Ticino’s finest Michelin-starred restaurants

‘Le brezza’ translates from Italian as ‘summer breeze’, which makes a lot of sense when you sample the restaurant’s menu, kept gloriously fresh thanks to the focus on local produce and inspired by the flavours of Ticino. Chef Marco Campanella earned La Brezza a Michelin star for his work, which also saw Gault Millau award him the title ‘Discovery of the Year 2019’ in the region. Take your pick from four, five, six or seven courses, depending on which menu you opt for (including a fully vegetarian offering), but rest assured that whatever your selection, you and your palate are in for a gourmet treat.

The Grand Hotel Villa Castagnola in Lugano has much to recommend it, but the jewel in its crown is surely Gallery Arté al Lago, found inside the hotel’s on-site art gallery. Chef de Cuisine Frank Oerthle uses a subtle Mediterranean influence across the modern menu, which has allowed Gallery Arté to become the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Lugano. As you dine, you’ll be forgiven for wondering where the art around you stops and where the food begins, as what arrives on your plate will be a work of art, too – but remember to look up from your plate once in a while to admire the marvellous views from the restaurant’s terrace across Lake Lugano – just one more reason to visit.

A Michelin star and 18 Gault Millau points aren’t the only reason to visit this much-loved restaurant, thanks to its location in the beautiful, picturesque grounds of the Castello del Sole hotel. Led by acclaimed Chef de Cuisine Mattias Roock and partly inspired by the chef’s extensive culinary travels around the globe, Locanda Barbarossa boasts an exquisitely crafted menu that adds a Mediterranean touch to classic French cooking, which you can make even more memorable by asking the knowledgeable staff to recommend one of the venue’s 500-plus wines. Once the food arrives, you’ll soon appreciate the fact that the hotel’s vegetable and herb garden supplies some of the ingredients, adding a further freshness to Roock’s inspired dishes.

Led by acclaimed executive chef Rolf Fliegauf (once the youngest chef in Europe to receive two Michelin stars), the multi-award-winning Ecco is the first of three Ecco restaurants across Switzerland and still abides by Fliegauf’s principles of ‘purist aroma cuisine’, which highlights the qualities of each individual ingredient. Set within a classy, modern space and boasting views across gloriously green gardens and a lake, Ecco offers gourmet cuisine that tastes just as good as it looks – and it looks out-of-this-world.

Keeping cuisine seasonal is the focus at Locanda Orico, meaning that all ingredients are reviewed and replaced at the beginning of each season, ensuring that the menu stays fully on-point throughout the year. The cuisine combines French and Italian influences, prepared under the watchful eye of chef and owner Lorenzo Albrici. Try the popular seven-course tasting menu to appreciate Locanda Orico’s flavours in all their glory, and make sure to accompany it with something from the venue’s well-stocked wine cellar.

If all that has whet your appetite for some seriously fine food, why not start mapping out your Ticino culinary adventures at ticino.ch/getaway, where you’ll find more info on the best restaurants in the region.