The Portofino List
Five editorial picks, ranked by the only filter that matters: why you are dining.
DaV Mare
The Cerea family's harbour-front Portofino room, the three-Michelin-star Da Vittorio Bergamo running a Ligurian fish trattoria directly on the Piazzetta.
La Terrazza
The Splendido's cliff-top terrace, Portofino's most photographed dining setting, with the entire harbour spread out 150 metres below.
Cracco Portofino
Carlo Cracco's Piazzetta outpost, the two-Michelin-star Milan chef cooking modern Italian directly on the Portofino harbour.
Da Puny
The Piazzetta institution, Portofino's celebrity-favourite Ligurian fish restaurant, in continuous family ownership since 1958.
Da i Gemelli
The Calata Marconi family seafood institution, the canonical Portofino lunch when Da Puny is booked out and the budget-aware harbour-front pick.
Best for First Date in Portofino
Intimate, conversation-friendly rooms. Impressive without being intimidating. The tables where first impressions are made.
Da Puny
The Piazzetta institution, Portofino's celebrity-favourite Ligurian fish restaurant, in continuous family ownership since 1958.
Da i Gemelli
The Calata Marconi family seafood institution, the canonical Portofino lunch when Da Puny is booked out and the budget-aware harbour-front pick.
Best for Business Dinner in Portofino
Power tables, private rooms, considered wine lists. Where the deal gets done.
DaV Mare
The Cerea family's harbour-front Portofino room, the three-Michelin-star Da Vittorio Bergamo running a Ligurian fish trattoria directly on the Piazzetta.
La Terrazza
The Splendido's cliff-top terrace, Portofino's most photographed dining setting, with the entire harbour spread out 150 metres below.
The Top Five in Portofino
Ranked against a single question: if you had one night in Portofino, where would you go?
DaV Mare
The Cerea family's harbour-front Portofino room, the three-Michelin-star Da Vittorio Bergamo running a Ligurian fish trattoria directly on the Piazzetta.
La Terrazza
The Splendido's cliff-top terrace, Portofino's most photographed dining setting, with the entire harbour spread out 150 metres below.
Cracco Portofino
Carlo Cracco's Piazzetta outpost, the two-Michelin-star Milan chef cooking modern Italian directly on the Portofino harbour.
Da Puny
The Piazzetta institution, Portofino's celebrity-favourite Ligurian fish restaurant, in continuous family ownership since 1958.
Da i Gemelli
The Calata Marconi family seafood institution, the canonical Portofino lunch when Da Puny is booked out and the budget-aware harbour-front pick.
The Portofino Dining Guide
Portofino sits on a pine-and-olive-clad headland on the eastern flank of the Ligurian Gulf, halfway between Genoa and the Tuscan border, and is, by any reasonable measure, the most photographed fishing harbour in continental Europe. The village holds about 380 year-round residents, the Piazzetta of pastel-painted four-storey houses around the harbour-mouth, and the cluster of Belmond hotels (the cliff-top Splendido, opened in 1901, and the harbour-front Splendido Mare) that make Portofino the Italian Riviera's most institutionally luxurious destination.
The dining is correspondingly serious. The Cerea family, proprietors of the three-Michelin-star Da Vittorio in Bergamo, run DaV Mare at the Splendido Mare; Carlo Cracco (two Michelin stars in Milan) runs Cracco Portofino directly on the Piazzetta; the Belmond Splendido cliff-top hotel runs La Terrazza and the Splendido Grill across two terraces; and Ristorante Puny, a celebrity-favourite institution since 1958, runs the canonical Ligurian fish lunch directly on the harbour. The village is small enough that all five rooms are within a 10-minute walk.
Neighbourhoods
Reservations & Practical Notes
DaV Mare, La Terrazza and Cracco Portofino must be booked four to six weeks ahead in summer (June, September); two to three weeks shoulder. Da Puny takes phone-only reservations and books two to three days ahead; the famous mid-October closing is around the village's most reliable late-season window. Dress is Riviera-elegant, linen rather than tailored, sandals are acceptable everywhere except La Terrazza which enforces smart-elegant. Tipping is not expected in Italy; a 5 to 10 per cent round-up is polite for exceptional service.
For a deeper editorial read, see our ongoing Editorial coverage, including pieces on the Impress Clients, Proposal and First Date occasion guides.