Lio Pelegrini Bergamo

I stayed for a while in Bergamo and was a little disappointed with the restaurants in general. The last night of my stay, I happened upon Lio Pellegrini's restaurant while I visited the Accademia Carrara (which is just across the street . I made a reservation for dinner via email and shared that in Seattle we had a wonderful professor of English, Angelo Pellegrini, who wrote books on the Italian style of living (and eating . When I arrived for dinner, Lio greeted me and said that sadly, he did not know Angelo. He settled me at a table of my choice (I was the first to arrive that night . On looking at the menu, I saw that they were offering a fixed menu of Tartufo Bianco, the white truffle of Piedmont. I jumped at the chance (they are only available in the 4th quarter of the year . He was happy about my choice. I looked through his extensive wine list and asked his opinion on two Barbaresco wines on his list, because Barbaresco is also from Piedmont. He waxed poetic about a Falletto Barbaresco, so I chose that one. Dinner was wonderful. Four courses, each covered in shaved white truffle. Even the dolce, a hazelnut gelato (truffle on gelato seemed over-the-top, but hey! . I was very well taken care of. Service was wonderful, the food was superb, and the wine was amazing. The dining room (it was too cold for the patio was eclectic, well-done, and comfortable. What more can one ask?

Everything you see you can buy, and it’s pretty eclectic. The menu is often changed following the seasonal market offerings. Good wine list. Excellent bread basket. I had a red salad with duck, and fried brains with cauliflowers, I love it. The service could be improved as the dishes are not coming to the table at the same time, and nobody is caring to fill up the wine glass, and I comment this because un upscale restaurant that charges in the order of 80/90 euros per person with an appetizer, main and dessert needs to be impeccable also on the service side. Lastly, the plates are to big for the portion that is actually served, and certainly a bigger portion would not have an impact on the overall costs of the restaurant.

This restaurant has always been resident in my memory. 15 years ago I visited it together with my girl-friend. This year we went to Lio Pellegrini to celebrate my 50th birthday with my now little family of 4. And it was as if time had stood still. Excellent dishes, very tasteful, and the proposed wines to accompany the different dishes were just very good. The cook was flexible enough to suggest some dishes for our kids as well. I must admit that I have difficulties to understand why people are negative about the small portions. This is somehow to be expected when enjoying Haute Cuisine . And we did (again)!

Posto davvero accogliente, la musica di sottofondo e l'atmosfera davvero da cena romantica. personale molto gentile e professionale. tutti molto buoni piatti. Torneremo sicuramente!

Da un lato un locale trattato nei minimi dettagli e un menu vario e raffinato. D'altra parte un conto eccessivo e un servizio non fino alla reputazione del ristorante.