Vecchia Malcesine

Vecchia Malcesine is chef Leandro Luppi's restaurant, high up in the village of Malcesine, on the east shore of Lake Garda. It has held a MICHELIN star since 2004 and is the special-occasion table of this part of the lake: a glass-walled dining room with the water and the west shore opposite, and a kitchen that starts from Garda fish.

The cooking

Luppi works lake fish with technique and humour. Among the dishes the house presents as its own are smoked lavarello with béarnaise, rocket and olives, Arctic char with smoked egg, red prawn with gin, caviar and cucumber, burnt-onion ravioli with pecorino and a “Lake Garda club sandwich”. There is also a spaghettino with pistachio and raw seafood.

Menus and prices

In 2026 you eat from menus. Qcina 2026, the long journey, costs €170; ½ Qcina, the short version, €135. With “Scegli tu!” you choose the dishes from the menu yourself: two for €100 or three for €125, and dessert adds €20. Wines are extra. It is an expensive place, intended for a long lunch or dinner, not for a snack between boats.

Hours, season and booking

It is open from April to the end of October. It closes on Wednesdays all day and on Thursdays at lunchtime; on other days it opens for lunch and dinner. The website does not publish service hours. Book on its online reservations page or by phone on +39 335 637 7699. Book ahead, especially for dinner with daylight in summer.

Getting there

It is on Via Pisort, in the upper part of Malcesine, a few minutes' walk from the centre and the Monte Baldo cable car. Malcesine fills with cars in summer: if you come by boat from Limone or Riva, you walk up from the landing stage.