Lemzen

Lemons before anything else

Limonata is the order that explains Lemzen. The counter is organised around lemons, and the rest follows from them: homemade jam, house-made limoncello, and smoothies for when a cold glass needs more body than lemon juice alone. The shop calls itself a lemon paradise, and on the Ligurian coast that is less a slogan than a description of the local crop.

A quick Portofino stop

This is a fast, informal counter rather than a dining room. Cocktails are made to go, panini and salads keep the food side simple, and ice cream is part of what the shop sells. It suits the way people actually move through Portofino: a pause between the harbour and the next thing, taken standing or carried down toward the water rather than eaten at a laid table.

Limonata first, then a panino

Begin with the limonata, the most direct expression of what the place is for. Add a panino or a salad if the stop is doubling as lunch, and a smoothie if the afternoon calls for something thicker and colder. The house-coded items to take home are the jam and the limoncello, both made in-house, and both the reason the shop leans as hard on its lemons as it does.