Ristorante Puny

Luigi “Puny” Miroli opened the restaurant around 1980, named after the pet name his mother gave him, and his son Andrea and Andrea’s wife Jessica run it today. The family has fed Portofino for generations: Puny’s grandmother kept an osteria on the harbour in the late 1800s, and his mother opened a restaurant there after the war.

Over the years its guests have included Denzel Washington, Madonna and Steven Spielberg, and the family now also produces olive oil and honey on restored land on the Portofino promontory.

The cooking is traditional Ligurian seafood with a few modern touches. Pappardelle alla Portofino, with Genovese pesto and tomato, is the house dish, along with trofie al pesto with green beans and potatoes. The rice with curry, prawns and peas is another long-standing favourite.

From the sea, try the mixed fried fish of the Gulf, or the catch of the day cooked Ligurian-style with potatoes, bay leaf and olives. Finish with lemon sorbet with strawberries.

Portofino’s harbour has only a handful of berths for larger yachts, so most guests come ashore by tender while the yacht lies at anchor in the bay. The Piazzetta is right at the harbour’s edge, so the restaurant is a few steps from the landing.

Puny serves lunch and dinner every day; in July and August, lunch is kept for private events, so plan on dinner. Bookings are by phone only, and a table by the water is worth asking for well ahead.