Restaurant in Fosdinovo, Italy
Farm-to-veranda cooking worth the detour.
Locanda de Banchieri earned its 2024 Michelin star for cooking that draws directly from its own Lunigiana farm — vegetables, olive oil, and a kitchen shaped by the landscape between Tuscany and Liguria. At €€€, it is the strongest special-occasion argument in the area. Book four to six weeks ahead; the star has made this a hard reservation.
Picture a 17th-century stone farmhouse above the Ligurian coastline, a veranda with sea views stretching toward the horizon, and a kitchen drawing from its own vegetable garden and olive grove. That image is the pitch for Locanda de Banchieri — and the reality holds up. Chef Giacomo Devoto earned a Michelin star in 2024 for cooking that is grounded in the Lunigiana's larder but not limited by it. If you are travelling between Tuscany and the Ligurian coast and have one dinner to spend, this is where to spend it.
Fosdinovo sits in the Lunigiana, the narrow mountain-and-valley corridor that links Tuscany to Liguria — historically overlooked by visitors rushing between Florence and Cinque Terre, which is part of why a Michelin-starred inn here still feels genuinely off the tourist circuit. Devoto, who is from nearby Sarzana and trained through a stint in the Aosta Valley, returned to this region and converted a 17th-century farmhouse into a working agriturismo with guestrooms and a productive farm. The 2024 star recognition reflects a meaningful shift: what was a respected country restaurant is now operating at a level that warrants a specific trip, not just a casual stop.
The cooking is classified as country cuisine, but that undersells what Devoto is doing. The farm supplies vegetables and extra-virgin olive oil; meat is sourced from inland Lunigiana producers; fish comes from the nearby Ligurian coast. The result is a menu with a clear geographical logic , you are eating this particular stretch of northern Tuscany, not a generic Italian fine-dining experience. For a special occasion dinner, that specificity is exactly what justifies the €€€ price tier: you are not paying for abstraction, you are paying for place.
The panoramic veranda is the centrepiece of the experience, particularly at dinner when the coastal views draw the room's attention outward. For a date or a celebratory meal, the setting does real work , this is not a white-tablecloth room that could be anywhere in Italy. That said, the drinks program here warrants attention as part of the overall picture. A Michelin-recognised kitchen at this price level in a wine-producing region of Italy will typically carry a serious cellar, and the Lunigiana sits within reach of both Ligurian DOC wines (Colli di Luni Vermentino is the local white of note) and the broader Tuscan canon. If you are planning a special occasion and the wine list is important to you, confirm the cellar scope and any sommelier support when you book , the database does not carry specifics, but at €€€ with a star, the expectation is justified. For the dedicated cocktail drinker, a remote agriturismo is rarely the right destination; the drinks program here is a complement to the food rather than a standalone reason to visit.
Guests staying overnight get the full picture: morning on the farm, lunch on the veranda on Saturdays and Sundays (12:30 PM to 2:30 PM), and dinner service running Tuesday through Sunday from 7:30 PM. Monday is closed. The dual lunch-and-dinner weekend service makes Locanda de Banchieri a viable option for a Saturday or Sunday lunch stop if dinner bookings are unavailable , though lunch is harder to secure as a non-resident without advance planning.
With a 4.7 rating across 279 Google reviews and a freshly minted 2024 Michelin star, this is now a hard reservation. Book four to six weeks ahead for weekend dinners; for Saturday or Sunday lunch, the same window applies and competition may be higher given the limited weekend lunch slots. There is no published phone or website in the Pearl database , contact the restaurant directly via their listed address at Via Porredo, 32, Fosdinovo, or search current booking channels. Monday closures are firm. The venue is an inn as well as a restaurant, and staying overnight is the most reliable way to secure a table while also getting the full farm experience.
Dress code is not published, but at a Michelin-starred country inn in northern Tuscany, smart casual is the right read , no need for formal wear, but this is not a jeans-and-trainers room either.
See the comparison section below for how Locanda de Banchieri sits against Italy's broader fine-dining field. For other country cooking with strong regional identity in Italy, 21.9 in Piobesi d'Alba and Andrea Monesi at Locanda di Orta in Orta San Giulio are worth comparing. For the wider Italian starred scene, Uliassi in Senigallia and Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone offer a similar coastal-meets-fine-dining proposition at different price points.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Locanda de Banchieri | Country cooking | €€€ | Hard |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | Italian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Dal Pescatore | Italian, Italian Contemporary | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Enoteca Pinchiorri | Italian - French, Italian Contemporary | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Enrico Bartolini | Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Le Calandre | Progressive Italian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Book four to six weeks ahead, minimum. The 2024 Michelin star has made this a much harder reservation than it was even a year ago, and with only evening service Tuesday through Friday and limited weekend lunch slots, availability is tight. Saturday and Sunday lunch are your best chance at a shorter lead time, but don't count on last-minute openings. Check for cancellations closer to your travel dates if you've missed the window.
Specific menu items are not publicly documented, so we won't invent them. What the Michelin record confirms is that chef Giacomo Devoto builds his menus around seasonal ingredients, with vegetables and extra-virgin olive oil grown on the property and meat and fish sourced locally from both inland and the nearby Ligurian coast. Order with that context: whatever is seasonal at the time of your visit is the point of the exercise.
Specific dietary policy is not confirmed in available records. That said, a kitchen operating at Michelin-star level in Italy and running a farm-driven seasonal menu will typically accommodate requests made at booking. check the venue's official channels well in advance of your visit — don't leave it to the night.
Fosdinovo is a small hill town, and Locanda de Banchieri is its serious dining option. For alternatives with comparable credentials in the broader region, Dal Pescatore in Mantua and Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence both offer multi-starred Italian cooking, though at a different price point and register. If you want something stylistically similar — rural Italian, ingredient-led, farm context — you'll need to look across the Lunigiana or into southern Liguria rather than staying in Fosdinovo itself.
At €€€ pricing with a Michelin star and a farm-driven kitchen, the tasting menu format here makes sense: it's how Devoto's seasonal, ingredient-first cooking is best expressed. If you're visiting specifically for the food, the tasting menu is the right call. If you're eating casually after a hike or a long drive through the Lunigiana, an à la carte option — if available — may suit the occasion better. Confirm the current format when booking.
Yes, straightforwardly. A Michelin-starred farmhouse with sea views from the veranda, guestrooms on site, and a kitchen sourcing from its own land makes for a self-contained special-occasion setting. The inn format also means you can stay overnight, which removes the logistics of a late dinner in a remote hill town and makes the whole visit more relaxed. For a significant dinner in this part of Italy, it's a strong choice.
Dinner runs Tuesday through Sunday; lunch is Saturday and Sunday only. For the veranda experience specifically, a Saturday or Sunday lunch with daylight over the Ligurian coastline makes the setting work harder for you. Evening dinner has its own appeal, but the panoramic views are the selling point, and they read better in daylight. If your schedule allows a weekend lunch, take it.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
