La Lira is a cheap and cheerful restaurant in La Villa. They do a great pizza, pasta, excellent seafood, and other delicious things.
It is a popular place for groups to meet for a fun night.
La Lira is beside the car park in La Villa…you can’t miss it.
Trattoria Borghesi was an institution in Bagni di Lucca for many years and everyone was disappointed when it closed a couple of years ago.
So when it reopened earlier this year there was much excitement. I missed the opening but recently went for lunch. Like many places in the area, a workman’s lunch for a set price is offered. For €11 you get first course, second course, side dish, water, wine and coffee.
We chose the chicken, torta salata, vegetables and pasta.
On another occasion there was soup, past with peas, ham and tomato, roast beef and eggplant…all delicious.
The food was very good and the service excellent.
The bar and restaurant have been renovated and look very clean and modern.
I’m sure Trattoria Borghesi is once again going to be very popular.
Trattoria Borghesi…85 Via Umberto I, La Villa.
Cappuccetto Rosso is quickly becoming one of my favourite restaurants in the area. The food is well presented and delicious and the service is very friendly and efficient.
Their recent lunch special was too good to resist.
Before the first course there was an arancino amuse bouche.
The plate of mussels was very good. Fortunately there was plenty of bread…the sauce was too delicious to leave behind.
Spaghetti vongole is one of my favourite Italian dishes. This one is a little different, it has tomato, but I liked it a lot.
Even though I was quite full I did manage to eat the third course of mixed, fried seafood.
There was no room for dessert…pity.
Cappuccetto Rosso is not far from Bagni di Lucca in Gioviano.
Now is the time for porcini mushrooms in our area. It has been very dry, not good for mushrooms, but some have been gathered in Garfagnana and have appeared at Ristorante Del Sonno in La Villa.
…just perfect for a delicious mushroom risotto.
The recent rain should have more growing in the forests…we wait patiently or impatiently as the case may be.
Local news…
Don’t miss the Pinocchio festival in La Villa this weekend…it is always a lot of fun.
Thanks to some friends we discovered a wonderful restaurant at nearby Piano Di Giovano called Cappuccetto Rosso.
The restaurant is stylish and pretty and the menu very interesting. The food is a little more expensive than most in the area, but it is excellent and well worth the extra money.
For antipasti we shared a plate of delicious prosciutto and a selection of very well chosen cheeses with tasty accompaniments.
We had already chosen dessert, so missed primi piatti, which are charmingly called Early Earth and Early Sea. Here are our scrumptious main courses. Soft lighting doesn’t always make for the best photos, a couple are a bit fuzzy.
For dolce we chose chocolate mousse with pear, and mint parfait with chocolate sauce…both excellent.
Cappuccetto Rosso means Red Riding Hood…we will be back often.
Via di Salita 4/6 (Behind Quadrifoglio)
Localita Piano di Gioviano (Borgo a Mozzano)
(39) 338 2426295
I am pleased to say that the restaurant at Circolo dei Forestieri has reopened with new owners. Regulars to Bagni di Lucca will recognise the proprietor of Trattoria Borghese, a very popular place to eat for many years.
The front of the restaurant has been opened up, I think one of the problems before was that you really couldn’t see that there was a restaurant there at all. I look forward to seeing tables outside once the weather warms up a bit.
There is a new bar inside, and it looks very fresh and bright.
The food is good and very reasonably priced.
It is great to see Circolo dei Forestieri come alive again.
Annalisa and the team from Il Monaco have been busy baking Colomba di Pasqua…and they are beautifully wrapped for you. 
Colomba di Pasqua is a traditional Easter cake similar to panettone and pandoro. It contains candied peel instead of raisins and is baked in the shape of a dove, to represent the Holy Spirit.
My friend Maria has told me of an old legend about this dessert. They say that when the King of Longobards, Alboino, conquered the city of Pavia, he requested that all the gold and treasures of the city should be given to him together with 12 virgins.
The poor girls were sent to the castle to await their fate and they were crying in despair. All, except for one, who asked to be given some honey, flour and dried fruits as she wanted to bake a cake. With these ingredients, she prepared a dough and gave it the shape of a dove and asked the guardians to have it baked.
When she was called to see Alboino, she carried the cake on a tray. The king was surprised and thought that the girl wanted to poison him, so he asked her to taste the cake first. The girl ate a piece and Alboino, seeing that she looked so confident, did the same. He found the cake delicious…possibly he had not been eating cake during his campaign. So, as a reward, he ordered his guards to free the clever girl. Nobody knows what happened to the other girls.
The seige of the City of Pavia ended on the eve of Easter Sunday, hence the link between the cake and Easter celebrations.
The girls at Il Monaco have also been busy making the first gelato of the season…spring must be on the way. 
…what to eat first!!!
This Sunday, 29th March, at 4.00pm at the Teatro Accademico at La Villa, will be a performance of a Folkloric group from Varenna. The tickets are only €5. Call 3396 167580 for more information.
Just up the road (Via Letizia) from my apartment in Ponte a Serraglio is a small shop selling bread and pizza by the slice. I am ashamed to say that I hadn’t been there in my 10 years in Ponte. 
It was clear that I should remedy this and when some friends suggested I join them for a mortadella and beer evening there I quickly agreed. It was great fun and I have also been to a fish and chip evening…also excellent. Keep an ear to the ground for these enjoyable events.
The friendly owner makes delicious bread, biscuits, apple pies and pizza. I have now become a regular.
The shop is on the right as you go towards La Villa. There is lots of parking, but it is an easy walk from Ponte a Serraglio.
The local food markets in Bagni di Lucca are great. You can buy wonderful local produce at reasonable prices.
There is a good selection of seasonal fruit and vegetables and there is often a stand selling fresh fish and one selling roast chickens and other delights.
The markets are held every Wednesday and Saturday at La villa and Tuesday and Friday at Fornoli. They start at about 9.00am until 1.00pm.
This was my haul one day.
La Lanternina is down a flight of stairs in a side street in Fornoli, so it can be easy to miss.
That would be a mistake. The owner is very friendly and he serves delicious food.
There is a a wood fired pizza oven. I will have to go back to try the pizza…or you could go and report back.
La Lanternina
Via Alcide De Gasperi, 28
Fornoli
0583 87529
Bella Bagni di Lucca 