Ristorante Venelia is our go-to restaurant when we're in the Lunigiana. The ingredients are local and the cooking is perfect.

If you have a reservation, you can go on Sundays, when the place will likely be packed. Then order a steak, if that's your thing. It's presented at the table before it's cooked. You can discuss it. Reject it. Use the time to try to keep your mouth from watering excessively.

The menu is long, but the kitchen can handle it. The wine list is long to match. The house red is a very good value.

There is a parking lot in front of the restaurant. At the top of the ridge behind the parking lot is Monti Castle. You can walk up to it and the little borgo that surrounds it after dinner.

Buon appetito!

Address: Viale della Resistenza, 85, 54017 Monti Italia