Zagat’s, as another example, now the leading U.S. food guide, is essentially a popularity contest among its readers. It has a very limited staff and few real professional critics. Michelin, however, takes itself every seriously. It has a highly trained and experienced staff of hundreds. They fan out over Europe and go back to a restaurant or a hotel many times. They consider three main factors; Food and Wine, Service, Ambience. If a restaurant is fairly exceptional in all of these categories it can earn a Star.   If it is very exceptional in all categories it can earn Two Stars. If it is extremely exceptional, it can receive a Three Star rating. That is the highest rating possible by Michelin.

For years, Dal Pescatore, half way between Milan and Venice, had been the sole holder of the Michelin Three Star rating in all of Italy. Recently, Sant’ Agata sui Due Golfi located far to the South in the arduous to get to Amalfi hills between Sorrento and Positano was added to the list. (The location and name alone should knock off a star)

However Dal Pescatore has a much bigger edge than an easy location and easier to pronounce name. It has a 100-year-old history and is operated by the third and fourth generations of the Santini family. Further while it is only about 60 miles by Autostrada from Milan, it is located in the very tiny and rustic farm village of Runate (pop.36). The entire area  has cultural interest and is close to Cremona, the city of violins by Stradivarius while also in the center of the agriculturally rich and prosperous Po Valley.

Padania, the great plain of the Po valley is the heartland of Italian gastronomic history and tradition. Parmesan cheese, hams and culatello come from this area as well as the great salames of Cremona and Feline. Prized balsamic vinegars of Modena are aged nearby. The Adriatic and the Mediterranean with their bounties of fish are on either side.

Driving from Milan, with my wife’s superior navigation, we easily found Dal Pescatore once we got to Runate. It is the only two story building in town. The family lives on the second floor. The parking lot was loaded with Lamborghini’s, Ferraris and Alfas, all with Milan license plates. This surprised us a bit until we realized that with no speed limit on the Autostrada, those Italian cars and drivers could get from Milan to Runate in 45 minutes. 

Nadia, wife of Antonio, is in command of the kitchen. She has personally raised the cuisine to a level that draws world-wide accolades. Every dish on the menu is prepared perfectly with the freshest and finest ingredients.  Nadia’s intelligence, energy and meticulous personality have created a unique dining experience that combines the culture, wonderful agricultural products and tastes of the Po Valley with the lighter feel of today’s food sensibilities. She has a magical touch. Chefs from as far away as Japan come to apprentice with her. Working with Nadia Santini guarantees top placement in restaurants in the U.S.  

It is of no value to describe the individual dishes we had that night since the menu changes not only with the seasons but also with what is the best and freshest products available at that moment. We chose a glass of a La Versa Brut sparkling wine and then placed ourselves in Antonio Santini’s competent hands. He organized a slightly different tasting menu for each.  Between the two of us we had small portions of pasta, risotto, sea bass, eel, squab, liver, red meat plus more cheese and desserts than you can imagine. You can also order from an a la carte menu. But the tasting menu is only slightly higher and is a great value. It was all superb and we finished feeling satisfied but not stuffed. A comparable meal in a Michelin Three Star in France would have been more than  $400. It was less than ½ that at Dal Pescatore.

We were the only Americans in the restaurant and we had a lot of fun with Antonio and the serving staff, talking to them in limited Italian. By 10:15 PM all the other diners were in their sports cars on the way back to Milan. We were staying at a small hotel in the next town, 2 miles from the restaurant. As we were ready to leave, Antonio invited us into the drawing room to have grappa and espresso with his family. He had told Nadia about us and she wanted to meet us. We never told him that we were going to write an article about the restaurant.

We drank the grappa and espresso and talked in broken English and Italian for almost two hours. We met Mama and Papa and son Giovanni. Near the end of the evening, Nadia Santini announced that she was going to take us into the kitchen to make her special “Midnight Chocolate Dessert” We begged off, pleading that we had already eaten enough and we needed to get some sleep. She then said “Un momento, per favore” (just a minute, please) and went into the kitchen.  She came out with a 3-½ lb. wedge of Regianno Parmigianna from the best producer in Parma and handed it to us.  I told her that this was the beginning of our trip and we would have to carry it around Italy, the Greek Islands and Turkey.  She said, "Every night when you come back to your hotel room…. you open the door…. you smell the cheese… you never forget us”. We then left, hugging and kissing all five of them as though we were long lost relatives.

She asked where we were going to eat lunch. We told her we would grab something on the Autostrada, which has fast food restaurants straddling the highway.  She said, “You don’t eat on any Autostrada. You come in right now and I make you a lunch in my kitchen”.  She served us Tortellini en Brodo, which is pasta dumplings in broth. We ate standing up in the kitchen.  It was wonderful.

After more hugging and kissing, we finally left. Can you imagine that occurring in any other Three Star restaurants in the world? Dal Pescatore may be not only the best Italian restaurant. It may be the best restaurant… period.

Dal Pescatore   Runate 46013 Canneto sull’Oglio (Mantua) Closed Monday and Tuesday – The first 15 days of January and the last 15 days of August.