Risotto con Pesce Persico at Ristorante Sociale
Perch fillet — pesce persico — is the definitive Lake Como ingredient, and the best way to eat it is in a saffron-scented risotto at a restaurant that has been serving the dish to locals since the 1950s. Ristorante Sociale, a no-frills cooperative dining room just off Via Boldoni, is exactly that place.
A Dish Rooted in the Lake
The European perch that lives in Lake Como has a sweet, firm white flesh that absorbs butter and saffron beautifully. The risotto version — risotto con filetti di pesce persico — is cooked all'onda (loose and flowing) and finished with a knob of cold butter that gives it a glossy, almost lacquer-like surface.
Ristorante Sociale is a members' cooperative open to the public, which keeps prices honest and the clientele local. Expect shared tables at lunch, a handwritten daily menu on a chalkboard and a carafe of house Lugana white wine that costs less than a coffee in a tourist-facing restaurant on the piazza.
Other Local Dishes to Order
Start with missoltini — sun-dried agone fish pressed in salt and bay leaves, a preparation unique to Lake Como that dates back centuries. It arrives grilled and dressed with oil and vinegar, and tastes like nothing else in Italy.
For dessert, ask for sbrisolona, a crumbly almond tart from the broader Lombard tradition that the kitchen here makes with a generous hand. Pair it with a small glass of Sforzato di Valtellina, the powerful dried-grape red from the mountains above the lake.
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