An entire dandelion menu, from spritz to tiramisu

THE STORY↓

WHERE TO EAT TARASSACO DI CONCO↓ 

 WALKS & LOCAL INFORMATION↓ 

Tarassaco is the Italian name for dandelion. In Conco, part of Lusiana Conco on the Asiago Plateau in northern Vicenza, it has a municipal food heritage designation, De.Co. The local food catalogue describes the leaves as particularly tender and delicate, almost sweet, characteristics it attributes to the area’s soil and climate. Young leaves are gathered for salads or cooked with lard, rendered pork fat, an established preparation in the region’s farmhouse kitchens.

Almost every part of the plant has a culinary use. Leaves go into soups, risotto, pasta fillings and crespelle, thin pancakes with savoury fillings. Unopened flower buds are preserved in vinegar and used like capers. Flowers appear in fritters and desserts, while roasted roots can be brewed as a coffee substitute. The dialect name pissacan recalls the plant’s old reputation as a diuretic.

Then local restaurateurs decided one course was not enough and since 2006, A tavola con il Tarassaco di Conco has running spring into a series of dedicated menus. The 2026 edition involved trattorie, restaurants, a pastry shop and a butcher. Milleluci and Osteria Sciessere offered tasting menus. Da Maino put tarassaco on pizzas as well as dishes from the kitchen. Pasticceria Cortese organised Tarassaco Spritz and snacks. Macelleria Conco paired it with roast rabbit, guanciale, quail and sausage.

The programme also sends people outside the dining room. In 2026 it included a guided walk devoted to edible spring herbs, two visits to the Valle dei Mulini, the Valley of the Mills, where old water powered machinery can still be visited, and a Tarassaco market in Conco. Lusiana Conco’s wider Museo Diffuso, a network of cultural and natural sites spread across the municipality, also includes the prehistoric village of Monte Corgnon, the Parco del Sojo open air sculpture park and the Monte Corno Alpine Botanical Garden, which preserves more than 500 mountain plant species.

WHERE TO EAT TARASSACO DI CONCO

FOR A FULL TASTING MENU

Ristorante Milleluci

Contrà Rossi 17, Rubbio di Conco, Vicenza
Phone +39 333 2621925 Email info@elvispilati.it

Elvis Pilati’s kitchen has served pasta with dandelion pesto, while the Accademia Italiana della Cucina records tagliolini with tarassaco among its local dishes. The restaurant participated in the 2026 programme with three dedicated dinner dates.

Osteria Sciessere

Via Sciessere 46, Lusiana Conco, Vicenza
Phone +39 0424 1745576 Email info@osteriasciessere.it

Its 2026 tasting menu included a large raviolo filled with ricotta, a soft fresh cheese, and dandelion, dressed with wild garlic butter. Dessert was tiramisu made with coffee brewed from dandelion roots.

FOR A MOUNTAIN TRATTORIA

Trattoria Fontanella

Via Fontanella 1, Lusiana Conco, Vicenza Email: trattoriafontanella@gmail.com
Phone +39 0424 1892990
WhatsApp +39 329 3145741

The April 2026 dinner used dandelion in puff pastry, risotto and baked polenta gnocchi with melted local cheese. Green apple and dandelion flower sorbet preceded beef with a dandelion crust, followed by a dessert featuring the same ingredient.

Albergo Ristorante Campomezzavia

Via Campomezzavia 39, Asiago, Vicenza
Phone +39 0424 64589
Email info@campomezzavia.it

The restaurant specialises in mushrooms, wild herbs and mountain cheeses. Its 2026 dandelion dinner featured beef tartare tacos and fillet in pastry with Asiago cheese and tarassaco.

Trattoria al Tornante

Contrà Stringari 23, Conco, Vicenza
Phone +39 0424 700069 Email osteria.altornante@gmail.com

A local trattoria serving Vicenza dishes and handmade pasta, with a summer terrace. It hosted two dandelion dinners during the May 2026 programme

FOR A FAMILY RESTAURANT WITH PIZZA TOO

Trattoria Locanda Pizzeria Alla Rosa

Via Velo 32, Lusiana Conco, Vicenza
Phone +39 0424 406001 Email info@allarosa.it

The business takes its name from the family’s great grandmother Rosa, who opened it in the early twentieth century. Its 2026 participation included a dedicated dinner and seasonal dishes and pizzas made with dandelion.

Pizzeria Ristorante Da Maino

Via Luigi Cappellari 7/9, Conco, Vicenza
Phone +39 0424 704023 Email stefano.maino17@gmail.com

The casual option. Da Maino is explicitly listed in the 2026 programme for dishes and pizzas with Tarassaco di Conco, and a tarassaco pizza has appeared in its regular offer

FOR APERITIVO AND SOMETHING SWEET

Pasticceria Cortese

Piazza San Marco 24, Conco, Vicenza
Phone +39 0424 700029 Email pasticceriacortese@virgilio.it

In 2026 the pastry shop hosted Spritz & Snack al tarassaco on 1 and 2 May. It is the address to watch if you want to see how far the ingredient travels beyond the usual salad or risotto.

FOR TAKEAWAY FOOD

Macelleria Conco di Antolini Eleonora

Viale Marco Poli 3, Conco, Vicenza
Phone +39 0424 1755429
Mobile +39 328 6936827 Email macelleria.conco@gmail.com

The owners spent nearly thirty years in restaurant kitchens before opening the shop in 2017. Their 2026 spring specials included rabbit with dandelion and guanciale, cured pork cheek, followed later in the programme by quail with dandelion and sausage.

HERB WALKS & LOCAL INFORMATION ↓

Amici della Terra di Conco
Conco, Lusiana Conco, Vicenza
Email amicidellaterradiconco@gmail.com

The association organised the 2026 walk devoted to identifying edible seasonal herbs, with a tasting included. Contact it for forthcoming dates, reservation details and the meeting point. 7comunionline.it

Museo Diffuso di Lusiana
Visitor office: Museo Palazzon
Via Sette Comuni 12/D, Lusiana Conco, Vicenza
Phone +39 0424 407264
Mobile +39 333 2339600
Email informazioni@museodilusiana.it

The museum arranges guided visits to the Valle dei Mulini, including access to historic machinery. Its sites also include the reconstructed prehistoric village at Monte Corgnon and the Giardino Alpino Dario Broglio on Monte Corno, whose published collection contains more than 500 plant species. The garden’s regular visiting season runs from May to September.