Ristorante Lido 84, Lake Garda: It's What Dreams Are Made Of [Archives]
There are very few restaurants where I daydream about going back. Lido 84 is one of them. Hell, it may be the only one.
This is based on an earlier article I wrote. I will return to Lido 84 next month with my parents. Andras Jokuti recent Italy’s “most fantastic” restaurants reminded me of this piece.
I text friends two mouthfuls into the first course extolling a seemingly simple bowl of lightly poached prawns—blush pink—that tip-toe between cooked and raw in a pool of bright calamansi vinegar, apricot oil and fresh almonds. It’s summer on a spoon.
Lido 84—this lunch—is the apotheosis of three delicious weeks in Italy culminating on Lake Garda’s exquisite shores. This is our most enjoyable meal, ahead of three star Piazza Duomo, one star La Fermata and that secluded gem, Enoteca Petricore. Lido 84 holds its own with one Michelin star and lucky no 7 on 2024’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants List.
Italian charm is a special breed of seduction.
Lido 84 is enchanting.
The outdoor garden embodies elegance. The sympathetically-restored Tower turned private dining room facing Lake Garda is a picture postcard. Ladies quaff blush Franciacorta under an idyllic leafy pergola. We sit on fine chairs facing Lake Garda as the summer sun dances across the water that stretches towards Verona. Even in August, most guests shun the shade and sanctuary of the chic teal interior.
Lido 84 is a modern Italian restaurant run by two brothers leading both the kitchen and front of house with aplomb. Chef Riccardo Camanini’s vibrant, adroit cooking and Giancarlo Camanini’s instinctive charm curate full Marie Kondo joy.
This is not my first foray with Lido 84
The Camanini brothers collaboration with Trésind Studio introduced me and Mrs EatGoSee to their greatest hits. The marinda tomato and pistachio-stained fusilloni is one of the best pasta dishes to ever pass these lips, until Riccardo served an al dente tumble of salted butter-bathed spaghettoni with crumbled yeast, a dish inspired by a popular childhood dish.
It’s as if this cephalopod beached on Lake Garda and decided Lido 84 was a noble place to expire. I am inclined to agree.
Ristorante Lido 84’s Fluctuations Menu
I could wax lyrical about the kitchen’s accomplishments. Many courses feel familiar, but not classic or predictable. Our nine courses are exacting and light. They taste of their place, their season and of a chef that knows when to hold back.
A bouncy, roasted sea bass with honey mustard and iron-rich, peppery spinach leaf. It follows a tender, roasted cuttlefish, smoky and tucked under a mossy pasta blanket with a trail of cuttlefish ink and rocket oil. It’s as if this cephalopod beached on Lake Garda and decide Lido 84 was a noble place to expire. I am inclined to agree. An oyster—the size of a toddler’s fist—lies prostrate over green sourdough with an unmistakable whisper of charred, fermented bread.
One minor quibble: a butter lettuce course pelted with toasted polenta, parsley and orzo-like grains reads a little “pasta salad”. It is the one course I could do without.
Otherwise, Lido 84’s menu is imaginative and delights. The rigatoni cacio e pepe en vessie draws tableside drama as the chef tumbles rigatoni inside a pig’s bladder filled with pecorino cheese, salt and black pepper. Romans carried food in a pig’s bladder as they marched between states, inspiring this contemporary adaptation. The rigatoni is pre-al dente, resilient and, sure, I would like more black pepper, but it satisfies like only cheesy pasta knows how.
Italian charm is a special breed of seduction. Giancarlo talks easy like an old friend excited to see you and care for you all day. The service team chat generously with us as if Lido isn’t fully-booked (which it appears to be). Like a sixth sense, they know when to slip away and bring the next course.
The sticky braised beef cheeks, lacquered to a high sheen, tear apart into gutsy, rib-sticking threads, the telling rewards of time and slow cooking. The mashed potato ratte is so soft, Mrs EatGoSee begrudgingly comments it is better than my pomme purée.
It was all I had going for me in this marriage.
We finish lunch sat in silence dredging fruit ladened pastries through canary yellow zabaglione. We watch the world’s most privileged ducks bob around the water. From the corner of our eyes, fellow diners stagger towards the private dock, wielding what’s left of their Alta Langhe, and roar across the Lake in a magnificent Riva Aquarama. We all wave goodbye like this is The White Lotus, Season Two. It’s the stuff of daydreams.
Would I Return to Lido 84?
I romanticise out loud about my next trip to Lido 84 with Giancarlo Camanini while settling the bill. There is a thrumming drumbeat that calls me back. For me, there is just nowhere quite like it.
Who Should Come to Lido 84?
Seafood enthusiasts, Michelin star and 50 Best collectors, Italian food lovers. Those who enjoy modern contemporary food and any alfresco dining fans.
Ristorante Lido 84, Fluctuation tasting menus (€140 for seven courses, €160 for nine courses). Rigatoni cacio e pepe en vessie (€20) with Infinite Blue Wine Pairing (€80 for five glasses). Ristorante Lido 84 also offers a “4 1/2” course tasting menu: €145.
Ristorante Lido 84, Corso Giuseppe Zanardelli, 196, 25083 Gardone Riviera BS, Italy. Contact +39036520019 or go to Ristorante Lido 84's website.
Liam is a restaurant critic, food and travel writer based in the Middle East. He owns EatGoSee and contributes to other publications. You can find Liam on Substack, Threads, Instagram, BlueSky or Facebook.
Looks incredible! Wow. Thanks for sharing.
Alright, this just went to the top of the must visit list. Great review 👏🏻