Nestled in the hills of Lombardy between Mantua and Cremona, the sleepy hamlet of Runate may seem unassuming at first glance. The village is home to a few dozen people at most, but thousands make a culinary pilgrimage here every year to visit Dal Pescatore – the three Michelin-starred home of Nadia Santini.

Dal Pescatore first opened its doors nearly a century ago as Vino e Pesce (‘Wine and Fish’) – a simple taverna belonging to Nadia’s husband’s grandparents. Grandfather Antonio Santini would fish in the Oglio river during the day, then return to the restaurant in the afternoon to wait tables whilst his wife Teresa would handle kitchen duties. The pair would eventually pass ‘Wine and Fish’ onto their son Giovanni and his wife Bruna, and they in turn passed the restaurant to their son Antonio and his newly wed wife, Nadia. The simple tavern was renamed Dal Pescatore in 1970, and with Nadia and Bruna in the kitchen – with the help of grandmother Teresa – it quickly gained a national reputation as a distinguished trattoria. By 1996, Dal Pescatore had ascended to the very top with Nadia at the helm of the kitchen, receiving a third Michelin star.

Though much has changed at Dal Pescatore over the last century, the restaurant remains firmly rooted in history, and the ethos that made ‘Wine and Fish’ popular with the locals – great ingredients treated with utmost care – lives on at Dal Pescatore today. Dishes like foie gras with passion fruit and sweet wine, frogs legs with fine herbs and snails petit gris with aromatic herb sauce and sweet garlic point to Nadia’s love of French cuisine – she and her husband spent their honeymoon in France, visiting the likes of Paul Bocuse’s L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges and Maison Troisgros – but also to her smart combinations of classic flavours. The menu also champions local ingredients – tortelli with pumpkin, butter and Parmigiano Reggiano uses famous pumpkins from nearby Mantua, and local cheeses like provolone and ricotta are also put front and centre. Most of the dishes on the menu are Nadia’s creations, but it’s comforting to know that the roots of some dishes go back to the restaurant’s very beginnings – the beef tortellini in chicken soup with Lambrusco for example, is a dish that Teresa and Antonio served here nearly one hundred years ago.

The cellars at Dal Pescatore are equally impressive, boasting one of the greatest Italian wine collections anywhere in the world, as well as a huge collection from the rest of Europe and the new world. Alberto Santini – Dal Pescatore’s head sommelier – is one of a new generation of Santinis ready to take the reins at the famous restaurant, alongside his brother Giovanni and sister-in-law Valentina. The beauty of Dal Pescatore is in the family. Someday, Nadia will leave the kitchen and pass the reins onto her children, and as one great chef departs, another one will take her place.