An Appetite for Lombardy: The People, the Places, the Food

This adventurous gastronomic tour of the northern Italian region that includes Milan, Italy’s most populous city, is both cookbook and guide book.

Organized into chapters for different cities, towns, and villages, it profiles leading local restaurants and offers recipes drawn from them. Smallwood, a British food and travel writer, is interested in traditional establishments as well as the occasional innovator.

In Madello de Lario, a small town on Lake Como that is most famous for being the site of the Moto Guzzi motorcycle factory, she writes about Osteria Sale e Tabacchi, which focus on local fish. Da Vittoria, in Brusaporto, just southeast of Bergamo, is a lush oasis of alta cucina where you might find pigeon with candied tomatoes and taggiasche olives.

Earlier companion volumes are available on Umbria and Puglia.

Handsome color photographs throughout depict people and landscapes as well as the food. Paperback.