume of reviews, suggests consistent delivery rather than a single exceptional spell of form.
Duck is the thread that runs through Novanta's menu and the clearest expression of what this kitchen does well. The bird features across multiple preparations, and the duck ragù served with fusilloni pasta is the dish the Michelin record specifically flags. If you are building a two-visit strategy, this is your first-visit anchor on the evening menu: the pasta course before you explore anything broader.
On a second visit, the lunch menu gives you a completely different register of the same kitchen. The dishes are simpler, priced for midweek frequency rather than occasion dining, and represent , as the Michelin record puts it directly , unbeatable value for money. This is not a truncated version of the evening menu; it is a different proposition. Lombardian regional cooking at lunch, at an accessible price, with the same kitchen behind it.
For a third visit, or if you are combining lunch and an evening on the same trip, the weekend menu is worth targeting. The weekend format appears to bridge the two registers, with a more gourmet lean than weekday lunch while remaining rooted in regional Lombardian produce and technique.
The wine list at Novanta covers both local and international labels. The Michelin record specifically notes a 2012 Wollenweider Riesling Renano from Germany's Moselle region , an unexpected and informed inclusion for a restaurant at this price tier in rural Lombardy. That kind of selection suggests the wine programme is taken seriously and is not simply a house-pour list padded with regional bottles. If you are pairing wine with the duck dishes, ask what is current from the local Oltrepò Pavese producers; the denomination sits immediately adjacent and produces reds from Barbera and Bonarda that suit this style of cooking well.
For a celebration or date dinner, book an evening or weekend slot rather than lunch. The evening menu's gourmet register and the rustic warmth of the room give you a combination that works for the occasion without the pressure of a formal fine-dining environment. This is the kind of dinner where the setting does some of the work: a traditional Lombardian room, a wine list with range, and a kitchen that knows its ingredient well enough to earn two consecutive Michelin Plate recognitions. It is not a white-tablecloth event, but it is a proper evening out.
For business meals, the lunch menu offers a practical, high-quality option at a price that does not require justification. The accessible A21 location means it is reachable from Pavia or Piacenza without a significant detour.
Booking difficulty at Novanta is rated Easy. Given the location in a small Lombard comune rather than a city restaurant cluster, and the price tier, you are unlikely to face the multi-week booking windows that apply to starred restaurants in Milan or Pavia. That said, for a specific occasion dinner on a Friday or Saturday evening, booking ahead is still sensible. Phone contact details are not currently listed in our database , check the address at Via Roma, 79, Bressana Bottarone, or search the venue directly for current contact information.
The restaurant is accessible via the A21 motorway. Bressana Bottarone is in the province of Pavia, south of the Po river. If you are travelling from Milan, allow approximately 45 to 60 minutes depending on your starting point. From Pavia city centre the drive is shorter. There is no public transport data in our record, so driving or a hired car is the practical assumption.
| Venue | Price Tier | Booking Difficulty | Key Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novanta (Bressana Bottarone) | €€ | Easy | Dual-register menus; duck-forward Lombardian cooking; exceptional lunch value |
| Dal Pescatore (Runate) | €€€€ | Hard | Three Michelin stars; Italian contemporary; destination-level commitment required |
| Al Gambero (Calvisano) | Not listed | Not listed | Lombardian focus; regional alternative |
| 85 Bistrot (Sesto San Giovanni) | Not listed | Not listed | Lombardian; accessible Milan-area option |
See the full comparison section below.
Explore more options in our full Bressana Bottarone restaurants guide, or browse hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in the area.
For broader Lombardian reference points, see Enrico Bartolini in Milan and Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli in Verona. For the upper end of Italian fine dining in the region, Piazza Duomo in Alba and Le Calandre in Rubano represent the €€€€ tier. Beyond the north, Uliassi in Senigallia and Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence are useful comparison points for occasion dining at a higher price tier.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novanta | Situated in the Bassa Pavese region and easily accessible via the A21, Novanta is a classic, rustic-style restaurant with a warm and authentic feel. At lunchtime, the menu offers simple, genuine dishes, while in the evening and at the weekend the cuisine takes on a more gourmet and regional flavour. Duck takes pride of place on the menu, featuring in numerous dishes, and is an important ingredient in the delicious ragù served with fusilloni pasta. The extensive wine list features local and international labels, including an interesting 2012 Wollenweider Riesling Renano from Germany’s Moselle region. The lunchtime menu offers unbeatable value for money!; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | €€ | — |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Dal Pescatore | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Osteria Francescana | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Quattro Passi | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Reale | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Novanta and alternatives.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in available venue records for Novanta. Given the rustic, classic-style dining room format documented by Michelin, this reads as a table-service restaurant. check the venue's official channels before arriving with bar-seating expectations.
The menu is duck-forward with a strong regional Lombardian identity, so the kitchen is not built around flexibility. If duck and meat-based preparations are off the table, the menu becomes significantly narrower. Call ahead — the €€ price tier and local-restaurant format suggest they can accommodate with notice, but do not assume a dedicated vegetarian or allergen-specific offering.
Booking difficulty at Novanta is rated Easy, and the location in a small Lombard comune rather than a city restaurant cluster supports that. A few days' notice is likely sufficient for lunch; weekend evenings may warrant a week ahead given the gourmet register draws a more deliberate crowd. Michelin Plate recognition does attract attention, so don't leave a Friday or Saturday dinner to chance.
Yes, for the right kind of occasion — specifically one where warmth and regional authenticity matter more than white-tablecloth formality. Book an evening or weekend slot to access the gourmet register rather than the simpler lunch menu. At €€, it delivers a credible Michelin-recognised meal without the price pressure of a starred table, which makes it a practical choice for a low-stakes celebration.
A formal tasting menu is not confirmed in the venue record. What is documented is a dual-register approach: a value-led lunch menu and a more gourmet evening and weekend offering. If you want the full expression of what Novanta does — particularly across multiple duck preparations — an evening visit is the closer equivalent to a tasting format.
At €€ with two consecutive Michelin Plate awards (2024 and 2025), Novanta represents strong value, particularly at lunch where Michelin's own notes flag it as offering unbeatable value for money. The evening gourmet menu asks a bit more but remains in accessible territory for a regionally focused, award-recognised kitchen. If you are driving the A21 corridor through Pavia province, this is an easy yes.
There are no direct comparators within Bressana Bottarone itself given its size. For Michelin-level Lombardian dining with more prestige, Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull'Oglio is the regional benchmark — starred for decades, but at a significantly higher price point. For a closer value-to-quality match in the Po plain tradition, Novanta is the practical option in this geography.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
