In the boccalino
The house wine comes in the boccalino, a ceramic jug, at cellar temperature. You drink it from tazzine, small bowls, as people always have in the grotti.
Ticino cooking and Ticino Merlot
Menu and wine
A few dishes, made every day over the wood fire. The menu follows the seasons; the daily menu changes every morning.
On a real restaurant’s website, photos of the place go here instead of the drawing.
On the table today
The daily menu changes every morning and is written on the board in the courtyard. To find out what there is today, give us a call.
Sample daily menu
Lunchtime, Wednesday to Saturday
- Minestrone with vegetables from the gardenor mixed salad
- Merlot risotto with luganighetta sausage
- Torta di pane, our bread cake
Full menu 29.– · main course only 21.–
Always on the menu
With the seasons
Next to the regular menu, a few dishes that are only there when it is their time. When they run out, they have run out.
Spring
mid-April to June
- Asparagus risotto
- Frittata with meadow herbs
- Dandelion salad with boiled egg
- Fresh formaggini with chives
Summer
June to August
- Lake fish in carpione (marinated)
- Garden tomatoes with formaggini
- Lukewarm minestrone with pesto
- Cold zabaglione with wild berries
Autumn
September and October
- Polenta with wild mushrooms, depending on the harvest
- Braised game, when there is some
- Busecca
- Chestnuts cooked in milk
From the copper pot
We stir the polenta in the copper pot, the paiolo, over the wood fire for more than an hour. It is ready when it comes away from the sides: then we turn it out onto the board and cut it with a string.
That is why the first polenta of the evening comes out around seven. If you arrive earlier, ask for a board of cured meats while you wait.
The wine list
Ticino Merlot in the boccalino, as it has always been served, and a few bottles from small producers in the region. The labels change with the vintages: ask us what is in the cellar.
House wine, in the boccalino
- Merlot del Ticino DOC, red2 dl 7.– · 5 dl 16.– · 1 l 29.–
- Merlot bianco
white wine from Merlot grapes, fresh and dry
2 dl 7.– · 5 dl 17.–
By the bottle, 75 cl
- Merlot del Ticino DOC48.–
aged in large casks
- Merlot del Ticino DOC, riserva64.–
from hillside vineyards
- Bondola44.–
historic Ticino grape, a light red
- Merlot rosato39.–
- Traditional-method sparkling wine58.–
from Ticino grapes
After dinner and alcohol-free
- Merlot grappa2 cl 7.–
- House nocino (walnut liqueur)2 cl 6.–
- Gazzosa4.50
lemon or mandarin soda
- House elderflower syrup4.–
We serve wine from age 16 and spirits from age 18.
How we serve it
Under the boulder behind the courtyard is the cellar: in August it is thirty degrees outside and just over ten inside. The wine on your table comes out of that door.
By the bottle
We open bottles at the table. The fuller reds we bring a few minutes early, so they can breathe.
By the glass
Any bottle on the list that we open for another table is also available by the glass. Ask the staff what is open.
What to drink with what
| If you order | we suggest |
|---|---|
| Cured meats and formaggini | Young house Merlot, in the boccalino |
| Polenta and braised beef | Merlot del Ticino DOC, riserva |
| Risotto and lake fish | Merlot bianco |
| Afternoon snack in the courtyard | Merlot rosato, or a gazzosa |
The labels change with the vintages and with what the region’s producers set aside for us. The list above shows how we keep it: to know what is in the cellar today, ask us.
When the lanterns are lit, we are open.
Wednesday to Sunday, mid-April to end of October. For evenings and for groups, it is best to request a table.