Varenna: Authentic Dining Experience at a Local's Home

This was the highlight of our trip in Lake Como. From the greeting, to the quality of the dish, to the hands on experience, to the conversation, views, recipes, and generosity they provided to us: this is a must-do. Patrizia and her husband Luca are very kind and welcoming. Patricia offers to show you how you can make these recipes at home. It really feels like you were invited into a local’s home for a wonderful night-in amongst friends. My friend and I left feeling excited that we decided to book this on a whim, and now as we leave we reflect that this was still one of our favorite things.

The most wonderful evening ever! A must do if you’re in Varenna. Patrizia was absolutely fantastic, she was kind and welcomed us into her beautiful home. Her cooking was absolutely exquisite, she explained every dish and it tasted like the best food we’ve ever had. A true authentic experience, you’ll never have anything else like it. Unforgettable!!

Tasting the wonderful food prepared by Patrizia (focaccia bread served with meat, cheese and wine, eggplant Parmesan, Pizzoccheri, cucumber and tomato salad, tiramisu, and bitter orange tart) and learning much about Varenna and local culture and history from her husband Luca. If you are staying near the Varenna-Esino train station, be prepared to pay for a cab ride to and from station to location of this activity. Wonderful experience overall!

We had a great experience and the host Monica was lovely and the food was delicious. A couple of things let it down though. Firstly, the activity stated a dining experience at a local’s home and it wasn’t that. The host had a studio in town where she did the meal and also sold artwork. She lived elsewhere. This was misleading and not the authentic experience that we wanted and paid for. Also, it was difficult to find and when we came past the location a little earlier than start time (to make sure we allowed enough time to find), the host simply told us she was closed and we assumed we were at the wrong spot. We ended up on the next street over as it had the same street number and knocked on their door. Luckily someone was home, knew our host’s name and assisted us back there to find it. It wasn’t ideal. The phone number provided for the host was a landline and we weren’t able to call on WhatsApp due to having an eSIM while travelling. Overall we were still happy but mislead.

We had a wonderful time with our hosts Patrizia and Luca. What an experience! We were warmly welcomed by our hosts and provided with a delicious home cooked meal (everything made from scratch) and accompanied by an excellent bottle of red wine. The conversation flowed and the outlook from their home set high up in the mountain above Lake Como was stunning. It was winter but the wood fireplace made everything cosy. It was a wonderful experience and a highlight of our trip to Lake Como.