Gourmet products local specialties and wines Grands lacs italiens

Since 1957, Faravelli is to gastronomy what Cartier is to jewellery. In the showcase meats, hams, cheeses and succulent prepared dishes (white bean pasta, soups, roast portions and so on) with products of the highest quality and freshness. Within a few metres, there is also a delicatessen selling all kinds of seasonal delicacies, and a well-stocked wine and champagne library, which completes the setting. You come here for special occasions as well as for your lunch sandwich.

"We do it in front of everyone" is the motto of this amazing café, at the crossroads between an ice cream parlour, a restaurant and a pastry shop. Cioccolati Italiani does everything possible to fulfil its mission of promoting chocolate culture: a view of the production laboratory, dark and white chocolate fountains (where you can fill your cone), ice-cream tasting and a pleasant veranda. A real temple dedicated to chocolate served in all its variations; gelato, however, wins first prize: smooth, velvety, creamy, a real treat!

A candied fruit merchant worthy of the Thousand and One Nights! The store alone is worth the detour: wooden counters, shelves covered with glass jars and marble worktops set a deliciously Belle Époque tone. Over a hundred varieties of dried and dehydrated fruit, including Thai papaya, Sicilian pistachios, Tuscan pine nuts, Calabrian figs, and even ginger, kumquat, cedar, wild strawberries and red berries. A brand whose quality has been guaranteed since 1908.

Probably the chicest market in town. Parallel to via Brera, a stone's throw from its boutiques and pinacoteca, along the elegant via San Marco, in the shadow of the church of the same name, this beautiful market is far from being just a neighborhood market. The Milanese come here to buy a few items at unbeatable prices. Indeed, the sweaters, shoes and jewelry sold here are always at the cutting edge of fashion. Clothes, shoes, flowers but also meat, fish and vegetables, all of which are as beautiful as they are good.

Vittoria, the founder of Gelato Giusto, is a graduate of the Académie Culinaire de France and has worked with Lenôtre and Valrhona... This should be convincing enough in terms of the quality of her ice creams, which have absolutely nothing to reproach themselves for. When she decides to produce a new flavor, she studies it down to the last detail and doesn't stop until she's sure she's achieved perfection. Alongside the great classics, originals such as ricotta, blood orange and pear-chocolate are well worth discovering.

Here's yet another address to discover on Via Spadari. The store's motto is "de la glace et c'est tout" ("ice cream and that's all"), a slogan that says it all. Ciacco has made a name for itself in Milan for the quality of its ice cream, the aim being to create ice cream without any natural or chemical additives. Among the twenty or so flavors available in summer and winter, you'll find apricot, pistachio and pumpkin, as well as cheesecake and salted butter caramel. Open weekday mornings, the shop also serves good coffee and delicious stuffed brioches.

On Corso di Porta Romana, here's a small panificio with a tempting shop window where you'll find focaccia and pizza, as well as cookies to fill a small hunger during your visit to the district. Taste the pan meino: this tasty cookie flavored with elderflower is a Milanese specialty eaten mainly in April. In November, you can also try pan dei morti, with dried fruit, which is excellent! Beware of the bill: the products are of high quality, but the prices are a little high.

Cannoncinois one of Milan's favorite pastries. These little rolls of puff pastry with pastry cream are irresistible. Serge has made a name for himself among the Lombardy capital's many pastry shops with his " gourmet " cannoncini, often cited as one of Milan's best. These are filled on the spot with crème pâtissière, pistachio or sabayon. The patisserie also offers excellent macaroons and, during the festive season, the unmissable panettone. All to eat in or take away.

Open since 1966, Martesana has five locations in Milan. It stands out for the quality of its pastries (awarded several national and international prizes), without being overpriced. Open all day, you can enjoy breakfast or a snack, indoors or on the terrace. The address is particularly renowned for its panettone, excellent with candied fruit. At Easter, you'll also fall for the colomba with its almond glaze, the Italian Easter dessert par excellence.

For more than 40 years, this artisanal pastry shop has excelled in its house specialty, margheritine, small light and melting cookies first made in 1868 for the Queen of Italy, Margherita. They are now the pride of the city. You can't leave Stresa without tasting them. The cookies can be bought by the gram. To make a gift, they are packed in a pretty cardboard box with the representation of the city in engraving. Other tempting sweets: panettone, filled mini-croissants, tarts...

Next to the restaurant-osteria del Castello, the boss opened a cellar, the Magnum kingdom, where you can taste the Italian wine of your choice. Wines of Alba and Monferrato, Barbera d'Alba, Nebbiolo d'Alba. The cellar has a terrace where you can enjoy an aperitif.

The shop, in the heart of the city, prides itself on being "the best glacier on Lake Orta". It is worth mentioning that it has been awarded the qualification of artisan excellence by the Piedmont Region! It has an assortment of uncommon natural flavours, a truly artisanal production and a special respect for intolerances (gluten-free, lactose-free, etc.), with products of the highest quality. Fruit sorbets in summer, cream ice cream in winter. It's the perfect place to take a cone and go admire the lake.

On the lakeside, we have tested a lot this ice-cream parlour and we can assure you: it is one of the best in this region of Italy! We come there to get drunk of the numerous fruit flavors or we opt for a more original ice cream as, for example, those with tiramisu, with honey or with cinnamon... The pistachio ice cream is simply excellent and reveals all the flavors. Unforgettable! Il Gelato dei Masters also offers very good milkshakes. Very friendly staff. Attention, payment only in cash.

An exceptional estate, born of the passion and love of founder Vittorio Moretti. The Bellavista vineyards cover more than 190 ha, and more than 1,150,000 bottles are produced each year. To give you an idea, Bellavista is the official supplier of Milan's Scala! The estate's care is not confined to wine alone: an enchanting garden completes the estate, ranked among the most beautiful in Italy. The estate is home to Relais & Châteaux l'Albereta and the restaurant of top Italian chef Gualtiero Marchesi.

Visiting the Ca' del Bosco estate and cellars is a sensory experience that combines the pleasure of good wine with a love of beautiful things. The estate is dotted with works of contemporary art, while the cellars, entirely designed by renowned architects, look more like a spaceship than a traditional wine cellar. You will discover how these great vintages are produced, through the different phases of production and in the laboratory. At the end of the tour, you will be able to order your favourite bottles

Restaurant, wine bar and trendy brasserie, Dispensa Pani and Vini are best placed to sell all the best wines of Franciacorta. Here you will find the best bottles of Bellavista or Berlucchi (other great mousseux in the region).

A piece of Bergamo history dated 1476. Situated in the enchanting Piazza Vecchia, the retro and elegant décor will take you back to an atmosphere of yesteryear. The bar offers excellent pastry specialties such as torta donizetti, the traditional local sweet cake with apricots and pineapple slices. There is also a fast food restaurant at lunchtime. You will enjoy the beauty of the setting, although the service is sometimes a little slow. And if you are in too much of a hurry, you can simply lean back at the bar to have a coffee!

A paradise for gourmets, Mangili is the perfect address if you want to take home a small basket of Bergamasque flavours. From the butcher's department you will choose the Bergamo sausage, among the pasta one or two portions of fresh casoncelli (to be eaten quickly!), among the cheeses a nice slice of taleggio and, on the delicatessen shelves, some nougats or dry cakes. We let ourselves be advised by the boss, very friendly and good advice. Some good local wines. And then, of course, let yourself be tempted by everything else!

Allow yourself a moment in this street adjacent to the popular Corso Cavour. Sitting at the table of this modern stall, enjoy a gourmet break at breakfast time, over a cappuccino, hot chocolate, tea or homemade fruit juice, accompanied by a generous selection of pastries. If you choose lunch or an evening aperitif, opt for a beer or glass of wine with a snack brimming with vegetables or charcuterie.

Did you know that it is in Verona that the pandoro is produced, this sweet star-shaped bun sprinkled with icing sugar, a must for Christmas? Well, the Barini pastry shop has been making it its speciality for over 50 years. Just a few steps from the bullring, Barini is also a cafeteria where you can sip a creamy cappuccino or a strong espresso and bite into little cakes with names as bewitching as their flavour: Romeo's Kisses (with almond and butter cream), Juliet's Kisses (with hazelnut and chocolate cream).

Since 1970, Verona's best baccalà! Taken over in 2014 by the current owner, Giovanni Cipriani, the house has made cod its specialty. The fish arrives dried directly from the port of Genoa, then comes the painstaking work of desalting it and making the tender flesh ready for use in the kitchen, notably to prepare the famous baccalà alla vicentina, where the cod is whipped into a cream with milk. If you can't bring home dried fish, the store is well worth a visit, if only to learn about the region's culinary traditions.

A small shop that smells like the shops of yesteryear, in the Veronetta district, across the river. Elisabetta Gozzo, the owner, is brimming with imagination to perpetuate the culinary tradition of ravioli typical of the town. Everything here is made rigorously by hand, stuffed with the most varied fillings, including original flavours such as donkey meat stew or red onion and fresh cheese or lemon and asparagus. Well packaged, the ravioli will keep for a few days, so don't hesitate to shop around.

Certainly the best ice in the city, which is tasting during the beautiful season, when the sun illuminates the narrow streets, and ice by hand, we can walk a nonchalant step in the city of Romeo and Juliet… Top perfumes, which regularly renew over the seasons. Classics (coffee, chocolate, hazelnut) are a safe value. Guaranteed ingredients 100% freshness and high quality, ancestral know-how, and a business that works hard!

Gourmands, forget your diet before approaching this Ali Baba's cave. A French-style pastry shop in the heart of Verona that concocts mille-feuilles, macaroons (try the one with cappuccino) and mont-blanc, as well as Sicilian cannoli, fruit tarts and brioches filled to perfection. Available at any time of the day, from breakfast to aperitif. At the back of the store, a small tea room allows the impatient to taste these delicacies accompanied by hot drinks.

The Zamberletti café-pâtisserie is one of those addresses that seem to have no sense of time passing by. Under the arcades of the central corso , it is the ideal stop for a little black ristretto at the counter, a brioche jam at breakfast or a glass of prosecco around 6pm. Zamberletti is also an obligatory stopover in Varese to bring back sweets in your basket, including Dolce Varese, the local speciality. The pastries make us all envious, it's a feast for the eyes and the mouth. The plus: online shop.

The pastry tradition of the Novara region has ancient origins. The Novaresi (and Italians in general) are fond of dry cookies and shortbread of all kinds. In Novara, the Camporelli cookie factory has been nurturing this tradition since 1852. Today, Ambrogio Fasola, a descendant of the Camporelli family, perpetuates this know-how with passion. Simple ingredients and rigorously hand-crafted production form the basis of Biscottini di Novara, the company's specialty (up to 100,000 cookies are produced here every day).

MaCam is a gelateria like no other. The flavors of the moment are marked on a slate, and, surprise, alongside the classics, you can find some truly surprising tastes, such as carrot ice cream or basil and pine nuts! The ingredients used in our ice creams, smoothies and soups of the day are of the freshest quality, and you'll soon notice the difference when you taste them. And as the ingredients are only seasonal, there's no question of finding a melon or fig sorbet here during the winter!

Since 1914, Latteria Sociale di Cameri has been producing Gorgonzola DOC in both mild and hot varieties. Gorgonzola accounts for 90% of production, but there are other equally tasty cheeses to discover, made entirely by hand. The region's small-scale farmers bring in milk from their cows, and for the lactose-intolerant, goat's milk has recently been added. There's also a small store to fill your basket.

The saffron! Rita Sala has been working for years with these flowers so fragrant and delicate. On 8,000 ^{m2 of} land, she plants the bulbs and picks the flowers by hand, then separates and dries the 3 red filaments of the pistil. Since it takes about 150 flowers to obtain one gram of dry saffron, this spice is considered one of the most expensive products in the world. And Rita will be able to tell you all about its culture and uses.

A family passion for vines that began in 1930, in the hills between Verona and the lake shore. Today, winemaking takes place on the farm, with a wide range of wines available for purchase on site, including Custoza, Bardolino and Marandone, all excellent wines from this terroir. A carefully tended estate where nature and production are in perfect balance. Discover the cellar and the different vintages of the farm through a tour and tasting sessions. Discover the great tradition of this terroir.

The Zanardi patisserie owes its reputation to reginette . Since 1937, the patented recipe for this little cookie has been attracting the finest gourmets. For 23 years, Mr. Sacchi was the original cookie maker, before stepping down. Simple, almost wafer-like, reginette are made with eggs, flour, sugar, butter and a little chocolate cream. They are sold in an attractive tin, wrapped in aluminium foil. The Zanardi patisserie is also recommended for its artisanal ice creams.