Mosconi (restaurant)



Mosconi is an Italian restaurant located at 13 rue Munster in the Grund district of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, overlooking the river Alzette. Headed by chef Ilario Mosconi, formerly from Lombardy, Italy, it is one of the Relais & Châteaux series of hotels and gourmet restaurants from around the world. The menu is an eight-course set menu of pasta dishes mainly prepared with imported Italian ingredients. Mosconi became the first Italian restaurant to receive a Michelin star in Benelux. From 2005 to 2014, it had two Michelin stars, but the rating has since dropped to one star.

Background
Born in Ponte di Legno near Brescia, and now in his mid-50s, Mosconi moved to Luxembourg with his parents when he was 13. His first experience in the restaurant business was as a waiter in Esch-sur-Alzette. When he opened his first restaurant, the Domus, also in Esch, he and his wife Simonetta worked in the dining room, not in the kitchen. But when he was almost 30, he realized his ambition of creating dishes of his own. He decided to take courses and work as a trainee with Gualtiero Marchesi at the Via Bonvesin de la Riva restaurant in Milan. There, he learned the art of cooking and the importance of selecting the very best produce available, leading him to import 90 per cent of his ingredients from Italy. Mosconi received a Michelin star for Domus in 1997, then a star for Mosconi in 2000, followed by a second star for Mosconi in 2005. The restaurant is located near an old stone bridge. It offers a south-facing sitting terrace with a view of the Alzette.

Reception
The restaurant has a Michelin star in the "Bib Gourmand" category for 2014. Illario Mosconi was one of the first chefs to gain the distinction for an Italian restaurant outside of Italy. Michelin describes the food as "Italian cuisine full of panache, a firework of flavors!". Fodor's stated that it was "arguably the best in the Grand Duchy", with "delightful creations prepared by head chef Ilario Mosconi [which] are not just the best Italian dishes you will taste in Luxembourg, they are among the finest you will encounter anywhere outside Italy." Tim Skelton of Bradt Travel Guides says Illario "has an exquisite lightness of touch, meaning you can savour multiple courses without feeling stuffed," and he also notes that the tuna ice cream specialty is more palatable than it sounds. Simonetta Mosconi, Illario's wife, attends to the management of the restaurant. Beef from Tuscany, veal from the Piedmont, tomatoes from Sicily, and white truffles from Alba, combined with basil and ricotta, make the pasta dishes a unique experience.