Ristorante Ai Pini

Ristorante Ai Pini is situated on Via Nazionale in Lorica, a small mountain resort on the shore of Lake Arvo in the Sila Grande plateau of Calabria, within the Sila National Park. At approximately 1,280 metres above sea level, Lorica experiences a genuine mountain climate — snow from December through March, cool summers with afternoon thunderstorms, and autumn conditions that generate some of the finest porcini mushrooms in southern Italy. The restaurant takes its name from the ancient pine forests — pini — that surround the lake and define the visual character of this part of the plateau.

The kitchen operates in a style appropriate to the altitude and season. Risotto ai porcini della Sila is the defining dish: a short-grain Carnaroli rice risotto finished with butter and Parmigiano into which freshly foraged Sila porcini are folded in generous quantity. The mushrooms gathered from forests at this elevation — under specific conditions of rainfall, temperature, and tree composition — are considered among the finest in Italy for their density, fragrance, and flavour concentration. The risotto represents these qualities without distraction. Costolette di agnello alla brace — charcoal-grilled lamb chops from mountain-grazed animals — is the primary meat course, simple in its preparation but entirely dependent on the quality of animals raised on the plateau's mixed pastures and forest grasses. Ricotta con miele di castagno, fresh ricotta with chestnut honey harvested from the Sila's extensive chestnut groves, closes the meal with a sweetness calibrated to the mountain environment.

The dining room is warm and pine-panelled. In winter, snow on the surrounding mountains and the frozen surface of Lake Arvo give the restaurant an intimate, isolated character. Weekend reservations are strongly recommended year-round, as Lorica attracts both summer and winter visitors to the National Park.