Il Glicine di Pozzi Mario

This review is a long time coming, as I ate there two years ago. This was one of the best meals I had in my life! That’s no exaggeration… one of the top 5 meal experiences ever!
There were five of us… three adults and two younger children. They seated us on the lovely patio under the tangle of vines on a beautiful, picture-​perfect evening. This is the kind of meal you hear about, where they keep bringing out plate after plate of amazing food. We had antipasti with at least five different meats that all were delicious. That was followed by a cheese platter with about six different cheeses, one of which we all couldn’t stop raving about. It was a traditional Italian «runny» variety, and it’s the best cheese I’ve ever tasted.
My main dish was the homemade gnocchi, which we learned were molded by the chef/​owner in the kitchen by pressing two oversized spoons together. It was melt in your mouth, amazingly delicious.
For dessert, I got a panna cotta with local berries. The panna cotta tasted like it had been made less than an hour ago. The berries were small and tart, and added a perfect complement to the creamy sweetness of the dessert.
To top it all off, we had an incredible wine suggested by the maitre’d (who I think may have also been the owner’s son?). I’m not prone to hyberbole, but I’ll remember this meal forever.

Trattoria del Glicine is a must and remains one of my best meals in Italy. Throughout the restaurant there were tables that had made the journey up through the hills of Cernobbio for a second and thrid visit to Mario’s gem of a restaurant.
The décor is how I imagine traveling in the 1950s would have been — phonographs, framed pictures of airplanes and all sorts of expeditions… and yet everything is immaculate and dust free. The lights are too bright and the music too soft, but both can be adjusted with your request.
Please learn from my mistake and don’t be rushed into ordering a wine. We picked one at random when the server came for our order and while it wasn’t a ‘bad bottle’ we just didn’t like the taste. Mario, as we learned is a certerfied sommelier, came out himself to discuss other wine options for us and while I was bashful and felt terrible at our hasty request, he, without skipping a beat, brought us a wine he though my tastes would love, whcih they did — at no charge and with no hard feelings.
The staff will tell you everything on the menu is delicious to eat and it is, so they’re not going to help you with their order.
PRIMO — deep fried zucchini flowers, apparently a local tradition. They’re good, but not going to do a veggie fill if that’s what you’re looking for. They’re also a bit salty and I would have liked some kind of dipping sauce, but I don’t think that’s tradditional.
SECONDO — I had the best ‘healthy’ salad of my life. Seriously. Fresh vegetables including green tomatoes, shaved carrots, fennel, red peppers, red onions, and mixed greens with a good quality olive oil and a dash of balsamic and I couldn’t get enough. When was the last time you were able to say that when olives, and cheese, and bacon weren’t found on your salad?
PRIMI PIATTI — In search of a perfect pasta in Italy I ordered a linguine with rabbit ragu and it was to die for. The pasta tasted like it had been boiled in chicken soup and the ragou had small bits of zucchini and peppers in it.
GETTING THERE — ahh, taxies in Italy… non regulated and starting the meter from the time they receive a call, so you never really know who’s being honest be you always feel as though you are getting screwed, and you are… even when you see signs for this place and the taxi takes a wrong turn… 25 euros from a hotel less then 2 miles away. And this has nothing to do with the restaurant but everything to do with your planning, because going by taxi is the only way.
GETTING HOME — after a big meal who wouldn’t love a nice stroll and I encourage you to do so. It’s down hill and you get the see the twinkles of Lake Como’s surrounding hillside villas. If you’re lucky someone will be getting married at Villa Destiny and fireworks will be set off across the lake during your descent. It’s truly a sight to love.