Villa Crespi

Our goal is to give our customers an experience that will turn dreams into reality, says Cinzia Primatesta Cannavacciuolo, undoubtedly assisted by this sumptuous Villa and by the incredibly beautiful and evocative scenery surrounding it. Lake Orta, arguably the most romantic lake in Italy, together with the proximity to the Sacro Monte, a UNESCO World Heritage site, make this place unique for its beauty and spiritual inspiration. Our passion for catering and hospitality has helped us to devote our life to this challenging work with great enthusiasm, respect and study. The style of our cuisine is modern Mediterranean. Cinzia pampers guests in the romantic restaurant overlooking the lake, where the ambiance and staff work harmoniously together. Antonino is deeply involved daily with his cuisine, drawing inspiration from the path of his life, a pure source of inspiration. His dishes are to some degree the synthesis of his fascinating journey and his union with Cinzia: from his home in the south to Cinzia’s in the north, from Southern to Northern Italy. These are the secrets of our 2 star Michelin restaurant. Tonino watches over his kitchen day in day out and his life there is, for him, pure inspiration. His dishes are the result of his journey from his homeland in the South to Cinzia’s native North of Italy. He has taken typically Piedmontese ingredients and married them with materials that are quintessentially of his native south ... because, as he never tires of saying, “the Mediterranean, while visiting the lake, fell in love with the Alps, bringing them the gift of its rich southern flavours”. He goes on to reveal: “Cooking is an expression of the essence of life and as such it is a continuous search for growth and maturity. The same dish may change over time just as I change from day to day. I have a tendency to be introspective, and seek first within myself and then review my way of cooking, as a result. I take the raw material to its very essence and enhance it by achieving balance with just a few other ingredients. I like my guests to feel strong emotion and my aim is to convey authentic feeling through cooking. “A dish may be a remake of something traditional or something entirely new, reflecting what I was feeling at a particular time for a specific ingredient. “I think I am something of a revolutionary as I keep changing my recipes, and my techniques and ideas are in a constant state of evolution and change. “When I create a dish, I do not think about it, I do not reason it through, I look into myself and what comes out of this is a kind of intuition. In order to do this, however, I have to have a clear mind, free of all thought and be fully concentrated on the moment in time, as though I were observing my inner self and nothing else existed. At that moment in time I am nothing, I just feel a creative energy working. On the other hand, when I think and reason, or study a dish or an accompaniment, I am certainly producing a dish which is perfectly correct, well executed, balanced … but it doesn’t have the same “soul” as the dishes that come to me when my mind is free of encumbrance. These are more alive, more authentic. You just have to let yourself go... Cinzia and Tony

In 1975 I was born on the breathtakingly beautiful Sorrento peninsula, in the town of Vico Equense, and of my 34 years at least 19 have been spent in kitchens. My father was a chef de cuisine, and you could say that I too have been a cook since I was born ! I could do no other job, the last 19 years have been marked by great passion, and I think that most of my strength is down to a constant feeling of starting all over again from the point I have reached. It’s a continuous challenge, like a fire burning inside. My research is also reflected in my compulsive search for the right raw materials and products, with passion, sacrifice, determination and absolute devotion to the job. I have gained invaluable experience in restaurants rated with three Michelin stars in France, such as the Auberge de l’Ill at Illhaeusern, and Buerehiesel in Strasbourg, and also in the kitchens of the renowned Grand Hotel Quisisana at Capri. I have been on Lake Orta for 9 years now, running this superb 19th century villa hotel and restaurant with my wife, Cinzia. Philosophy Cooking is an expression of the essence of life and as such it is incessant, continuous research, study and consequent growth. The same dish can evolve after a period of time, just as I myself change every day. I try to take the raw material to its very essence and to enhance it by achieving balance with a few other ingredients. I like those dining at my table to feel definite emotion and I wish to convey authentic feeling though my cooking, through the taste and flavor, through my creativity. A dish may be tradition revisited or something entirely new that I felt for a specific ingredient at a particular moment in time. The perpetual evolution of form, color and flavour. You let yourself go, allow yourself to be guided. I personally think of myself as something of a revolutionary, thanks to the rapidity with which I renew recipes, techniques and ideas.

Rewards ■2009 18,5/20 Guida Espresso (3 hats) ■2008 Inserted in "Les Grandes Tables du Monde" ■2008 18/20 Guida Espresso (3 hats) ■2007 Inserted in "The Stops" ■October 2006 2 stars Michelin ■November 2003 First Michelin star ■October 2003 3 forks of the Gambero Rosso guide

Carpe Diem tasting menu Euro 85,00 per person Italian Route from South to North tasting menu Euro 115,00 per person Extraordinary tasting menu Euro 135,00 per person

Close Monday all day and Tuesday for lunch time Close from January 06th to March 05th

Carpe Diem A welcome entrée from our Chef Cannavacciuolo °°° Creamy batavian endive salad, buffalo stracciatella, scampi, trucioli of bread and anchovies °°° Pasta “mischiata”, cicerchie, shellfish and seafood °°° Turbot, dried cod tripe, fennel croquettes and orange sauce or Shoulder of veal braised in goat’s milk, porcini mushrooms and sweetbreads °°° Pre dessert °°° Villa Crespi dessert and small pastries € 85,00 per person Wine pairing suggested € 45,00 per person