Restaurant in Pallanza, Italy
Game-focused mountain cooking, worth the drive.
A self-taught couple runs this late 19th-century hunting lodge above Lake Maggiore with a Michelin Plate in 2024 and 2025, a 4.7 Google rating, and a kitchen anchored in Ossola game and strict seasonality. At €€€, it is the most compelling serious meal in the area and costs less than comparable Michelin-recognised restaurants across northern Italy. Book the 'Sentiero' tasting menu if you want the kitchen's full statement.
Milano, the former hunting lodge perched roughly 1,400 metres above Lake Maggiore on the road to Mottarone, is the right choice for food and travel enthusiasts who want a serious meal in a setting that earns the drive. If you are planning a weekend around Lake Maggiore and want one meal that goes beyond lakeside trattorias, this is where to direct your energy. The Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 signals consistent kitchen discipline, and a Google rating of 4.7 across 242 reviews suggests that quality holds whether or not you arrive on a special occasion.
The building itself is a late 19th-century former hunting lodge, and the context matters for understanding what Milano is. The owners are a young, self-taught couple, and the kitchen reflects a clear editorial point of view: land-based cooking anchored in seasonal produce, with game sourced strictly from the Ossola valley. A handful of lake specialities appear alongside, but this is not primarily a lakeside fish restaurant. The panoramic terrace, available for outdoor service when conditions allow, frames the meal within the landscape rather than simply decorating it.
The wine list earns a specific mention in Michelin's own notes, both the full list and the by-the-glass selection, which is a meaningful detail. A strong by-the-glass programme at a €€€ price point is practically useful: it means you can explore the cellar without committing to a full bottle, and it often signals a team that thinks carefully about how guests actually drink during a meal.
At €€€ pricing in a region where comparable Michelin-recognised experiences often reach €€€€, the service question is central to whether Milano represents good value. The Michelin narrative specifically describes the couple as pouring their hearts into everything they do, and the 4.7 rating across a meaningful sample size supports the idea that the service experience lands well in practice. Self-taught operators at this level tend to run rooms with personal investment that larger brigade kitchens can lose, and at this price tier, that translates into attentiveness that feels earned rather than scripted.
The ten-year body of work behind the “Sentiero” tasting menu is a trust signal worth weighing. A menu framed as a summary of a decade of cooking is a confident editorial statement, and it puts a specific decision in front of you: the à la carte route suits guests who want to explore individual dishes and follow the seasonal menu freely, while “Sentiero” is the better choice if you want the kitchen to tell its own story in sequence. Neither option is a safe fallback — both reflect a kitchen with genuine conviction.
The thorough knowledge of supply chain that Michelin flags is not incidental. At a hunting lodge in the Italian pre-Alps, with game sourced specifically from Ossola and a hard commitment to seasonality, the provenance story is edible rather than decorative. You will taste it in the specificity of the ingredients rather than read about it on a card.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy. The location, roughly 1,400 metres above Lake Maggiore on the Mottarone road, means you are committing to a specific journey , this is not a restaurant you stumble into. Build in time for the drive and consider weather conditions, particularly outside summer months when mountain roads near Mottarone can be slower. No online booking portal or phone number is available in current data, so contact the venue directly through local search to confirm reservation availability and hours before making the trip.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milano | €€€ | Easy | — |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Dal Pescatore | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Osteria Francescana | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Quattro Passi | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Reale | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
The venue database does not confirm a bar-dining option at Milano. What is confirmed is outdoor seating on a panoramic terrace, which is the more practical question at this location. If counter or bar seating matters to your visit, check the venue's official channels before booking.
Yes, with the right expectations. A late 19th-century hunting lodge at 1,400 metres above Lake Maggiore, a Michelin Plate kitchen, and the 'Sentiero' tasting menu representing ten years of the couple's work give a special occasion real substance. This works best for two people who want a quiet, scenic, food-focused event rather than a lively celebration.
The panoramic terrace and the focused, personal nature of a self-taught couple's kitchen make Milano a reasonable solo choice for someone who travels primarily to eat. The 'Sentiero' tasting menu is well-suited to a single diner wanting a structured experience. That said, the mountain location means a solo trip requires a car or a planned transfer.
Nothing in the venue record confirms private dining or large-group capacity. Given the former hunting lodge setting and the personal scale of a young couple's operation, this is likely a smaller-room venue. Groups of more than four should confirm capacity and seating arrangements directly before booking.
The 'Sentiero' tasting menu is positioned as a ten-year retrospective of the kitchen's work, with a strong seasonal and supply-chain focus and game sourced strictly from Ossola. At €€€ pricing, it offers more structured storytelling than the à la carte. If you are making the drive up to Mottarone specifically for the food, the tasting menu is the more complete case for the visit.
Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull'Oglio is the closest regional peer for serious Italian country cooking with deeper formal recognition. For lake-region dining with Michelin credentials, it remains the benchmark comparison. Milano's appeal is its game focus, altitude setting, and self-taught intimacy, none of which Dal Pescatore replicates.
At €€€, Milano sits below the top tier of Italian destination dining and delivers a Michelin Plate-recognised kitchen with genuine seasonal conviction and a notable wine list. The value case depends on whether you can make the mountain drive work logistically. If you can, the combination of setting, game-focused cooking, and personal service at this price point is hard to find in the Lake Maggiore area.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
