Trattoria della Vigna — Restaurant in Porlezza

where do I begin...... wow! I have never been so mistreated in a restaurant in my life. i had high expectations, that sadly were mistaken.

I made reservations for 7pm. 4 Adults and 5 Children. The youngest being 18 months.

we sat down and there may have been two or 3 other occupied tables, it was still early in the evening. our table was directly in front of the kitchen.

As we sat down, our 18 month old baby hurt her finger, and as all children do, she cried.

this is when it went Downhill. As the baby cried, someone in their kitchen began yelling and mimicking the crying baby, but really loud so everyone could hear it. extremely rude and unacceptable. I walked in to the kitchen and confronted the cook. Expecting an apology or something to that effect. Nope!! He doubled down by screaming at me in Italian by saying " i come to work i dont want hear a screaming baby" I was shocked and mortified.

I had a few choice words for him and he continued to basically tell me it was not ok my child cried and it annoyed him.

So, i sat back down. My family makes whine, so I brought a small bottle of my own wine to eat with dinner. The lady from the restaurant told me it was not ok. I offered to pay a corking fee, even to to just order one of their bottles to offaly, the fat cook came out and said. Opening our own wine was unacceptable and we should leave. As if, making fun of my 18 month old child is acceptable....

I can not comment on the quality of the food but that fat cook is lucky i did not tap dance all over his face.

DO NOT...

I was thrilled to get a table for dinner after reading all the great reviews. The setting is absolutely beautiful, rustic yet cosy and the lights in the evening create the perfect summer evening dinner experience. The staff a very friendly and attentive. The food...that's were things didn't quite live up to expectations and the reviews. We had the mixed antipasto... literally all of the items lacked seasoning apart form the melanzane which was outstanding! We then shared a pasta as a secondi.... the pasta was some of the best I have ever had. Just incredible! Well done the chef. Main courses...my wife had the calamari...it wasn't cleaned properly so still had its slimy inside...that's unacceptable, again no seasoning and it was rubbery. In short the whole dish was inedible. I had fillet of seabass with fennel and Pernod sauce. It was ok but again lacked depth of flavour and only the slightest hint of Pernod. For dessert we had the Amaretti Panna Cotta which was nice but very sweet. I know food is very subjective and it may have been the choices of dishes we had but too many things weren't right to make this the experience I wanted it to be. Such a shame! I would go back for the pasta but...

We've been to Porlezza twice and in both times we had a warm recommendation from the owners of the holiday apartments we stayed in to go eat at this restaurant. The first time, in 2011 we did not have a chance to go but we went in 2012 and all we can say is we beat ourselves up over not going the year before! The place is simply amazing! It is homey warm place with great fine dining food at really modest costs! With real fresh food, all natural, clean and high quality, the chef creates culinary masterpieces! All the products used are local and in season the chef goes out on his own to the forest to collect herbs and mushrooms. It is indeed a unique dining experience and it is not nearly as costly as some of the other restaurants in the area which have nothing unique about them. The place is owned and run by the chef and his family so you really feel like you are a guest in someone's home... FUN!

If you are in Porlezza - do not miss out on...