La Peca

Two Michelin stars, a 93-point La Liste score, a price tag to match; La Peca earns every euro

Expect to spend in the €€€€ range at La Peca, which means a serious commitment before you walk through the door. This is not a restaurant where you are paying for a famous postcode or a celebrity name attached to a tasting menu. You are paying for cooking that La Liste describes as delivering "strong and decisive flavours" without unnecessary frills, for a wine cellar running to around 2,000 labels. For the Veneto, that combination is difficult to match.

What you're actually booking

La Peca sits on Via Alberto Giovanelli in Lonigo, a small town in the Vicenza hills that most international visitors drive past on the way to Verona or Venice. That remoteness is part of the value calculation: Nicola Portinari's kitchen has held two Michelin stars in a location that does not have the tourist infrastructure of a major city, which tells you the restaurant earns its standing on cooking alone rather than on foot traffic or scene cachet.

The format gives you a genuine choice between tasting menus and à la carte, which matters at this price point. If you have been once and worked through a tasting menu, a return visit through the à la carte is a legitimate strategy, the kitchen's range is wide enough to reward it. La Liste singles out the Laguna Veneta seafood antipasto, the risotto with guinea fowl, leeks and Garganega grape must, the bigoli pasta with anchovies and red onion ice cream as reference points. On the meat side, the mallard duck and barbecued eel with radicchio, apple and horseradish represent the kitchen's confidence with regional Veneto ingredients handled with precision rather than sentiment. Desserts, including a reinterpreted cassata and a Mont Blanc, are consistently noted as a strength rather than an afterthought.

The wine programme is a serious asset. A cellar of approximately 2,000 labels at a two-star restaurant in a wine-producing region of northern Italy is exactly the kind of depth that makes a long lunch genuinely pleasurable rather than a perfunctory accompaniment to food. Lonigo sits within reach of Soave, Gambellara, the broader Colli Berici zone, so expect regional pours to anchor a list that clearly extends well beyond local bottles.

Service and the price question

At €€€€, service is not a detail, it is part of what you are paying for. La Peca's sustained Michelin recognition over multiple years and an OAD Classical in Europe ranking of #177 (2025) suggest front-of-house consistency rather than a single exceptional season. For the price tier, the service style appears to complement the cooking rather than undermine it, which is the threshold that matters. What you will not get is the theatrical production-level service of a large urban two-star in Milan or Florence. La Peca reads as a more personal operation, where the quality of attention is genuine rather than choreographed. Whether that registers as a plus or a minus depends on what you are looking for in a €€€€ meal.

Ideal time to visit

Tuesday through Saturday, lunch or dinner. La Peca is closed Monday and Sunday, so any trip requires building an itinerary around a Tuesday-to-Saturday window. Lunch makes sense if you are combining the visit with the Veneto countryside, the rolling hills around Lonigo are worth the drive, a long lunch that spills into the afternoon is a better use of the setting than an evening visit on a tight schedule. The kitchen runs 12–2 pm and 8–10 pm on all open days, with no late sittings, so plan accordingly. For the tasting menu specifically, the midday sitting gives you more time without the pressure of a last train or a long drive back to a city hotel at night.

Booking

Booking difficulty is rated Near Impossible. That assessment reflects the restaurant's profile, two Michelin stars in a small town with limited seating means tables are allocated well in advance, particularly on weekends and for dinner. Plan a minimum of several weeks out; for a Saturday dinner, months ahead is more realistic. There is no walk-in culture at this level. Contact directly for reservations.

Practical details

Reservations: Essential, book as far ahead as possible, especially for Saturday dinner. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 12–2 pm and 8–10 pm; closed Monday and Sunday. Budget: €€€€, factor in wine, which at a 2,000-label cellar can move the final bill significantly. Dress: Not stated, but a two-star in northern Italy warrants smart dress as a default. Address: Via Alberto Giovanelli, 2, 36045 Lonigo VI, Italy.

Explore more in the Veneto and beyond

If you are planning a broader trip, see our full Lonigo restaurants guide, our full Lonigo hotels guide, our full Lonigo bars guide, our full Lonigo wineries guide, and our full Lonigo experiences guide. For other two-star options in the region worth comparing, Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli in Verona is the most practical alternative for anyone already based in the city. Further afield, Le Calandre in Rubano, Osteria Francescana in Modena, Piazza Duomo in Alba, Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone, Reale in Castel di Sangro, Uliassi in Senigallia, Ilario Vinciguerra in Gallarate, and Evvai in São Paulo round out the broader contemporary Italian picture.