Miro

Wall With Ustensiles Mirò is our new favourite restaurant in Lucca. It's a dinner club located on via del Fosso, near Porta San Jacopo (see map).

The atmosphere is homey. Decorated with old wine barrels, antique pots and pans, and painted a warm Tuscan yellow. It can seat up to 50 people inside and has additional seating in its courtyard under a beautiful pergola for summer dinning.

The menu is short but really excellent. My favourite appetizer is the crostini di radicchio e camembert: warm pieces of toast topped with camembert cheese and pan seared radicchio... yum! The crostini di salsiccia(a sausage and cream cheese spread) are also excellent.

All the pasta is home made, following the recipe of the owner's grandmother. The classic tortelli al ragù (meat ravioli, a Lucca specialty) are very good, but the gnocchi con calamari e radicchio (gnocchi are potato dumplings, in this case tossed with a squid and radicchio sauté) win the prize for me.

As for main courses, we usually only order appetizers and pasta, but when we got the tagliatta (T-bone steak cut on the bias) it was perfect.

Desserts include the usual tiramisù, and pana cotta, as well as a very good dolce a la crema, a cup cake filled with cream and toped with wild berries.

Miro Prices are generally on par with or a little cheaper than other trattorias.

Mirò is a little bit off the beaten path, located in a mostly residential part of Lucca towards the beginning of the canal and closest to Porta San Jacopo. That said, it is still quite accessible, as it is just a few minutes walk from Piazza Santa Maria, and quite close to the end of via Filungo. It really deserves a visit, as the quality of the food is excellent and includes some unusual dishes. Most importantly, the service is very friendly.

It is also makes a great place to do a relaxed welcome diner.