"Wow!" All I can say is, "Wow!!" (Or in Yelp terminology, "Woohoo! As good as it gets!!" And then some!!! And if you read all my reviews you'll know I don't say that very often.) My wife and I like to go out for a special dinner on our anniversary. Every now and then we are lucky enough to be in a city with Michelin starred restaurants when our anniversary rolls around in June. (We live in the north woods of Wisconsin, USA, so this doesn't happen every year.) This year we were on holiday in Europe with a stop in Verona so we made a reservation at the Michelin starred "12 Apostoli." Needless to say it was the finest meal of our trip. When I go to a top notch restaurant that offers tasting menus I love to turn everything over to the hands of the chef and whatever they serve, I eat. At 12 Apostoli, one option is called "Giravolte," roughly translated: a spin, a turn, a u-turn, or as we Americans would name it, "Chef's Choice." Or, as they describe it on their web site, Giravolte is "A miscellaneous menu, a collection of tastes, without too much logic. . . a Chef 's playlist that tries to go beyond the classic concept of a tasting menu. The idea is to live the food with freedom, curiosity and self-irony." I don't take many photos or make any notes when dining at the finest of restaurants, but here is some of what I most vividly recall from my meal. . . . . . The cicchetti or, "amuse bouche," was a savory Madeline topped with fine caviar. A luscious way to arouse the taste buds! One of the next courses was simply called, "Zen," a plate of fundamental, lightly pickled (or brined) raw vegetables. They were fresh and flavorful. (By the way, our son who was dining with us is vegan and this course, along with all his dishes, was 100% vegan -- see the end of my review for additional comments about this.) We had two fish courses -- one featuring sturgeon, the next with mackerel in an onion broth. Both dishes were exquisite. The seasoning and sauce perfectly complemented the fish. (When no one was looking I used my finger to wipe up a last of the onion broth from the bowl. Yum!) As the meal progressed the density and complexity of the proteins and flavors of the final courses intensified. One was a rich and unctuous cannoli with marrow, the next featured perfectly braised pork belly and pork loin. A palate cleanser and some sweets completed the meal. I know I've forgotten a few courses in this recap, but believe me, they were all wonderful. The wine paring was among the best I've ever had -- even better than the "three star" restaurant I ate at a few years ago (and generous pours as well!). As mentioned above, the restaurant was able to provide my son with vegan courses that corresponded nicely to the omnivorous courses that my wife and I enjoyed. He reports that it was the most fantastic vegan food he has ever tasted. So be sure to inform the kitchen of your dietary restrictions when you book a table -- they will accommodate you and it will taste wonderful! By the end of our meal, most of the other diners paid their bill and departed. Just us and a couple from South Africa were still lingering over our coffee, when one of the proprieters asked if we would all like to see the wine cellar. Of course we said, "Yes!" Well, it was more than just a look at the "wine cellar." It turns out that 12 Apostoli is built on top of ancient Roman ruins. After viewing the wine cellar and the lower level private dinning room we were escorted down another level to see the foundations of buildings dating back to the time of Julius Caesar and the other emperors we learned about in our world history classes. It was an unbelievable ending to an unforgettable meal at one of the finest restaurants I've ever had the privilege to visit. If you are passing through Verona, book a table at 12 Apostoli -- you'll love it! Linger over your coffee and you too might get to see the "wine cellar!" read more

12 Apostoli - Ready for dinner! - Italian Near Me - Verona, VR

More three and half. We were really excited to try, we were a little disappointed. The space is beautiful and very private, lovely date place. We opted for the large tasting menu.. a couple things were really underwhelming. We chose to get wine by glass, 15 euros for a glass from a bottle that costs 18. Awkward moment at the end, waiters left us waiting there for 20 plus minutes, I had to ask for the check. Not worth coming back in my opinion. read more

I dined here on Wednesday night before the opera in Verona. The Resturant earned its stars! I had the determined pre opera menu. Each course was outstanding. I don't want to go into detail, but wow it was incredible. The price was reasonable for such high quality food. The melon soup with a bit of mozzarella Tabasco and sun dried tomato was my favorite. It was all in 145 .00 with a glass of sparkling white wine. It might not be cool to tell the exact amount but I think it is good to know up front the cost. I treated myself with a two day trip to Verona from Rome. I took the bullet train from Rome. Had a drink from the rooftop of the Hotel Milano and Spa overlooking the Arena, window shopping on my way to dinner at 12 Apostoli and then off to the opera Carman. A great night sleep and back to Rome in just 3 hours on such a comfortable train. It was all flawless. The dinner was a standout! Verona is a treasure! Thanks Marriott Bonvoy for the suggestion. read more

This place was very cute. To me, I felt as though I was in a NYC Italian restaurant. That is not a bad thing, just didn't have the Italian charm that I like. It did have the decor that was appealing to more of a touristic crowd. My meal was delicious indeed. I was eating light that day, so I had pumpkin tortellini with a mustard root sauce and a dollop of cream with amaretto. I didn't think that I would like that combination, but my taste buds were doing a happy dance! It was fantastic. Being close to the Valpolicella region, the wine list was vast and very reasonably priced. The wait staff were so very attentive. I don't think that they are used to seeing a woman traveling alone, (especially in the romantic town of Verona!), and they did all they could to pay attention to me. They all spoke English and they were fun to speak with. Visit Verona for sure, but don't miss this treat! read more

Hinterher gefiel es mir besser als währenddessen solche Restaurants gibt es ja. Anfangs zögerten wir, ob wir reingehen sollten, da der durch die Tür einsehbare Teil des Restaurant komplett leer war und das an einem Samstagabend um achtletztendlich aber waren wir froh, es getan zu haben. Erstens kamen gegen 21 weitere Gäste und zweitens war im Nebenraum eine sanfte Geräuschkulisse, so dass man zumindest nicht das Gefühl hatte, total allein zu sein. Dennoch war es zunächst etwas beklemmend, da typisch italienisch der komplette Raum gut ausgeläuchtet war und wenig Platz für Intitmität blieb. So kamen wir also letzten Samstag in den Genuss, uns selbst vom 12 Apostoli zu überzeugen, nachdem wir so viel darüber gelesen und gehört hatten. Gelungen ist es halbwegs. Top sind die Kellner, sie kennen sich aus, haben 1A Manieren, passen sich den Gästen an, Diskretion ist spürbar, insgesamt ein wenig unterkühlt für italienische Verhältnisse, aber vielleicht lag es auch an uns, da wir aufgrund unserer Sonderwünsche stets anspruchsvolle Gäste sind. Aber auch das gab sich mit der Zeit, so dass wir beim 3. Gang auch völlig entspannt waren. Begeistern haben mich die Auswahl an Salzen und Ölen, bin ein großer Fan Enttäuscht hat mich die Kreatitvität der Küche. Das hätte ich niemals gedacht. Der vo unseren Augen angemachte Salat war frisch aber langweilig, das Gemüse sehr viel zu trocken, Risotto ebenfalls zu schwach gewürzt. Mit Käse und Peperoncino konnten wir nachhelfen, aber so richtig Fahrt aufnehmen konnten meine Geschmacksknospen nie. Ich finde es immer interessant, dass man an puren, einfachen Gerichten am Besten erkennen kann, was ein Koch drauf hat und hier wurde ich ganz klar enttäuscht. Die auf Rolltischen zum Tisch gefahrenen Dessertplatten waren schön fürs Auge und schmack, aber auch weit weg von heraussragend. Dieses Restaurant lebt ganz klar von seinem Ambiente, der alt-noblen Atmosphäre und den super ausgebildeten diskreten Kellnern. All das wird mir auch stets in guter Erinnerungen bleiben. Die Küche allerdings ist m. E. total überbewertet und hat auch angesichts der Hochpreisigkeit (wir haben für 2 Personen für vegetarisches Essen OHNE Wein 150, bezahlt) meine Erwartungen auf keinen Fall erfüllt. read more

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Spent a lovely 2 1/2 hours with owners Antonio and Simonetta Gioco, and son Filippo. Fabulous food by Mauro Buffo. A truly great restaurant run by great people. Terrific, entertaining wall paintings cover every inch with a 1925 interpretation of medieval themes. Everything soaked in local tradition, then amped with a surprise. Chef worked at Manressa; everyone knew Alice Waters. Simple ideas like trippe in a tomato mousse-thing with different discoveries (mint, a bean, a pepper, etc.) in each spoonful. Traditional gnocchi with a lamb ragu; except the gnocchi have no potato - ricotta and water and herbs and wow. A fish carpaccio with tomato aspic. A menu writer would make that sound like so much more - but the food would not be better. Risi bisi BUT with pan drippings from roasted rabbit. Beef cheeks were delicious but the least inventive. If it's not too busy, after lunch or dinner ask to see the ancient ruins below, discovered when the family was hand-digging to expand the wine cellar. Antonio is so proud! read more

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We just finished an amazing meal here and couldn't wait to write about it. The food is creatively prepared using the freshest local ingredients. Everything was delicious and artfully plated. They have an extensive wine list and also serve by the glass if others in your party are not drinking. Service is friendly and efficient. Overall, it was a wonderful mixture of refined casual elegance with great attention to detail. A meal here will leave you feeling pampered and satiated. read more

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This summer was our parents 40 year anniversary and we decided to take my parents to Lake Garda for some days. For their anniversary we decided to go to Verona and doing some research stumbled upon a few good reviews of this restaurant and ended up booking a table for the evening. We could have not made a better choice of a restaurandand could not have imagined a better head waiter than Rossano for a special night like this. Right when arriving at the restaurant there was a bottle of Champaign ready for us on the house and upon finding out the occasion we were celebrating he made a great effort to make this evening a special night for our group of 9. He created on the spot a great meal of several appetizers to try a great suggestion for the main course for all, and had these amazing creme brullees ready for dessert. In addition he organized for our parents to receive a personalized plate the restaurant sells, which was a very sweet detail. All in all this night turned out to be so much better than my family could have ever asked too and will be a very beautiful memorie and all this thanks to a very nice restaurant with amazing food and outstanding service. If you want to experience an outstanding evening this is the place to go. Thank you very much 12 apostoli and especially to you Rossano. read more

Not just about the food and service. Three generations of family work together to create a special dining experience with passion for their work and city. Must tour the ruins uncovered during renovation. read more