Le Due Palme

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Restaurant near to the center of Ventimiglia, by now well known and appreciated for its excellent pizzas and always new offers. Pino and Marcella, the owners, have made a choice of quality and research of excellent products to satisfy even the most demanding customers. Since a few months Pino has been offering “pizzas d’autore” on Mondays and Wednesdays, original creations with unusual ingredients, but always of the highest quality, such as pumpkin cream and shrimp, or smoked salmon and DOP cheeses. The pizzas are prepared using 7 doughes, with different flours and leavenings, such as the hemp one or the Roman shovel, which requires a long leavening and a very high hydration that makes it light, crunchy and exquisite. In addition to pizzas (70 in the menu card !!!), a wide choice of pasta dishes, both meat and fish, ravioli, trofie, tagliatelle and a savory risotto of the fisherman, and to follow you can taste an excellent tagliata with arugula served on the soapstone as a grilled fish or grilled prawns. Good offer of vegetarian and vegan dishes too. Classic desserts, with something new like the chef’s pie and the grandmother’s cake. The restaurant is very large, bright, also suitable for events and business dinners, the service is prompt and courteous, organized by Marcella, always smiling and kind. Card of local wines and craft beers.

La Prua

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Situated in an incredible location at the start of the trekking itinerary, and with a porch which allows to eat a stone’s throw from the sea (and in the summer, right on the beach), this restaurant bets it all on local fish and high quality ingredients, only using the finest products, possibly local. The tasting menu, priced 50 Euros excluding wine, envisages, as starter, eledones on a pumpkin and ginger cream; purple yam gnocchi with baby squids and bagna cauda; sea bass escalope with dry pulses and cereals as second course; and dessert of your choice. A la carte, you can find, as starters, an intriguing “crudo di pesce” (fish tartare), a tryptic with sea bass on dry fava beans cream, smoked swordfish on toast with black sesame, and eledones. Among the first courses: squid ink tagliolini with John Dory, baby broccolis and pine nuts, sea bass ravioli with tuna, and a chickpeas zimino (a vegetable sauce) with shrimp tails. We recommend the fritto misto (fried mix), light and crispy, and the fish grilled mix. Meaty and vegetarian dishes are also offered. There is a wide selection of desserts, such as the chocolate “triple mousse” with Grand Marnier and pistachios, and the clementine and chestnuts crème. The wine list is interesting and offers both local wines, and a good selection of important choices from other Italian regions.

La Balena Bianca

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A charming and bright location for the restaurant started by the chef Paola Chiolini and her husband Daniele 5 years ago. A large dining room, modern furnishing, many paintings and artistic objects show the passion of the owners for every artistic expression. You can see it in the very carefully prepared dishes, served in an imaginative and original way, thanks to their experience in the catering that they bought in Milan, where they are present and active. You can start with the appetizers (from 9 to 13 euro), such as the fresh fish tartare with mango or bream cruditè with Sanremo shrimp, flavored with rum and caramelized ginger. The first courses of homemade fresh pasta such as the sea bass ravioli with squid and truffles or the beetroot ravioli with apple slices and shrimp (from 11 to 15 euro). Among the second courses we mention sea bass braid with leek sprouts, cappone and turban umbrine with caramelized chestnuts (from 15 to 20 euro). There is a wide choice for people who love meat and many vegetarian and vegan dishes. The desserts made by the chef are special, such as the caged tiramisù or chocolate mattonella with mint flavored mascarpone. The daily menù is written on the blackboard and offers special dishes, as well as pizzas and focaccias. The warm and friendly atmosphere makes it a nice stop with a really wonderful sea view.

Ristorante Monti

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It will be love at first sight with this venue close to Piazza Adriano, which offers a genuine Piedmontese cuisine. The tasting menu, priced at 38 Euros, starts with a vitello tonnato whose meat and capers sauce both convey the soul of this region’s gastronomic tradition, and its typical flavors. Next, agnolotti with roast sauce and a meat and vegetables filling – once common in the countryside. Follows a light fritto misto (fried mix): its salted component boasts chicken and loin Milanese, veal meatballs, brains, testicles and liver; the sweet kick is given by bran, plums, bananas, and amaretto biscuit, among others. With a glass of wine, the price reaches 45 Euros. The a la carte menu offers traditional Piedmontese options, such as tartare, batsoa (pig’s foot), Torino fillet (battered with bread sticks called Grissini, so that it is also known as “Grissinopoli”), Finanziera (a dish loved by Cavour, with offal and giblets). Among the desserts the zabajone is recommended, but the bonet and the crepe suzette also won’t disappoint. The selection of wines is wide, with renowned labels from the whole region, but also bottles by smaller producers. The restaurant joined the Buta Stupa initiative, so you have the option to take the bottle home, if you don’t finish it.

Trattoria Belvedere Roero

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This trattoria overlooks the Roero, and offers a breath-taking view any time of the year. We strongly recommend the dishes proposed by the Sperone family, who has been managing this restaurant for over twenty years. The chef, Andrea, skillfully cooks traditional Piedmontese meals, and most of the ingredients come from the family garden, together with meats of the best quality, such as the grey Carmagnola rabbit (Slow food certified), and game meat. Fresh, handmade pasta such as tajarin and plin ravioli, a symbol of Piedmontese cuisine, are also on the menu. As starters, we recommend the meat tartare, vitello tonnato, and tongue in green sauce. The homemade desserts, such as bonet and hazelnut pie with zabajone, are also exquisite. From June to October, you can also savor mushrooms, while from November onwards you will find different qualities of truffles on the menu, from the finest, to the black ones (found in good quantity in this area): they are offered in different versions, all delicious. The selection of DOP cheeses – a pride of Piedmont – is equally impressive, and includes Raschera, Castelmagno, Toma di Murazzano, and Robiola di Roccaverano, among others. In autumn, we strongly suggest you try the “Putage”, a meat and vegetable stew cooked on a wood-stove and served with polenta. The wine list is interesting, and offers a good selection of local wines. The service is polite and professional, and the venue comfortable. Average price, including drinks: 30 Euros.

Boma Ristorante Caffè

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The restaurant is located in a small tourist harbor, has modern and elegant rooms together with a welcoming and cozy atmosphere as well as an open space area during the summer where you can enjoy the sea view. It was opened in 2006 by the Patanè brothers, Alessandro is a chef with a passion for cooking and Giovanni is an expert sommelier who takes care of the main dining room. Both teach cooking courses. Boma’s cuisine is mostly based on local fish, cooked on the spot as well as dishes cooked with local ingredients. Tasting menu available for € 35 “Flavors of the sea”, which include a starter, first and second course and dessert. From their à la carte menu we recommend the octopus or stockfish salad or the codfish. Their first courses of fresh pasta with local fish are excellent as well as the classic pansotti with walnut sauce or the hulled wheat tagliatelle with pesto and julienned eggplant. Among second courses we recommend the fried seafood or the daily catch as well as meat dishes such as the sliced Piedmontese meat or the veal rum. Good desserts with inviting presentations and wide selection of wines with international and regional labels.

La Rosa dei Venti

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The right address to taste excellent fresh fish. In a particularly charming corner of Albisola Superiore, in a small square, facing the sea, Rosa, considered a “shaman”, intends to surprise us with her never banal and always tasty dishes. You get into the rooms inspired by the sea colours with maritime objects hanging on the walls, paintings and artwork, here the association “Rosa dei Venti-Arte e Cucina” is based. When we are seated Rosa serves her dishes, which depend on the whims of the sea and the local fishermen, and without having to choose you are accompanied in a path of taste that involves our senses. We start with the appetizers: honey shrimps, chickpea and octopus salad, marinated anchovies, salmon carpaccio, if you are lucky the freshest oysters and much more. Among the first courses, that are prepared with fresh homemade pasta, we mention the ravioli of sea bream and sea bass, the gnocchi with prawns or lobster, all to taste. Even among the second courses, the choice is based on local fish, from light and tasty fried fish to the baked fish with local vegetables. The desserts are another specialty of Rosa, from the delicious semifreddo with pistachio to the ice creams and the always new sorbets. The service is accurate and kind. Prices in relation to quality, from 40 euro upwards.

Trattoria l’Oca Fòla

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We are in the neighbourhood Cit Turin, just a block from the Porta Susa Station. The restaurant’s name comes from the country barnyards, where funny and a little crazy geese squawKinged ( Fòle means crazy in Piedmontese dialect). In the expert hands of Massimo Miglietta in the dining room and Paola Barberis in the Kitchen, the restaurant has specialised in Piedmontese country cooking, where goose and duck dishes can not miss.Warm and friendly atmosphere, exposed brick ceilings and kitchen cupboards in “Poor Art”. In the dining room there is an hanging scarf with the colours of The Goose, the contrade of the Palio of Siena in order to establish the twinning between the nice birds representing different regions. Among the appetizers we mention: the fassone meat tartare with marinated egg yolk and parmesan mousse, crispy egg on toma cheese fondue. Among the first courses: noodles with duck meat sauce, Novarese Panissa rice, gnocchi with goose meat sauce and mushrooms or cod stand out. Among the second courses: the stew goose with Cortese of Gavi, overcooked fassone stew with Nebbiolo, pork belly at low-temperature cooked on a bed of citrus sauce can not miss. Traditional desserts such as the bonuet, panna cotta, tiramisù with crunchy hazelnuts. The cellar is well stocked by Piedmontese wines. A tasting menù with always different dishes consists of two first courses, a second one and a dessert at the price of 30 euro ( excluding beverage), that may get to a maximum of 40 euro with wines or choosing the a la carte menù.

Ristorante A Viassa

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A walk at Dolceacqua is always a wonderful experience, and the many tourists, who visit it every year, know it. This year on the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to Monet they will have one more reason to return. A recommended stop is at the restaurant ”A Viassa”, opened a few years ago by two young enterprising and passionate, Stefano and Aimone, who have conquered an enviable place in the gastronomic offer of Val Nervia. The cooking of the chef Aimone, assisted by Andrea and Crina, is based on local products, following their seasonality, and with the addition of a bit of imagination. In the appetizers, always present, among others, the brandacuiun (stoccafisso with oil, potatoes and parsley), the barbagiuiai (fried ravioli stuffed with rice and pumpkin), and the previ (rolls of savoy cabbage and sausage). Among the first courses, tagliatelle with clams, artichokes and bacon, gnocchi with calamari and cream of turnip tops, and pumpkin risotto, pistachios and brigasca sheep toma. To follow we mention the baked lamb with the beans of Pigna or the fish of the day with broccoli and carrots. Homemade desserts, all to taste, such as the ice cream of michette and Rossese reduction, the sacripantina cake and the chocolate and pear crumble, to mention just a few. Stefano and his stuff assure a courteous and professional service. Good wine list, with the best labels of the Ponente.

Trattoria da Bianca

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Arnasco is a delightful small town set among hills which produce the “pignola” an olive with a slight pine nut taste from which a renowned olive oil is made. People come to this amazing spot mostly for their amazing ravioli which Marica and her daughter Sonia prepare each day with herbs and borage and serve with sauce, butter or sage or simply plain just as they are right out of the water. Their menu is always the same, a guarantee of continuity in this restaurant which has been owned for three generations by the same family. The atmosphere is cozy, simple and inviting. You eat what is offered to you, nothing is written, all dishes are seasonal and the vegetables come from a garden opposite the restaurant. For starters try their 8 appetizers among which you’ll find cured meats, small onions, bean salad, vegetable pies, peppers, bruschetta, battered artichockes or zucchini blossoms.You should try their ravioli, tortellini or tagliatelle all homemade. Among second courses we recommend the Ligurian rabbit with olives and pine nuts, roast beef and snails. House desserts include: tiramisù, panna cotta, fruit tarts and apple pies. Local red and white wines are included in the menu price (€ 25). We recommend making reservations in advance during the weekend.