And that risotto his brother mentioned? Topped
with freshwater sardines toasted to a crumble over olive
branches, it has the elasticity and tang of stracchino and
the sweet-sourness of diced candied lemon. A high point
is the dessert spread, presented on exuberantly floral
Ginori ceramics: warm zabaglione in a copper pot,
sticky shavings of nougat, fluffy torta di rose (a brioche-
like regional specialty) and a “king size” cannoli-like
cannoncino filled with crème pâtissière and apricot.
On this visit, we’re house-hunting. Giuliano’s
mother – our main reason for an annual visit – has
sadly left us. Faced with the realisation that we no
longer have a focus to draw us here, we decide perhaps
we should create one – for us and for our daughters.
After all, this is their heritage, too. And rather than
in the city of Brescia, 35 minutes’ drive away, why
not on its beautiful lake?
Despite its northern location, Garda lies in a
natural greenhouse: an Ice Age valley trapped between
2,000-metre-high mountains in the north and the Po
river lowlands in the south. You’d expect cold-climate
produce here, but Garda’s olive trees, caper bushes
and lemon groves are surprisingly Mediterranean.
Garda’s history is also intriguing. The Romans
were here well before those citrus-tending monks.
And Goethe swooned over Garda’s beauty in hisLetters
from Italy. “I might have been in Verona this evening,”
he enthused. “But a magnificent natural phenomenonwas in my vicinity – Lake Garda, a splendid spectacle,
which I did not want to miss.” Of the stretch around
Gardone, he wrote, “No words can express the
beauty of this richly inhabited spot.”
At the turn of the 19th century, inspired perhaps
by the great bard, Goethe’s fellow Germans flocked to
the grand hotels on the Gardone shore, beginning a
holiday pilgrimage that continues today. In 1943, right
here on the lake, Adolf Hitler installed Benito Mussolini
as the puppet head of the Republic of Salò, named for
the adjacent town, for what would be his last stand. The
German army took up residence in Gardone and its
surrounds, as did Mussolini and his family (and
mistress). Dug into the hillsides, the road tunnels
commissioned by Mussolini remain as his legacy.
Mussolini’s forerunner, the proto-fascist World
War I soldier-poet Gabriele d’Annunzio, left his
own mark above Gardone Riviera with an eccentric
extravaganza of buildings, which include his home
and mausoleum. The sprawling Vittoriale degli
Italiani comprises his treasure-stuffed home, an
amphitheatre, gigantic kennels, fountains and follies,
as well as his World War I plane and two naval
vessels. It’s an afternoon’s entertainment, particularly
with a good guide.
At aperitivo hour, after a first round of appointments
with real-estate agents, we collapse into cushioned
chairs at the open-air La Terrazza bar at the Grand➤Clockwise from
top: bartender
Rama Redzepi
at the Grand
Hotel Fasano;
cacio e pepe
cooked, and
served, in pig’s
bladder, at Lido
84 in Gardone
Riviera; pier in
Salò; La Terrazza
bar at the Grand
Hotel Fasano.82 GOURMET TRAVELLER