Sirmione’s best dining experience excels in congenial, well-organised service and traditional food skilfully executed. The three-ingredient cacio e pepe (pasta with cheese and pepper) topped with black truffles might be the simplest thing on the menu but it’s also the most sublime, while the extra-crunchy breadsticks could be the best of the 100 or so you bite into in Italy.
Then there are the complementary extras that arrive thick and fast: a chilled glass of prosecco, a mini-appetiser and – just when you think their generosity knows no bounds – a sweet sample of a dessert you never ordered (but wished you had).