Salvo Cacciatori

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The restaurant is a small traffic-free street in the center of Imperia. The restaurant, even from the outside, offers an elegant and refined atmosphere. The first dining room is large with classic decor and mood lighting, on the walls drawings by famous artists who have frequented the restaurant, on warmer days you can have dinner in the cellar downstairs. Enrico Calvi, young and passionate, Agostino’s nephew, who founded this restaurant in 1905, will welcome you with a smile and will recommend you. The tasting menu at 45 euro is preceded by three beautifully presented amuse-bouche, the appetizer is a bowl of veal with vegetable mixed pickles and pepper mayonnaise followed by a baked pumpkin with celeriac and Parmesan cheese, the first course is a delicious risotto with parsnip puree, crunchy roots, bruss and honey, followed by sea bass with shrimp bisque, seaweed salad, fennel and green apple. You can end with a Martine pear with red wine and eggnog. A la carte dishes such as the lamb buttons, butternut squash, milk of prescineusa (fresh Ligurian cheese), and among the second dishes we mention the Mulard duck breast and the rich local fish soup. Cuisine based on local, genuine products, such as the “Agostino” oil dedicated to his grandfather, a pioneer of the Mediterranean diet, and often cultivated in the family vegetable garden. Wide selection of wines, with prevalence of local labels. The price is about 60 euro.

Osteria del Rododendro

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This osteria is located in the historic center of a splendid small village and it is managed by Grazia and her daughter Barbara. It offers authentic cuisine using local products which make up the “White Cuisine” a cuisine that’s called this way because of the use of ingredients such as potatoes, leeks, turnips, dairy and flour-based products which were eaten by the shepherds during the transhumance period. Their tasting menu is priced at 25 € and it is made up of 6 appetizers, three first courses, three seconds and a dessert. We recommend their pasta fagottini with thirteen wild herbs, the chef’s specialty as well as the fried rabbit bites, the eye of round braised in Ormeasco and the snails. There’s a good selection of cheeses served with homemade jams. Exquisite desserts such as chestnut and rum ice cream and licorice Bavarian cream. Both the olive oil and bread are produced on site. There’s a wide selection of local wines among which you’ll find the Ormeasco. Honest prices.Their menu prices range from € 25 to about € 30 and it is strictly seasonal.

Ristorante Colle Melosa

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Located in a magical setting surrounded by the mountains and forest, the restaurant offers homemade traditional cuisine together with authentic ingredients and a warm welcome. The inn was re-opened in 2010 after having been closed for many years by Pierangelo Borfiga and his wife Laura, the third family generation to manage the historic “Locanda Colle Melosa”. A hike around these parts is always suggested in any season; the inn offers delicious dishes using local seasonal ingredients. During theme nights in the winter you can try their “bagna cauda nel fojòt” in its characteristic terracotta dish as well as the polenta and wild boar. You must try their ravioli with alpine herbs, the goat with beans and the lamb with artichokes. During the summer you should try the “gran pistou”, crushed grains with ham. You should also try their homemade desserts such as the bonet and apple cake. Wine from local producers such as Rossese or Ormeasco are available as well as wines from nearby Piemonte. There’s also the possibility of staying overnight but it’s best to book in advance. Tasting menu priced from 22 to 32 euro.

Ristorante Da Vittorio

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Always a good choice restaurant Da Vittorio in Val Tanaro on the road from Piemonte to Liguria. The reception is kind and professional. Chef Gianni Biga is in charge of looking for fresh local and seasonal products. His wife Marcella manages the B&B. The restaurant’s dining rooms are reminiscent of old osterias with an elegant touch. An open air space is available during the summer. Their tasting menu is priced at € 23 and includes one appetizer, a first course, one second course and dessert. An à la carte menu is also available. For starters you can try the deer bresaola with porcini or (if you’re lucky) ovuli mushrooms, rabbit tuna style, seasonal vegetable flan or the unbeatable vitel tonné. Among first courses we recommend the tagliatelle, which are called tajarin around these parts, with mushrooms and truffles or the ravioli with roasted meat sauce. You should also try their fried mushrooms, hazelnut crusted lamb ribs, Ormeasco di Pornassio pork fillet or snails. Their desserts are not to be missed, from the bunet al fernet to the chestnut torte with zabaglione. Their wine cellar has many interesting wines from Liguria and surrounding areas.

Villaggio dei Fiori

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The Villaggio dei Fiori is an oasis of greenery and tranquility surrounded by pines and eucalyptus trees and includes mobile homes overlooking the sea. Here you can enjoy the sea, walk or cycle the splendid cycle path, that leads to the village. Tourists appreciate the cuisine of the restaurant, which is not for the exclusive use of the customers of the village, but also open to the public outside. It has a splendid and large room, made even more beautiful and welcoming by the recent renovation. Chef Flavio Ottonello offers international dishes and traditional Ligurian preparations in two tasting menus: “Village” with a first course, a second course and a drink for 16 € and “Gourmet” with a first course of fresh pasta, a second of fish, grilled or in mixed fried food and a drink, for € 21. On the menu a wide choice, with particular attention for celiacs, as well as tasty preparations for vegetarians and vegans. The pizza chef bakes real gourmet pizzas with doughs made with special flours, and is passionate about preparing exquisite desserts such as bitter orange tart as well as classic desserts such as tiramisu and panna cotta. The dining room staff, under the expert direction of the maître, is always attentive to the customer’s needs. The average price of a menu is 25 € excluding wines, with a fast and accurate service.

Trattoria in Ciassa da Francesca

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Walking in the narrow streets (carugi) of Albisola Superiore you will have the surprise to find this small restaurant, with a nice sign, where you can taste a simple and genuine Ligurian cuisine. Here you can taste, on Thursdays and Fridays, the delicious wheat-based pancake, served with cheese and olives and the chickpea-based pancake, combined with many ingredients, olives, onions, blue cheese and so on…The full menu for lunch time is offered at 10 euro, in the evening you may choose a la carte, with many fish dishes, such as the octopus salad or the devilled one, the special blueberry noodles with prawns, cod tortelli, the cut of tuna with artichokes. Not only fish, Francesca, helped by her mother, also prepares excellent ravioli with walnut pesto, borage noodles with pesto, all fresh homemade pasta. The desserts prepared by the chef are delights, such as the meringue or the apple pastry or the panna cotta. For a full dinner you spend between 20 and 30 euro. The intimate and bright dining room, the wooden furniture and the paintings by Dino Gambetta, Francesca’s uncle and painter very well known locally, make the atmosphere very comfortable. We recommend booking, especially at the weekend.

Le Piemontesine

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This restaurant is located inside a country house that has been elegantly refurbished, surrounded by the sweet rolling hills of Alta Langa. It was opened by an Italian-French couple Charlotte Launay, who welcomes the clients in a bright polished hall and her husband Jerome Migotto, who takes care of the cuisine. The gastronomic offer is based upon products of the territory, in accordance with the seasons and with their own cultivation of vegetables, herbs and fruits. Two menus are on offer, one called of the “discovery” with four courses at 35 euro, except for wine, and the other one called “tasting” with six courses created by the chef at 52 euro or at 70 euro with four glasses of wine. Attractive appetizers like crunchy Cherasco escargots or breaded frogs legs with cream of carrots and ginger; among the first course dishes the traditional plin agnolotti with the rabbit variant and gourmet risottos. Among second course dishes need to be tested the “Rossini” pigeon with crunchy polenta and the lamb crust with herbs. Special desserts created by the chef with seasonal fruits like harvest pears or the attractive Monte Bianco meringue cake, with always different sorbets. The list of wines has a broad range with attention dedicated to the best products of the Langhe and Roero. In the same structure is located a 4 stars hotel with 10 rooms to relax and be pampered.

Il Verso del Ghiottone

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Housed into a mansion from the end of the Eighteenth century that has been wisely refurbished, is located the restaurant “Il verso del ghiottone”. Born from the wish of four friends that wanted to offer a cuisine deeply rooted in the territory and traditions of Langa, however adding creative ideas. Gilberto Demaria ande Roberto Campogrande have been entrusted the preparation of recipes with seasonal products directly purchased from local farmers. Two are the available menus, one dedicated to the territory for € 39,00, except for beverages, with Fassone knife cut meat, cupcake with peppers and Jerusalem artichokes, thistles and anchovies, a first course dish that can be chosen among raviolini with plin, hand cut tajarin with three types of meats sauce, among the second course dishes Fassone sliced meat, pig’s cheeks and rabbit thigh, and a dessert of your choice. Then there is a second fish menu called “Galup” which proposes scallops and prawns followed by Cocco linguine with redfish and mussel, and salted codfish with cabbage, squash and ginger and dessert. Upon request attractive dishes like Japan Albese or confit goose chip, glazed Ivrea onions with figs, as well as interesting fish recommendations like shrimp neither raw nor cooked and fish caramelized at passion fruit. Bread and flat bead are homemade like the excellent cakes. Wide list of wines with a nice selection from small producers.

Ittiturismo M/B Patrizia

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Reliable destination for those who want to taste the freshest fish and the famous Sanremo red prawns. Today, Alfonso Di Gerlando who descends from 3 generations of fishermen is the owner along with his wife of the fishing charter “Motorboat Patrizia“, which is the source of what is served in the restaurant in traditional and imaginative preparations. The menu of the Ittiturismo is based for 90% on the catch of the day and enhanced by the skilled hands of the Chef, who, with his staff, prepares the combinations of fish with local products supplied by direct growers and small farms. The restaurant is particularly bright and elegant, with large windows from which you can see the sea. On the menu we find the freshly caught raw ham (€ 33) and the seared squid with stracciatella, black garlic and pumpkin cream (€ 18) or the legume soup, squid and steamed mussels (€ 18). Among the first courses the unmissable Tagliolino with Sanremo red shrimp (23 €) or the Gnocchetti thyme, lemon with monkfish and crispy bacon (18 €). Among the main courses to taste the mixed fried fish (22 €), and the fillet of the local fish with citrus and mustard sauce (23 €). Absolutely to taste the homemade desserts such as the hazelnut cake, cold zabaglione and sanded hazelnuts or the persimmon cream, passion fruit, yogurt and meringue (€ 8). Wide choice of wines with selected labels.

Trattoria Pane e Vino

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This tavern is located in the historic town centre, in a comfortable and elegant environment, with exposed brick surface. Wooden chairs and antique furniture, which immediately make the atmosphere homely. An hospitality that describes itself with the smile of Flavio Marengo, that in the lounge gives advice and accompanies people to discover the delicacies of the Langhe, that Emiliana Morino prepares with her great ability. Its cuisine is based upon zero Km. products of the territory following the rhythms of the seasons. The tastings menu is on offer at 40 euros except for wine, and at 55 euro with 4 glasses of wine, representing a real triumph of Langhe specialties, starting from the typical appetizers like veal with tuna sauce knife cut meat, Bra sausage, followed by the ever present tajarin ai 30 rossi and the delicious beef braised in Barolo; ending it all with the classical bunet from the Langhe. Wide is the selection of cheeses from local producers. Many are recipes containing escargots, that made of Cherasco the capital of heliciculture, and on the appropriate season a menu with mushrooms and Alba’s white truffle. The wine list is rich and well maintained, with wines not only from this area, however entrust with confidence to Flavio who will recommend you the best combination.