Restaurant in Lenna, Italy
Cross the river for real mountain cooking.
Agriturismo Ferdy earns its Michelin Plate recognition with honest, meat-and-dairy-forward mountain cooking in a setting you have to cross a river to reach. At €€€, it delivers more regional depth than most Bergamo-area alternatives, and the cheese trolley and 30-to-50-label wine-by-the-glass list make a long lunch or overnight stay the right way to approach it.
Cross the Brembo river on foot, leave the car park behind, and you arrive somewhere that feels deliberately cut off from the rhythms of the Lombardy plains below. Agriturismo Ferdy, set against the Orobic peaks in the Val Brembana village of Lenna, is not a restaurant you stumble across. You plan it. And if you plan it well, it delivers a meal that justifies both the effort and the spend.
The Michelin Plate — awarded in both 2024 and 2025 , signals that the kitchen meets a consistent standard of quality without reaching for the theatrical complexity of starred dining. Chefs Alessio Manzoni and Alessandro Paleari cook with a clear identity: mountain produce, meat and dairy at the centre, and a style that is substantial without being heavy-handed. This is regional cuisine in the most honest sense, not a self-conscious tribute act but the actual food of these valleys, prepared carefully and served in a setting that matches it. At €€€ pricing for an Italian agriturismo with this level of recognition, it sits in an accessible bracket , expect to spend meaningfully, but not at the level of a Michelin-starred destination dinner.
The physical setting at Ferdy is not incidental to the experience , it is the experience. The meadows, the horses, the enclosure of the Orobic peaks: this is what makes the journey from Bergamo feel purposeful rather than merely long. Inside, the character of a high-end agriturismo holds. The space has the solidity and warmth you expect from a mountain property that takes itself seriously , not a polished boutique hotel dining room, but a room with presence. Guestrooms are available, which means the property rewards an overnight stay; arriving without a booking for Sunday lunch is technically possible but unwise given its 4.4 rating across 1,683 Google reviews, which indicates consistent demand.
This is where the practical decision-making matters most. As a destination venue reached only on foot after crossing the river, Ferdy rewards longer, unhurried visits. Lunch has a strong case: the alpine light, the outdoor setting, and the cheese trolley (a genuine highlight, with range and depth unusual for a restaurant of this scale) all land differently in daylight. If you are staying overnight, dinner lets you settle into the place rather than watching the clock. The wine list is built for both occasions , 30 to 50 labels available by the glass at any given time, with a focus on regional bottles and natural wines, gives the single diner or the table-splitting couple real flexibility without committing to a full bottle. For a long lunch with the cheese course and two glasses, the value calculation is strong. For dinner, the guestrooms justify the full stay: driving back down the valley after the cheese trolley and the wine list would be a waste.
The cuisine sits firmly in the mountain-regional category: meat and dairy-forward, with dishes that are described as occasionally elaborate but always substantial. The kitchen does not reach for abstraction , the flavour profile reflects the character of the Val Brembana, which means bold, direct food with good-quality primary ingredients. The cheese trolley is specifically noted as a standout across multiple sources, with range across tastes and styles. The wine list extends this regional focus with a personalised selection that goes well beyond the usual agriturismo house-pour offering. The shop on-site, selling local produce, is worth time before or after the meal.
Ferdy is a strong choice for food and wine travellers who are already in the Bergamo area and want a meal with genuine regional depth rather than a city restaurant. It is also a credible two-day destination in its own right if you combine it with a walk in the Orobic foothills. It is not the right venue for a quick weeknight dinner or a large group looking for flexible urban dining. The Opinionated About Dining (OAD) ranking of #688 in Europe for 2025 places it in the upper tier of casual European dining , respected, but not a pilgrimage venue in the way that a three-Michelin-star table would be. Think of it as the kind of place a well-connected local would take you for a serious but unstuffy lunch: food-first, setting-first, no performance.
Reservations: Recommended; book ahead for weekends and summer months. Walk-ins are possible but carry risk given consistent demand. Getting there: Drive to the car park, then cross the Brembo river on foot , factor this into arrival time, especially in wet weather. Staying over: Guestrooms available on-site; strongly recommended if you are planning the full dinner and wine experience. Budget: €€€ pricing; expect a meaningful but not extreme spend for a full meal with wine. Dress: No formal dress code indicated; smart-casual fits the setting. Shop: On-site retail of local produce , worth time before departure.
See the full comparison section below for how Ferdy sits against other notable Italian regional and creative tables.
For more on eating, staying, and drinking in the area, see our full Lenna restaurants guide, our full Lenna hotels guide, our full Lenna bars guide, our full Lenna wineries guide, and our full Lenna experiences guide.
If Ferdy's mountain-regional style appeals, the approach also appears at Fahr in Künten-Sulz and Gannerhof in Innervillgraten , both worth considering if your itinerary takes you toward the Alpine arc. For Italian regional depth at higher ambition levels, Piazza Duomo in Alba, Reale in Castel di Sangro, and Uliassi in Senigallia each represent a different but comparable seriousness of purpose. Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone and Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli in Verona are worth bookmarking for itinerary planning in northern Italy more broadly.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriturismo Ferdy | Regional Cuisine | Once you’ve left your car in the car park and crossed the Brembo river, you enter a fairytale setting of meadows and horses surrounded by the Orobic peaks. Here, the cuisine is a declaration of love for the mountains – although occasionally elaborate, the carefully prepared dishes are substantial and full of flavour, with the same solid character as the inhabitants of these valleys and with meat and dairy produce taking centre stage. The cheese trolley at the end of your meal is a real highlight – there’s something here for all tastes! The wine list is also full of character, featuring a personalised selection which showcases regional labels and natural wines. It’s worth noting that between 30 to 50 different labels are available by the glass at different times of year. Guestrooms and a shop selling typical local produce complete the picture at what is an extraordinary, high-end agriturismo.; Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Ranked #688 (2025); Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | Italian, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Dal Pescatore | Italian, Italian Contemporary | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Enoteca Pinchiorri | Italian - French, Italian Contemporary | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Enrico Bartolini | Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Le Calandre | Progressive Italian, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Practical and presentable is the right call here. You reach Ferdy on foot after crossing the Brembo river, so wearing anything that can't handle a short walk is a bad idea. The setting is a working mountain agriturismo in the Orobic peaks — polished casual fits the register of a Michelin Plate venue at €€€ pricing without being out of place in a rural valley context.
The kitchen at Ferdy is built around meat and dairy — chefs Alessio Manzoni and Alessandro Paleari cook squarely in the mountain-regional tradition of the Bergamo valleys, where those two ingredients are central to almost every dish. Guests with dairy or meat restrictions will find the menu works against them significantly. check the venue's official channels before booking to clarify options; this is not a kitchen oriented toward dietary substitution.
At €€€ pricing with a Michelin Plate (2024 and 2025) and an OAD Europe Top 700 ranking, Ferdy justifies the spend if mountain-regional cuisine is what you want. The cheese trolley alone is noted as a highlight worth the visit, and the wine list runs 30 to 50 labels by the glass depending on the season, which adds real value to a longer meal format. If you're after lighter, more minimalist cooking, this isn't the right match — the food is substantial and flavour-forward by design.
Leave the car in the car park and cross the Brembo river on foot — that short walk is the access point to the property and not optional. Book ahead, especially for weekends and summer; demand is consistent. The venue also has guestrooms and a shop selling local produce, so an overnight stay is worth considering if you're travelling from outside the Bergamo area rather than rushing a long lunch.
There are no direct competitors in Lenna itself — Ferdy operates at a level of cooking and setting that has no local equivalent in the Valle Brembana. For comparable regional depth in Lombardy, Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull'Oglio is the most serious alternative, though its focus is Po Valley cuisine rather than mountain cooking. If you're in the Bergamo city orbit and want a different register, look toward Enrico Bartolini's operations for more technically ambitious Italian cooking.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
