Photo courtesy of Il Lago, used with permission
One-star Italian in Bergues, Geneva
Il Lago
Pasta With a Star
A hotel Italian is usually where good pasta goes to be forgotten. Il Lago, inside the Four Seasons Hôtel des Bergues on the Quai des Bergues, is the exception, and Michelin agrees: it holds a star. The kitchen cooks seasonal Italian food and pairs it with wine from Italy, France and Switzerland. Gault & Millau gave it a 15. The room is quiet, a little formal and aimed at people who want an unhurried evening.
The menus change weekly, which keeps the regulars honest and the kitchen sharp. Hand-rolled pasta is the strength here, and that is where I would aim. Anyone can slice a good ham. It takes a patient cook to roll dough every day and get the texture right every time. Order the pasta, then see what the seasonal menu suggests for the course after it. Let the sommelier go to the Italian side of the cellar.
Il Lago serves dinner Tuesday to Saturday, seven to nine, and is closed Sunday and Monday. Reservations go through the hotel, by phone or email. It is a very good restaurant and a safer bet than its fancy address suggests. It is not a bargain, and it never pretends to be. It is a calm Italian evening on the river, cooked by people who take dough seriously.
- Order this
- The hand-rolled pasta, The weekly seasonal menu, An Italian wine from the list
- The damage
- $$$$
- Go
- A weeknight dinner, Tuesday to Saturday
- Find it
- Quai des Bergues 33, 1201 Genève
- Website
- fourseasons.com