The social butterflies swarm to il Lido because of the combination of fine Italian dining, stunning sea views, Owner-Manager Beppe De Vito (formerly of Garibaldi) and Chef Michele Pavanello (formerly of Pontini). When we arrived for dinner, the place was buzzing. We missed out on a verandah table, but were happy inside the rather grand dining room amid the action.
The menu offers standard Italian classics, but since its opening, the ingredients have changed—now the beef is sourced out of the US and most of the other ingredients out of Italy. The tomino cheese melted over mushrooms on a rosemary chip was a tasty start to the meal, while the fresh and plump king scallops with brandy sauce and tomato confit took their flavor from the rucola salad, cherry tomatoes and balsamic (which was fine, just not what we’d expected from the menu description).
We enjoyed the linguine with lobster in spicy tomato sauce but were disappointed to get just half a baby lobster, while the lamb cutlets with amaruso wine sauce were really delicious but were missing the prescribed sauce. The tiramisu was yummy but, again, we felt the chef was being a bit tight with his liquors. Luckily our waiter was so proficient. Overall, we really enjoyed our experience but look forward to greater things from the menu.
