Essentiae — Restaurant in Lerici

We sat down and were only given a candle – no menu at all. When we asked if they had pizza, the waiter listed a few options and reluctantly told us the prices only after we insisted. We ordered 4 Margheritas, and when we said we didn’t want drinks, the waiter sighed loudly in annoyance.

What we received was not pizza but a strange version of pinsa – drowning in tomato sauce with barely any cheese. Definitely nothing like real Italian pizza, and this was in Italy! Each one was €10.

When it came time to pay, instead of €40, we were told the bill was €58. The extra €18 was for so-called “service” – basically bringing us a candle, the pizzas, and telling us where to pay. On top of that, they refused to give us a receipt, claiming the cash register was “broken.”

We’ve traveled in Italy for over 4 years, and even in top locations, coperto never exceeds €2.50. This...

We just spent more than a wonderful night at Essentiae! We arrived with no high expectations because we knew it’s a touristic area, and well, we were delightfully surprised! The waiters are super nice and thoughtful (Simone proposed spontaneously to give us some good piece of advice about the area), you can feel they want to share their love for this place, and for fresh good products & food, they want you to have the best night, and we just had one that we won’t forget! I’m vegetarian and I knew it would be a challenge at the Italian seaside, but when I told him, the owner immediately proposed a tailor made menu, and it was tasty, generous, elaborated and really beautiful! Grazie mille, siamo tornati con le stelle negli occhi e un bellissimo ricordo in mente (e in pancia)! Vi auguriamo una lunga e bella aventura!...

We came here for a late dinner on a Saturday evening, having just made a reservation earlier that night. The food was phenomenal! Elegant with focus on flavor. We had mussles in lemon and pepper broth for starter, which had a very fresh taste. For the mains we had two different fish dishes, one in a tomato sauce with olives and anchovies and the second with a green herby sauce and a minty pesto. Both were heavenly, had great flavor, and the presentation was beautiful. So far it is the best food we have had in Tellaro, and the quality in the restaurants here is very high. The staff was friendly and accommodating. If the weather allows you are seated outside in a quiet nook of Tellaro‘s winding streets with views of the sea, sunset, and the sparkling lights of the settlements across the water....