Aphrodite ECCO

In the Relais & Châteaux Hotel Giardino, via Segnale Cuisines: Italian, French

About

These two restaurants are in the most desirable deluxe hotel in Ascona, about .4km (1/4 mile) from the center of town. Aphrodite, the more elegant and formal, requests that men wear jackets and ties for meals served on a flowering terrace within view of a water garden and plenty of greenery. Menu specialties change every week, but include perfectly prepared modern choices such as tea-smoked duck breast, wild sea bass with a saffron tomato risotto, or marinated fresh uncooked tuna in lime oil with sautéed vegetables. The chef prepares 16 different fixed-price menus whose composition changes daily, based on the seasonal ingredients available. ECCO is in a cozy environment reminiscent of a mountain hideaway, with old-fashioned menu items similar to what your Italian-Swiss grandmother might have prepared for you when you were a child. Portions are copious.