Romantic Restaurants in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Jacky Runice, Leaf Group

Food and romance have held hands throughout time; many couples have first shared a meal and then a life. Lake Geneva's natural beauty is a lovely backdrop to a first date or landmark anniversary. Rule out the barbecue and bratwurst joints (too messy), nix sports bars (too raucous) and you're left with a fine selection for your next sensuous supper or romantic rendezvous.

Ristorante Brissago

Freshly made pasta is just one of the specialties at Ristorante Brissago.

Named after a small lake town in northern Italy, Ristoranté Brissago in the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa (grandgeneva.com) flies in 60 percent of menu ingredients weekly from the old country. Executive Chef Robert Fedorko incorporates fresh ingredients from the resort's sustainable culinary vegetable and herb garden and all of Brissago's pastas are hand-made in house (most popular is Spaghetti con l'Aragosta Lemirandi - handmade guitar string pasta, lobster and Pecorino cheese). Reserve a table along the restaurant's large-scale windows that overlook picturesque grounds or book a private dining room and Fedorko will create a customized menu for your special night.

Baker House

A night at Baker House recalls mid-century Lake Geneva.

A lavish 1885 Queen Anne mansion with 13 working fireplaces became Baker House (bakerhouse1885.com) in 2010, a restaurant and lounge designed to take guests back to a Gilded Age ambiance on Lake Geneva's lakefront. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the property offers four different parlors in which to dine, waitstaff in period clothing, live music nightly hearkening back to the '20s through the '40s and a menu that encourages canoodling: cheese and charcuterie boards, seafood towers, cheese and chocolate fondue. Dine side by side on fringed couches or in plush wing-back chairs or sup in the lakefront garden amid flowers, private gazebos, outdoor fireplaces and a wrought-iron fountain. Ask about the "First Date at Baker House" promotion: if you stay together for one year, your anniversary dinner is on the house.

Grandview Restaurant

The Grandview Restaurant adds live music to its Sunday brunch.

The name says it all. The Grandview Restaurant at the Geneva Inn's (genevainn.com) hilltop location offers panoramic sight lines of the lake while sampling seasonal American Continental cuisine. In addition to the usual suspects of shrimp cocktail and steaks, the menu sports out-of-the-ordinary selections such as "Gulyas" (Hungarian stew) and champagne marinated frog legs for starters and a seared duck/smoked quail combination entree. Attend one of the frequent Winemakers' Dinners, a four-course meal paired with selected wines, and snag a special rate for an overnight stay at the Inn.

Fontana Grill

Sitting near the dock of the bay at Fontana Grill.

As the only full-service resort on the shores of Lake Geneva, the Abbey Resort & Spa (theabbeyresort.com) offers serene views of boats bobbing in the marina from its upscale Fontana Grill. When Wisconsin winter chills, the space is warmed by a huge stone fireplace conjuring an amber wash of light. Shareable appetizers and small plates are just the thing for couples or if you're staying overnight, consider the Harborside Champagne Sunday Brunch. Steps from Abbey's harbor are 22 miles of lakefront paths lined with historic mansions making for a sweet pre- or post-meal stroll or book a couples massage in the Avani Spa's Sanctuary Suite.