The Charm of a Blue Landscape Between River, Lake and Sail: a Trip to Sesto Calende

A town whose name contains the road directions for getting there: at the sixth milestone, during the market period. As if the Romans had sensed that Sesto Calende would always remain an important commercial centre first and a tourist one later, they named this place, explaining to posterity how to reach it. If instead we had happened to arrive here before the coming of the railway, we might have come aboard a boat almost twenty metres long, loaded with goods and driven by a highly skilled river guide. It would have been a thrilling journey, during which we would have crossed numerous rapids, each known by a different dialect name, but we would have arrived at our destination with dry feet thanks to the skill of the “parone”, as the guides specialised in transporting goods that set off from Sesto Calende for Venice were called.

Today the particular position of the town, situated between the river Ticino and Lake Maggiore, makes it one of the favourite destinations of weekend tourists and beyond. Where wheat was once unloaded – the quintessential goods that in the past made the fortune of the local merchants – today one strolls admiring the gulls fluttering above the blue of the river and the ducks gliding on the gentle waves, passing under the gaze of the willows along the riverside. Besides the historic centre, where strolling among colourful houses and characteristic little streets you reach the prepositural church of San Bernardino, erected in the 20th century on the site of an ancient church, several important monuments of Sesto Calende are found in the hamlets.

The most remarkable historic-religious building of the town, the Abbey of San Donato, is in fact located in the locality of Scozzola or Scovilla and, having been built at the behest of the bishop of Pavia, together with another adjoining abbey now disappeared, for long centuries it also represented a link with the Pavia territory. Built between the ninth and tenth centuries, the three-nave church was partly remodelled in the eighteenth century. Inside it preserves numerous works of art, including valuable frescoes from various eras such as, for example, the Dispute of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a work of 1503 by Bernardino Zenale da Treviglio. The Oratory of San Vincenzo, on the other hand, dates back to the eleventh century, a little church situated on a grassy knoll north of Sesto Calende, known because it is a symbol of the continuity of settlement in the Sesto area.

Various archaeological excavations have shown that the area was inhabited without interruption since Roman times and that where the oratory stands, which also served as a lazzaretto, there was a place of worship in every era. You just have to go about two hundred metres from the oratory in the direction of the nearby morainic hill to be able to “read” even the messages of the inhabitants of the area from four thousand years ago. Various signs, including circular cup marks, religious and fertility symbols, are carved into the megalith called the Sass da Preja Büia, a large boulder transported here by the glaciers. After this dive into the past we reach Lisanza, a hamlet also inhabited since the most ancient times and the seat of a parish.

Situated on the shore of Lake Maggiore, from its beach a magnificent view opens up over the lake, the surrounding villages and the snow-white peaks of the Alps. After a lovely walk in this corner of peace, wonderful even out of season, pleasantly tired and eager to enjoy a fine fish dinner, we decide to stop at the Ristorante Pizzeria La Vela, a few steps from the beach. Welcoming us with great kindness in the spacious and bright room furnished in a nautical style are the owners Marco and the cook Laila, who have run the restaurant with great passion since July 2014. Since they took the helm, the establishment, open for thirteen years and always renowned for the good quality of its fish dishes, has also been appreciated for its fair and advantageous value for money. The pizzas baked in the wood-fired oven are also very popular.

“Our kitchen follows the seasonality of the products, and we always use fresh fish, depending on what the market offers. We prepare everything on the spot and the pasta, bread and desserts are also homemade. We also try to satisfy any “off-menu” requests, for us this too is a way of making our guests feel at ease,” the owners explain as we begin to study the menu. We start with one of the establishment's flagship offerings, the raw fish platter, a veritable colourful palette of fresh delights. We also taste the fish carpaccio, the tuna tartare with cherry tomatoes and the homemade salmon with citrus fruits. From the crudités we move on to the hot starters, enjoying the baked prawns with pistachios, a fish mould, the octopus salad with Taggiasca olives and potatoes, and the oven-baked gratineed scallops.

Some of our friends continue with pizzas, among which the Vela pizza, with tomato, mozzarella, prawns and rocket, is very popular, but the seafood pizza and the salmon and saffron one are also a great success. Those who prefer restaurant specialities, on the other hand, are spoilt for choice among the excellent first courses of fresh pasta. We certainly cannot resist the spaghetti with clams and also taste the exquisite lobster linguine and the crab with fresh maltagliati. Some of us opt for the tagliatelle with fresh tuna ragù, and the gnocchetti with perch and pistachio are also very popular. Our “carnivorous” friends, on the other hand, prefer the orecchiette with sausage and cherry tomatoes.

We wash down these good things with excellent wines, both from the territory and from other regions, including Nebbiolo, Lagrein from Alto Adige, Campanian Aglianico, Vermentino from Sardinia or prosecco from Valdobbiadene. The friends who chose the pizzas, on the other hand, enjoy good beers, both on tap and craft in bottles such as San Biagio Monasta or San Biagio Verbum. Among the main dishes we certainly do not give up a nice grilled sea bass, and we also very much appreciate the lobster with orange or Catalan-style and the grilled prawns. A group of our friends chooses the mixed fry, particularly exquisite also thanks to the fact that it is prepared in a pan, always using fresh oil. Another speciality we enjoy is the cous cous with fish, of Moroccan inspiration. Finally, we gladly give in to the sweet temptations of the desserts, the chef's true passion.

“When I start cooking, I like to prepare the desserts first, then everything else,” she tells us. Among these tasty creations stands out Laila's tiramisù, but equally irresistible are the extra-dark chocolate mousse, the panna cotta with saffron and pistachio, the baked mascarpone with melted chocolate on top, the cold peach zabaglione and the orange and amaretti semifreddo. After this lovely day we can say with confidence that, metaphorically following in the footsteps of the river guides of old, we too will gladly steer our boat towards Sesto Calende and the Ristorante La Vela in the future.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Pizzeria La Vela Piazza Colombo, 1 Lisanza di Sesto Calende (VA) Tel.: 0331/974000