la cantinetta

Seasonality at the pass

The menu turns on seasonal produce and house pasta at la cantinetta in Grivegnée, where Matthias leads the kitchen alongside his brother Thomas in the dining room. La Cantinetta has stood in Grivegnée since 1998, founded by their parents Michel and Francesca Giannuzzi as a small family trattoria; the sons took over in 2010. Matthias upholds his mother’s legacy while sculpting authentic Italian cooking with modern additions, and Michelin notes bouncy, characterful dishes at sensible prices. The house is known for Italian cooking with organic produce, local sourcing, and monthly menu changes, and it holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, recognition tied to quality and value rather than ceremony. The room stays casual, but the kitchen does not treat casualness as looseness.

Pasta, smoke, crumble, confit

The method here sits in the middle ground between trattoria memory and a modern Italian hand. House-made orecchiette arrive al dente, pulled through tomato sauce with capers, olive oil, lemon crumble, and stracciatella. Arancina carries saffron and pumpkin, with Bronte pistachio cream giving the rice a second texture. Lasagna leans on smoked scamorza, not as a flourish, but as the point of warmth and weight in the dish. Other plates have followed the same discipline: open ravioli of beet with smoked ricotta and Taggiasche olives, pasta e fagiole with a Puglia accent, confit beef cheek with reduced jus, paccheri with asparagus and guanciale carbonara. The program changes monthly, which keeps the bench close to the season. It also keeps repetition from becoming comfort. Smoking, confit, crumbles, fresh pasta, and raw fish preparations all appear within the same grammar, but the plate still reads Italian before it reads technique.

The room behind the facade

The facade gives little away. Inside, the room works like a neighborhood trattoria that has learned how to hold a sharper kitchen: family photographs on the walls, close tables, a conversational noise level, and service with the pace of people who know the regulars without turning the meal into theatre. The counter between kitchen and dining room is not the story, but it sets the tone. Plates move out generously, not fussed over at the table. Wine matters here, too. The restaurant presents itself with an œnothèque and a curated program, led toward Italian regions rather than a broad prestige list. Primitivo from Puglia, Libera from Emilia-Romagna, and Nero di Troia have all been named in connection with the house. They sit naturally beside pasta, saffron rice, smoked cheese, and tomato sauce.

A trattoria with a guide mark

The Bib Gourmand sits lightly on la cantinetta because the place was not built around a formal dining performance. Its standing comes from continuity: Italian products, local producers, monthly changes, and a room small enough for the cooking to feel accountable. At la cantinetta in Grivegnée, the arancina with saffron and pumpkin is already on the pass.