Restaurants

Locanda del Mezzo

Piazza Santissima Annunziata, 7, Barga 5505
TELEFONE 0583 171 7525

Trattoria di Bonini Pier
Via Monteperpoli 147 – Monteperpoli 55032
Telefone 0583 639 425

There is an excellent lunch Menu for around €10, excluding wine. There is also an a la carte dining which is best appreciated in the evening. Highly recommended are the Tagliatta of Beef with Grilled vegetables. All the game dishes are exceptional. The owner has an impressive list and knowledge of wines which are well priced. Cost of a la carte meal is approximately Euro 25, plus wine. Closed on Tuesdays. To get there allow 20 minutes drive from “La Collina del Sole” going towards Castelnuovo, however just before the bridge into town and just after the FIAT garage, turn sharp left towards Paleroso and Monteperpoli, keep left and driving uphill towards Paleroso, you will see it on your left. It has a limited car park.

Casa del Pescatore
Lago Isola Santa
Telefone 0583 639408
& mobile 333 709 5763

In the heart of the Marble Hills a 50 minute drive from “La Collina del Sole“. Gabrielle Matzei set up his own small restaurant in Isola Santa a small village part of which he has restored and brought back to life. Specialties include local truffle and Funghi Porcini which are AMAZING and very reasonably priced. For mushroom lovers this restaurant is a must. He also has a permit you will need to buy if you want to fish for the succulent local trout of the lake. He is one of the most gifted cooks of the area and has had extensive write ups in gastronomic magazines including “Bon Apetit”. It is truly worth the drive!

Il Pozzo – Pieve Fosciana
Via Europa 2 /A,
Tel 0583 66 63 80

A 20 minute drive from “ La Collina del Sole ” It has the BEST antipasto [mixed starter] dish in the area. Giordano and Maurizio founded Il Pozzo in 1985 and have formed part of the “Slow Food” movement from its inception. Their Menu Degustation has home-made pasta, home grown vegetables and herbs. They are passionate about the origins of the food they prepare and have won several awards. They also have a “menu del giorno”, the restaurant is usually busy but capacious. Their wine list includes some from Lucca, Tuscany and further afield. They close on Wednesdays apart from August when they open seven days a week.

Osteria Vecchio Mulino
Via Vittorio Emmanuelle 12, Castelnuovo
Telefone 0583 62192

For a grown up foodie snack. If you do not want a full meal, but still fancy tasting a variety of typical food from Garfagnana then we suggest you try the “Degustazione” of local cheese and cold meats at this historic Osteria. The cheeses which are mainly goat milk based, are all topped with local sauces that enhance their natural flavour. The cured meats all come from nearby farms and curing houses, from sweet Parma like cured ham to Biroldo the local Black pudding to coarse and fine salamis, The Osteria Vecchio Mulino also has a large selection of wines from the excellent local wine to Supertuscan labels with every permutation in between.

“Osteria al Ritrovo del Platano”
Via Provinciale, Ponte de Campia
Gallicano, 55027, Lucca
Telefone 0583 68 99 22

So named because Giovanni Pascoli – arguably the greatest Italian poet writing at the beginning of the twentieth century – met his literary friends here at the bar / local store. Mauro Bertolini, the current chef of this Osteria is very affable. He serves a lunch “menu di lavoro” on weekdays for €10 consisting of a starter, a main course both from a short list of selections, water, wine and coffee! For €20 you can choose the menu turístico which consists of a selection of antipasto, homemade pasta, main course, pudding, water, wine and coffee. The A la Carte is fabulous and very reasonable. They are located on route # 445 at Ponte de Campia. Be prepared to stop in a hurry as it is ON the fork where the road goes north to Castelnuovo / Aulla and right to Barga, blink and you miss it so … don’t miss it. The Osteria still has the two banana trees that originally gave it its name in Pascoli’s days, from this time too you find a table that Pascoli used to sit at and many photos of the era.

Antica Locanda di Sesto

V. Ludovico Sesto Moriano

Telephone 0583 578181& 0583 406 303.

This restaurant is fine dining Tuscan style, established in 1300 it has fed travellers for centuries. It is a 40 minute drive from La Collina del Sole and has AMAZING food, it was one of Pavarotti’s’ favorite restaurants, and has consistent rave reviews. The dining rooms used to be the coach houses with lovely high ceilings, everything we have eaten here has been exceptional, definitely worth the drive but PLEASE make sure you book in advance. It is closed Saturdays

Pizzerias

Pizza tends to be eaten in the evening in traditional parts of Italy, which means that Pizzerias tend to  open only in the evening. If a restaurant offers pizza it will usually be available only in the evening,  as the Pizza oven needs to be warmed up a few hours in advance.

Pizzeria Il Vecchio Ponte - Ponte di Ceserana

We could not believe our luck when the long standing bar at the entrance to our area became a pizzeria and a VERY good one at that! You can eat in or take away, the young team are very helpful and will cook a large order to be collected at a specific time. 

You order Pizzas any way you like with Parma Ham (prosciutto crudo) or Cotto which is normal ham, with no cheese or with Mascarpone, with artichokes, olives and mushrooms, a plain marguerita, with spicy salami or a plain no sauce “pizza in bianco” with vegetables.

Il Centro
Via Vallisneri, in Piazza delle Erbe, Castenuovo
Telephone # 0583 644550

Makes the thinnest wood oven pizza in town, delicious and always very busy. Run by a husband, wife and young son team; waiting time for take away varies from 20 to 50 minutes, open late afternoon and evening only, closed on Wednesdays year round except in August.