Our history
The Legend of the
Golden Lion
An ancient tale, dating back to the Tre Venezie period, narrates that an angel with the body of a winged lion proclaimed these words to the evangelist St. Mark, shipwrecked on the shores of the lagoon:
« Peace be upon you, Mark, my evangelist.
Here, your body will rest».
Since that announcement, the winged lion has always been associated with the veneration of the Saint, so much so that in the centuries to come it became the immortal symbol of the Serenissima, but also of many other cities that at the time were under the dominion of the Venetian Republic, including the territories of today’s Alto Garda Trentino.
What few people know is that after making his announcement, the lion-shaped angel, tired and thirsty, wandered for a long time in search of refreshment. Towards evening, his worn-out wings and cold paws suddenly stopped supporting him and he fell dizzily to the ground.
The thud of the lion awakened the inhabitants of a small village in the night who rushed into the street to investigate what had happened. Suddenly someone shouted: “A lion with wings! A lion with wings has fallen from the sky!”
The poor lion was really badly injured when he was found, he had a broken wing that prevented him from taking flight again and a sore paw. The inhabitants of the village rescued him, immediately bringing him food and a drink. They took care of him as if he were one of their own. They treated his broken wing and gave him a bed to rest in.
Without that generous care, the lion would not have made it through the freezing cold winter night. At the first light of dawn, when the people of the village woke up, there was no trace of the winged lion. . He had resumed his flight, invigorated by the care and hospitality of those unknown people.
But it was not long before his gratitude for the people who had rescued him became apparent. That same morning, a majestic golden symbol appeared in the village, depicting a winged lion, which…is still there today where it was found: in Riva del Garda at Via Fiume 28.
It all started a long time ago…
Our history
Leon D’Oro Restaurant and Pizzeria was founded in 1922 and has been owned by Salvaneschi family since 1939. Its four rooms with vaulted ceilings were completely renovated in 2001: however, the owners decided to keep the original antique wooden furnishing in Austro-Hungarian style. The Restaurant offers two different menus: on the one hand the traditional dishes of our region, on the other hand the typical seafood menu of the Mediterranean cuisine. Amongst traditional dishes from Trentino, we propose “strangolapreti”, homemade bronze dye pasta and salted meat produced by Macelleria Bertoldi in Riva del Garda, the oldest butcher shop in town. The seafood dishes are made with fresh ingredients including clams, Taranto mussels, sashimi red tuna, sole, turbot, seabass and grilled calamari.
We offer some lake fish delicacy as well, like “bigoi” with sardines and confit tomatoes, and grilled or smoked trout and char fish. In our menu there are also many dishes made with fresh black truffles from Norcia, but the real specialty of the restaurant is our famous risotto. Meat lovers will also find high quality meat cuts such as the grilled Irish Angus selection “Drumlin Gold”, sliced French duck breast and English Scottona steak. Our wine cellar has more than 160 carefully selected labels among the best regional and national wines.
