Archive for category: Imperia

From the kitchen come traditional western Ligurian dishes with some French incursions. Chef Emanuele is French, originally from the Languedoc-Roussillon region, where he produces excellent organic wines and offers original dishes prepared in the open kitchen and served with a gentle smile by Laura, who looks after the wine cellar with excellent Italian and French wines. The ambience inside is cosy and colourful, and there is also a large outdoor area. The antipasti menu includes Italian and French cold meats and cheeses, and an assortment of patés from beyond the Alps, or vegetables in special samples such as green couscous with parsley-flavoured vegetables. Try the scallops with black truffle and smoked salmon with butter, seaweed and citrus croutons. First courses include spaghetti with clams, a creamy pea soup with mint and guanciale, and pasta and beans with homemade sausage, enriched with ursin garlic, a true passion of the chef. Main courses include duck confit with celeriac purée or, if you want fish, cod in prosecco sauce, or flame-baked salmon. Delicious are the house desserts where Ligurian and French traditions alternate. The menu is seasonal and the formula of choosing 2 dishes from the menu plus dessert for 30€ or 3 dishes plus dessert for 35€ is convincing and fair value for money.

Antonio Buono and his wife Valentina’s restaurant was awarded a star in the prestigious Michelin guide in 2023. Amply deserved for the very high quality of the products, many from the family garden and trusted suppliers. The ambience is modern and refined with an open kitchen. Thanks also to his important experience with the multi-starred Mauro Colagreco, he has created his own cooking style and philosophy. The menu changes daily precisely because it depends on what is available at the time. There are two menus on offer: Sea and Vegetable Garden at 100 euro and Sea, Vegetable Garden and Land at 125 euro, excluding drinks, comprising four welcome snacks, two starters, a first course, a second course, pre-dessert, dessert and final pastries. Dishes include dentex tartare, trout roe and anchovy colatura, Sanremo red prawn beat with cream and herring pearls, and scallop gnocchi with broccoli and cuttlefish. Alpine cheeses from the Roya valley. To end on a sweet note, the white chocolate, toffee and almond topinambur, the orange blossom water spumone and the warm madeleine with chef’s lemon cream. A great taste experience that will make you appreciate the products of a rich territory proposed with skill and creativity.

In Calata Cuneo, an attractive area of the city, Alessandra and Marco, the friendly owners, offer a genuine local seasonal cuisine. In addition to the beautiful dehors overlooking the port, the restaurant has modern indoor rooms with stone walls and vaulted ceilings. The full view oven allows you to watch pizza makers baking focaccia, pinsa and farinata, both at lunch and dinner. You can taste real delicacies such as the pinsa with pumpkin flowers, anchovies and burrata and a wide variety of pizzas with unusual names. Among the starters we find many typical Ligurian dishes such as panissa, cod fritters, Brandacujun meatballs, octopus salad, artichokes and fried anchovies, fresh fish tartare (from 7 to 18 €). Among the first courses we find fresh homemade pastas such as pansoti with walnut sauce, octopus sauce gnocchi, pesto trenette served in a parmesan wafer (from 14 to 18 €). To try the Burrida (fish soup) and the cuttlefish zimino with beans. Among the second courses fried and grilled fresh fish, sautéed cuttlefish, sesame-crusted tuna tataki (from 14 to 24 €). You also must try tasty meat dishes such as the rostelle (grilled skewers of sheep meat) or fillet steak Black Angus. Good choice of desserts: the stroscia served with a delicate mascarpone cream and an delicious meringue. Good choice of wines. The service is attentive and friendly. Excellent quality-price ratio.

The old hotel of the village, after a modern renovation has become a cozy restaurant. Ilaria and Antonio with courage and passion have reopened the business which closed for more than 30 years. The highly experienced chef, Giuliano Tommasini is their partner in this venture. You can try the “Cucina bianca” recipes, typical of the upper Arroscia valley based on herbs and vegetables, meats and pastry cheeses, homemade pasta with basic, but nutritious dressing, seasonal fruits and simple but tasty desserts. Cadó, which is the dialect name of Lavender, uses almost exclusively local ingredients, cooked following traditional recipes, with a touch of modernity. Edible servatic herbs become protagonists in the Rajora vegetable pie receipe (a must try),in cakes, pies and frisceu doughnuts. Among the first courses the peculiar Turle ravioli and the typical dish “Streppa and Caccia Là”, a product of alpine grazing. Meat from a local farm are predominant in the second courses. Cheese come from skillful local producers. Cakes are simple but tasty: Lavender cake deserves a special mention. The food is certainly worth stopping here to eat. Excellent value for money: a full meal costs on average 30 €. For theme nights the prices vary, but on average always below 50 €.

A historic place known by lovers of good food overlooking the sea and the beaches. Here Gianni welcomes customers with friendliness and competence and the chef Domenico prepares delicious dishes. In the internal rooms it is a treat having a fine dinner and enjoying the freshest fish. The menu is designed according the availability of fishing and garden products, combining sea and land specialties. Among the appetizers the lightly steamed prawns of Sanremo and the lemon ravioli with raw sea bass, perfectly enhance the aromas and flavors of the sea and the land. The homemade fresh and stuffed pasta is a strong point of the cuisine because it comes from Gianni’s family laboratory, the Prota di Taggia pasta factory. There is also a rich selection of cheeses, and, at the end of the meal, eighteen desserts are recommended every day, including traditional cakes, such as Stroscia, and creative dishes such as the reinterpretation of the Renette apple pie. The wine list with over 200 well-selected labels is able to satisfy every request and has a significant presence of local labels. The price from 40 to 60 € is correct in relation to the quality of the dishes offered and the raw materials used.