The Arabella restaurant is an oasis of peace in the Dandelion Como Suites & Park, an elegant boutique hotel located in the heart of the village of Villa Guardia, just a few kilometres from Como. It is a historic Lombard courtyard where the elegance of the manor house and the rural spirit of the old farmers' dwellings merge elegantly into a whole. The restaurant's guests are welcomed into large warm rooms that still retain the rustic atmosphere of the period but are furnished with fine vintage and contemporary design furniture. On warmer evenings, a large portico overlooking the centuries-old park provides the setting for appetising dinners.
"We like to describe our cuisine as aristocratic, but with a country soul. We offer a traditional cuisine based on local ingredients presented with sophistication," says the owner. The menu, which changes from season to season, is inspired by the traditions of Lombardy, but is also informed by the best international influences. This just as the cuisine of the former wealthy owners introduced many new cosmopolitan trends to the local gastronomy of the early nineteen hundreds, thanks to their extensive travelling. Among the highlights are the risottos, offered in many variations, Milanese mondeghili, pasta with nettle pesto and many recipes based on game, as the local rural tradition would have it. An essential delicacy to try is the miascia, a bread cake from Lake Como with apple and sultanas.
The preparations are the fruit of recipes handed down through the generations but added to with a touch of inventiveness, and ingredients of the highest quality from the best among the local producers: 'We constantly strive to preserve the riches of the local area. The milk and cheeses, for example, come from a farm in Appiano Gentile, while as far as cold cuts are concerned, we get our supplies from the historic delicatessen in Villa Guardia'. Among the many projects in the pipeline for Dandelion and the Arabella restaurant is the planting of a permanent vegetable garden for the growing of vegetables and herbs. "Our mission is to take advantage of everything that nature offers us and to preserve and pass on local traditions. Even the wild herbs, for example, play star roles in recipes handed down to us by the people who have lived here in the past," says the owner.
Thanks to its rustic and homely spirit, inspired by the local rural tradition, and the dreamy atmosphere provided by the centuries-old plants and the soft ambient lighting, the Arabella restaurant lends itself both to intimate dinners and to groups in company. Under the old porticoes, close to what was once a stable, there are long wooden farmhouse tables draped with large white cloths that give a holiday atmosphere to the scene. Not to be missed are the signature cocktails inspired by unforgettable songs of the Rolling Stones, whose 1967 song Dandelion inspired the hotel's name itself.