Aielli & Benevento

For centuries, Lake Como has inspired poets, authors, and composers. The deep arctic lake with its Alpine backdrop has cast a spell on Da Vinci, Toscanini, Edith Wharton and and Mark Twain, Churchill and King Farouk. Now, locally-beloved resident George Clooney calls Laglio home, and he provides a firmament of new celebrities. ‘Million dollar views’ is an understatement. Lakeside villas are said to be valued at up to one hundred million dollars.

Lake Como’s temperate climate allows pines and palms to co-exist. Forget clever off-season strategies. Many places, even large hotels, are closed November through March. If you love gardens, go in April or May when the rhododendrons, azaleas, and camellias bloom. Roses, oleanders, and hydrangeas follow in June.

Town-hopping is the main activity of Lake Como, by ferry, hydrofoil, or private yacht. Only thrill-seekers or the naïve attempt to drive the narrow cliffside roads.  Watch your timing. This is not a small lake. The ferry from Como to Bellagio takes four hours round-trip. Even by hydrofoil it takes 45 minutes each way. Bellagio to Varenna is a twenty-minute ride, and boats do not run constantly, so pay attention to the schedule as well. Even with a decent capacity for speaking and understanding Italian, it can be tricky to understand which boats go where, and when.

Here is a review of the highlights of Lake Como:

BELLAGIO

Old World elegance is evident in Bellagio’s arcaded lakeside piazza where you can stroll, enjoy the scenery and shop at the same time. If you aren’t able to stay at the glorious Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, dine at its glass-enclosed formal restaurant that seems to sit out on the lake. For what some say is the best cappuccino in Italy, find Pasticceria Sport on Piazza della Chiesa. Bar Café Rossi, in the arcade directly in front of the ferry dock, has good breakfast and lunch items. This may be one place you’ll want to sit indoors, to enjoy the incredible detail of the Art Nouveau dining room.  Bellagio residents say it’s a shame that tourists don’t usually take the 15-minute drive to Chevrio to dine at Trattoria Baita Belvedere, a great restaurant with greater view. To enjoy other spectacular views with gardens, tour Villa Serbelloni, owned by the Rockefeller Foundation; and Villa Melzi, a magnificent private residence with a chapel, museum and park.  If you miss your regular workouts, the Cavalcalario Club is a good source for all things active: horseback riding, paragliding, and a sport called canyoning that involves walking, jumping, swimming, and climbing, thankfully with trained guides. 

CERNOBBIO

Many come to Cernobbio to see or stay at its claim to fame: the legendary Grand Hotel Villa d’Este, built in 1568. Its ten acres of meticulously maintained gardens are only rivaled by the antique furnishings Napoleon might have brushed by. At Villa d’Este, many people overlook the Sporting Club; they think it ends with the fitness center and spa, but if you love tennis, visit the tennis center and take a lesson from Giorgio, a wonderful instructor who has run the tennis center for many decades. Behind the courts is a great hiking trail. You slowly climb up the steep mountainside and take in absorbing views all along the way. 

Just outside the gates of Villa d’Este, join the locals for breakfast at Polletti, where they start baking each day at 4 a.m. The smells waft through the air until the morning rush that starts around 9:30. For lunch or take-out for a picnic, regulars recommend nearby La Piazzetta. For good family style dinners, go to La Posta, in Moltrasio, a bit north along the shore. Signor Armando and Signora Rosella are multilingual, wonderful hosts and the food is truly home-made.  If pizza is your thing, the best pies in northern Italy are said to come out of the oven at Pizzeria Tennis Club Tre Vigne, a small tennis club in Tavernola, and inland town between Cernobbio and Como.

COMO

The largest city on the lake, at its southern point and less than an hour from Milan, Como is the main entrance for many travelers who arrive by train, bus, and car. Characterized as commercial and industrial, it was scrubbed clean for its recent 700th birthday.  Como’s must-see church is the cathedral in Piazza del Duomo, with its rose window, ornate doors, and statues of two native sons, Pliny the Elder and his nephew Pliny the Younger. The Duomo is cited as the best example of transitional architecture, began in the 14th century and finished in the 17th, a Gothic façade with an18th-century dome.  If you keep hearing about hiking up the mountains but don’t have the heart, or feet, for it, take a ride on the Brunate Funicular Railway from Como.  From the main square, Piazza Cavour, you can see villas, a funicular, a neoclassical rotunda, and Cernobbio. A walk along the water under shade trees leads to the public gardens at Villa Olmo.

All the guide books list Il Gatto Nero as Lake Como’s great restaurant for celebrity-spotting, and it can be, but a truly special dining experience is Como’s Il Navedano. It is run by a couple that pays as much attention to the food as they do to the floral decorations. You’ll think you’re dining in a botanical garden.

MENAGGIO

There’s a great beach at the north end of town, and one of Italy’s best-known golf courses, the Menaggio and Cadenebbia Golf Club, has one of the best stocked golf libraries in the world.

 TREMEZZO

The sunniest spot on the Lake is the town of Tremezzo, where the views are a draw, but it is best known for Villa Carlotta, built in the 18th century. Inside, there are beautiful ceiling frescoes and an impressive art collection; however, it’s the gardens that draw the crowds. More than 500 species of flowers, plants and trees from around the globe thrive here.

ISOLA COMACINA

A nice day trip from Como or Bellagio is to Isola Comacina, the only island on the lake. You can hike to build up an appetite to dine at its one restaurant. The menu, a set menu, has been the same for almost 50 years. At the end of the meal, you get a history lesson from the owner, who rings a cowbell to get everyone’s attention.The entire lake and all its towns have their beauty, so wherever you end up, take a walk, sip some vino, and enjoy the view.

Like most large cities in the U.S., D.C. has an over-abundance of average-quality Italian restaurants. Here are five diverse and great ones:

i Ricchi

Chef and owner Christianne Ricchi received the Insegna Del Ristorante Italiano from the President of Italy for establishing one of the best Italian restaurants in the world outside of Italy. Many of the signature rustic recipes at i Ricchi are from the family trattoria in the village of Cercina. The Tuscan menu is perfect for Mediterranean dieters. Grilled meats and baked entrees from the wood-burning grill are infused with a rich smoky flavor. Pasta and risottos are intentionally kept simple, using basic ingredients like perfect olive oil and vegetables, perhaps some homemade sausage. There is always grilled seafood and fowl on the menu, as well as freshly baked bread and homemade desserts. A Ricchi family favorite that is handmade daily is Tortelloni al Burro e Salvia, thinly rolled pasta around ricotta and spinach, with butter and fresh sage sauce.

Flowers and trailing greenery grace the spacious rooms, but the focal point is the wood burning hearth. Its warmth is complemented by terracotta floors, golden yellow walls, and rustic murals.

i Ricchi: 1220 19th Street NW; 202-835-0459; www.iricchi.net

Café Milano

Café Milano is best known as a happy late night hangout for beautiful young things in gorgeous clothes. Famous faces from Hollywood, New York, and Capitol Hill are a regular sight at dinnertime. During the day, business types and ladies-who-lunch fill the bright, sunny main dining room, where famed designer neckties decorate the walls. In good weather, a patio extends the scene out to the streets of Georgetown.

The food is straightforward elegant Italian. A good number of the pastas are homemade daily. Most dishes are light, pleasing to the calorie-conscious: think shrimp, asparagus and diced raw tomato with a splash of olive oil. For more substance, there’s pizza on the menu, as well as meat and seafood entrees, even grilled liver, accompanied by an onion stuffed with creamy risotto.

Kudos for high quality and flawless preparation go to Head Chef Fabio Salvatore, from Abruzzi, who knew food was his vocation from an early age. By 23, after his formal education and a stint in London, he moved to Washington for an executive chef position from which Café Milano’s savvy owner, Franco Nuschese, hired him away.

For an endorsement, you can’t get better than the Pope. The Vatican chose Cafe Milano to prepare Pope Benedict’s birthday meal at the Vatican Embassy when the pope visited DC in April 2008.

Café Milano: 202-333-6183; 3251 Prospect Street, NW; www.cafemilano.net

Tosca

Tosca can seem austere, with its pale grey and champagne palette, thick carpets, and heavy drapes. The designers knew what they were doing, however. This is a rare restaurant that is conducive to fine dining and conversation that doesn’t require raised voices.

The cuisine is inspired by Chef Massimo Fabbri’s native Tuscany. He blends fresh, locally grown, organic ingredients with must-have imports from purveyors in his home region. Outstanding dishes include ravioli stuffed with veal, prosciutto, and pistachio mortadella in a red-wine reduction; and sea bass (branzino) with balsamic vinegar sabayon. You can also request whole wheat pasta and simply grilled fish.

Small parties (up to can dine at the Chef’s Table in Tosca’s kitchen, where Fabbri prepares a 7 to 9 course dinner of harmonious but exciting composition…an opera of sorts.

Tosca: 1112 F St. NW; 202-367-1990; www.toscadc.com

Potenza

The best pizza is usually the simplest, with traditional tomato sauce, top-of-the-line mozzarella and fresh basil. Potenza does pizza perfectly, and the breadsticks are amazing, too. This new Italian restaurant, bakery and wine shop caught on quickly with the downtown crowd. It seems to be full all the time despite less than glorious reviews, leading one to deduce that it has a great location and atmosphere, which it does, and you have to know what to order. Note the in-house bakery that prepares breads, pastas and desserts, the salumi counter and the raw bar. Let that information guide you.

In addition to the pizza, made in a gas-fired ceramic oven, focus on the cured meat sampler (the speck is made in-house) that comes with pickled vegetables; homemade –but unstuffed– pasta like the Maltagliati al Ragu di Pesce (seafood ragu) with a generous amount of seafood, heirloom tomatoes, and homemade basil pasta; pappardelle with hearty wild-boar ragu; and the fresh frutti di mare from the raw bar.

Executive chef Bryan Moscatello focuses on Southern Italian food, more accurately Italian-American food (“rigatoni and Sunday gravy”), but he makes it – and more — for grownups. The people that crowd into Potenza regularly know they can get a great meal in a friendly place without paying expense-account prices. They settle in, unfold the kitchen towel napkins, and prepare to dig in. It is possible to eat light here, but who would want to?

Potenza: 15th & H Street NW; 202-638-4444: www.potenzadc.com

Il Mulino

A special occasion restaurant with super-attentive and formally attired waiters, Il Mulino is reminiscent of the grand French restaurants that dominated high-end dining decades ago. This branch of the 30-year-old New York mecca is drawing the K Street lawyers and lobbyists, the business conference crowd, and prosperous couples. Wrought-iron chandeliers, tapestries and roses create an old-school ambience.

Many appetizers, on the house, come your way as soon as you sit down. A block of Parmesan might be followed by a basket of warm garlic bread, then bruschetta and fried zucchini. Save room! If you like veal, order the classics: ossobuco, saltimbocca, and picatta.The black truffle accented Capellini Il Mulino is irresistible with its wild mushrooms, pancetta and sweet peas in vodka cream sauce.

A note of interest: founding brothers Fernando and Gino Masci were born and raised in L’Aquila, the regional capital of Abruzzo, Italy, recovering from that terrible earthquake.

Il Mulino: 1110 Vermont Ave, NW; 202-293-1001; www.ilmulino.com

The main event at most cathedrals is inside: the paintings, the statues, the carving, the marble mosaic floors. At the pink marble Duomo in Milan, one of the largest churches in the world at 525 x 300 feet, there are plenty of interior marvels. A nail from Jesus’ cross, marked by a tiny red light, is kept above the altar. There are 52 spectacular 100-foot pillars, a 16th century inlaid marble floor, stained glass from 1470, and pews that accommodate 40,000: the population in 1386 when cathedral construction began. It ended, more or less, in 1858, and over the centuries the building and design process reflected a mix of architectural styles.

Often referred to as a ‘forest of spires,’ the rooftop is the most memorable part of a Duomo visit. Amazing from below, it’s jaw-dropping up close. Visitors walk carefully, on the uneven surfaces (no stiletto heels, for your own sake) among hundreds of statues, gargoyles, pinnacles, and flying buttresses decorated with elaborate tracery. On the highest of the 145 spires, a gilded copper Madonna (La Madonnina) stands above her city, looking up toward the heavens. On a clear day you can see not only far reaches of the city, but the Alps that surround Lake Como.

Maybe Mark Twain described it best: “What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight, and yet it seems a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a breath.”

If you go: To get to the roof, by stairs (€4) or elevator (€6), stand outside the cathedral. Facing the Duomo, walk around to your left toward the back. The stair-stepping option consists of 919 steps. Your time on top of the world might last as little as 30 minutes or as long as you like. If you are afraid of heights, it might be a little unsettling but substantial wire mesh is across all the open areas. Access to the roof is not possible for people with disabilities. 

Entrance to the Duomo is free, as is the case with all Italian churches. Remember to dress modestly. Even children can be turned away if they have bare shoulders or extreme shorts.

Bad weather shuts down the roof, but you can still catch a view of the Duomo spires and statues from the department store La Rinascente – in the Galleria. Take a break in their 7th floor restaurant.  You can get elevator tickets in advance for €8.50. Children under 5 only pay the booking charge of €1.50. When you book in advance, you take another elevator and avoid any line.

Location: Piazza del Duomo, Milan

http://www.duomomilano.it/ground1024_en.html