Hotel Ristorante Le Betulle

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On the road between Alba and Bra, in a modern building, a hotel and restaurant managed for over 30 years by the Destefanis family. The restaurant is divided into two parts: one which looks like a bistro and another as a restaurant suitable for ceremonies and banquets. The owner Paolo always welcomes you with a smile and accompanies you in the choice of dishes and wines from a cellar attentive to the territory. In summer, you can eat outside. There are several menus: from the simplest for the “business lunch” offered at € 10 to a “tourist” one at € 20 with two appetizers, a first course, second course, dessert, bread and water and coffee excluding wines and finally a more varied “tasting menu”, at € 35. With a “A la carte” menu, the choice is wide and includes many typical local dishes. Among the starters, the Russian salad, raw meat beaten with a knife, veal with tuna sauce in the traditional version cooked in the oven combined with a tuna sauce; then the Cervere leek omelettes and the Langhe cheese with pistachios or the Robiola presented on a bed of hazelnuts. The handmade pasta is a feather in the cap of the restaurant: ravioli, gnocchi, panzerotti and tajarin. Among the second courses beef cheek Braised with Barolo, Rabbit and Lamb. In season mushrooms, truffles and snails from nearby Cherasco. Often the restaurant offers themed menus with Bagna Cauda, Mixed Fried, Boiled and Finanziera. Good locally produced cheeses and well-made desserts.

Senese

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Giovanni Senese, although young, has great experience in the art of pizza and in the variegated world of doughs and flours. Born in Naples, after working experiences around the world, he stopped in Sanremo and opened his modern and welcoming restaurant in 2020, one step away from the cycle path and the sea. The attention to raw materials is very high. He personally grows vegetables and aromatic plants in his synergistic garden. Try the special pizzas, such as “il mio orto sinergico” (€ 14), which follows the rhythm of the seasons, or “il carciofo incontra il cacio e il pepe” (artichoke meets cheese and pepper) (€ 18) or “Barbaresca” with velvety purple potatoes and strips of Chianina sirloin (€ 16.5). Those who love traditional flavors can choose the classics of the Neapolitan tradition (from € 5.5 upwards). Not only pizzas, however, you can taste the wonderful Neapolitan whims (salty pastry dough), fried for all tastes, or the “ cono del pizzaiolo”, filled pizza shaped like an ice-cream cone according to Giovanni’s creativity. There is no shortage of creative dishes among first and second courses. To finish, typical sweets such as classic babà or with cream, pastiera and lemon delights. The list of extra virgin olive oils is also interesting. Good selection of craft beers and good choice of wines, with a preference for Ligurian labels.

Pignatta Rossa Artrattoria

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Walking through Albissola Marina you can breathe Art on every corner, from the Lungomare degli Artisti to the galleries of sculptors and painters that you find in every street. This small but charmy place is located on a  characteristic  narrow street not far from the sea and from the roman road Via Aurelia. On the walls, paintings and sculptures by local artists, such as Giacomo, husband of Tiziana, the chef of the Artrattoria who designed the tables dedicating them to great painters. An all-female management both in the dining room and in the kitchen welcomes customers with a smile and seduces them with Tiziana’s delicious and original dishes. The menu changes every month because it is linked to seasonal products and local fresh fish. In autumn, we starts with tataki tuna with beetroot and honey cream, or pumpkin and almond pulp or seared squid with seasonal vegetables (to taste). In the first courses, enjoy the exquisite fish carbonara, the specialty of Tiziana, or the orange-flavored salmon ravioli with salted ricotta. We continue with cod meatballs with zucchini or the redfish soup. Meat dishes such as deer roast beef and rabbit roll with hazelnuts and taragna polenta are two classic staples. Excellent choice also in homemade desserts. The wine list is curated with interesting proposals from the area and beyond.

Osteria La Briga

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Although located in the municipality of Finale Ligure, Osteria La Briga is surrounded by the greenery of the Manie plateau, in a rural landscape where in summer you can enjoy the coolness, away from the beaches and the noises of the coast. Outside the tavern, under the trees, among the household artifacts made of wrought iron and straw, the wooden tables and the benches, illuminated by small lights, make the environment extremely pleasant and relaxing. The menu offers simple and genuine typical dishes, with excellent quality ingredients, mainly oriented on meat, but also on vegetables dishes. In the mixed appetizer we find the classic veal with tuna sauce, vegetable pies, Russian salad, etc. (14 euros). The homemade pastas, such as gnocchi with pesto, ravioli with sauce flavourings or with rabbit ragout are all mouthwatering (prices from 9 to 12 euros). Among the first courses delicious soups and Ligurian minestrone are also served (8 euros). Various types of grilled meat accompanied by roasted vegetables (rabbit, chanterelle, lamb, etc.) prevail from 17 to 21 euros. Excellent homemade desserts. Good choice of local wines, and a wide choice of craft beers. Ideal stop also for snacks and aperitifs, and for quick lunches. You can taste seasonal truffles and mushrooms as well. Young and competent staff, both in the kitchen and in the dining room, make your break comfortable with their sympathy and kindness.

Vino e Farinata

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Historic spot in the center of the city, where you can taste two types of “farinata”, a very special unleavened pancake of chickpea flour: the one made of wheat flour or the white flour one, as it is called in this area. Cooked in a tin-plated copper pan called “testo”, in a wood-fired oven, you can eat it only in Savona and in a few other places in Albissola, a few kilometers away, hard to find anywhere else on the Riviera di Ponente and Levante area. The white flour farinata is rigorously tasted with the cheese (fresh goat cheese) and the local black olives. Chickpea farinata is also served with many ingredients in addition to olives, with gorgonzola, rosemary, gianchetti (whitebait fish), spring onions. In this historical location you can taste first courses like legume or fish soups (4 or 8€), borage ravioli (8€) and gnocchi with pesto (7€), among the latter the typical stuffed anchovies (8€), seafood salads (9€), and sea bream “frisceu”, a local fish & chips dish (7€). Not only fish but also dishes from the Ligurian hinterland such as stuffed vegetables, herb pies, artichokes, “prescinseua” (variety of curd cheese with a consistency half way between  yogurt  and  ricotta cheese) of Genoese tradition (8€), and meat dishes. To finish, house desserts, such as chocolate pudding (grandmother’s recipe) and baked pears (all for 4€). Low prices and a relaxed atmosphere like a real trattoria, make it a very popular place for locals and tourists who want to taste the well cooked and genuine local specialties.

Paolo e Barbara

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Paolo Masieri defines himself as the “cook-farmer” because what you eat in his restaurant, from vegetables to fruit, oil and eggs, comes almost exclusively from the gardens of Castelvittorio and Ospedaletti which the chef personally takes care of. Each ingredient is selected according to the quality and season, impeccably and creatively cooked with the result of offering an exciting gustatory journey. The restaurant has varying menus, such as the “autumn evocation”, which varies according to season, at 110€, and the so called “garden vegetables and seafood”, which changes every month, at 78€, that gives you the opportunity to taste dishes such as pumpkin and ginger cream with marinated gobbetti prawns and summer black truffle scorzone, meatloaf in oil cooked with confit garlic, potato soup parmentier, Sanremo prawn steamed with salt, seaweed, pakchoi cabbage and mandarin, preboggion ravioli plin, razor clams, infusion of garlic, parsley and lime, SpaghettOro Verrigni with our bottarga and clams, in an enhancement of flavors that blend together while maintaining their own character. Well deserved the prestigious Michelin star that has recognized for 30 years the great professionalism of Paolo Masieri, who is passing his knowledge to his son Lorenzo to continue the legacy. The restaurant is located in a central street of the city. Barbara in charge of welcoming the guest, kindly and professionally help you in choosing the dishes and the wines to combine with the menus.

Ristorante Moisello

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In the valley floor of the Arroscia Valley, Ranzo is very green with the cultivation of olive trees and vineyards. The restaurant has an ancient tradition that two brothers, Ludovico in the kitchen and Federico in the dining room, have taken up for about three years. The cuisine is based on local products and on seasonality. In the dining room Federico welcomes customers with grace and kindness and always ready to “tell” the dishes with a smile. The environment is elegant and modern, very nice and well furnished. In the à la carte menu we find the appetizers, to taste the morsels with vegetables, made of seasonal herbs, soft and tasty, with tomato sauce with Taggiasca olives, the Genoese top with fried panissa and green sauce, wild boar paté or the octopus carpaccio (from 8 to 9 euro). Home-made ravioli, with pine nuts and thyme or braised gravy (10 euro) or chestnut gnocchi with pumpkin and fontina cheese (9 euro), and chickpea Zemin with pork steaks (8 euro). Following the real specialty of the house is the rabbit with olives and abundant Pigato, as per the grandmother’s recipe, really delicious (10 euro), or braised all’Ormeasco with crispy polenta (15 euros) or the original prawns in crust of coconut (14 euro). Excellent homemade desserts (7 euro). Good choice of local wines and more.

Agriturismo Rio Rocca

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A welcoming place with two rooms and thirty seats. Rustic and appealing furnishings with a beautiful stove and a stained glass window that conceals the kitchen. On the walls are displayed products such as preserves, vegetables in olive oil, pickled vegetables, oil and wine, which can be purchased even outside the opening times, by calling the owner Donatello on the phone, who with great sympathy and availability, will share his great passion for the following land products: peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, fruit used for the many and various home-made jams, olives and grapes, and, ever present in his garden, the Egyptian onion, now a must in the western Liguria and not only. In the kitchen his wife, tirelessly cooks traditional Ligurian cuisine with farmer’s products. These dishes are therefore prepared only with natural products, fresh and at zero km, cooked with simplicity, passion and that kind of delight for their authenticity and flavor. The full menu (we strongly recommend it) at 30€ includes 4 appetizers, 2 first courses, 2 second courses and dessert. However, you can reduce the number of courses by ordering only a first or a second course, spending 22 or 25€. Do not miss the farinata with the Egyptian onion, the frisceu, the ravioli and the gnocchi, and the ever-present Ligurian rabbit.

Osteria Cian de Bia'

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This restaurant is located in the small village of Badalucco up some steps inside a beautiful and inviting stone house. It’s set in a comfortable and family atmosphere with a fireplace, exposed bricks and wooden decor. The cuisine is traditional. Every meal is a special occasion so you’ll have 5 starters: Russian salad, Badalucco white bean salad, the brandacujun, frandura which is a typical dish from nearby Montalto, vitel tonné and vegetable fritters. Two first courses: ravioli stuffed with herbs and if you’re lucky tagliatelle with river shrimp. Among second courses we recommend their Ligurian rabbit, the snails and stockfish with is the star of the show of a festival every September. Exquisite desserts such as creme caramel and the sweet focaccia typical of the area are available. Most of the ingredients used in the kitchen come from the family farm called “Cian de Bià” which means “land on the Biagio plain”. Biagio was the owners Ivo and Franca’s grandfather; they also produce a very good olive oil. Fixed price menu for 30 euro, excluding wines. Good value for your money. Reservations are recommended.

Osteria DI VIN Roero

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The Osteria is located in the small central square of Vezza d’Alba, a delightful town in Roero, an area which produces very good wines, among which the Roero and Arneis. Originally the restaurant was called “Ca d’i vin” (House of wines) in dialect, a wine bar where you could get a bite to eat and has transformed into an osteria changing its name to the current one. In the kitchen Marco’s expert hands and in the dining room Rosa’s warmth and kindness will welcome you to this typical trattoria with four adjoining rooms. The decor and attention to detail, even though simple and typical will make you feel as if you’re in your grandparents’ house. A tasting menu costs € 28 without drinks and wine and it will allow you to try the typical cuisine of Roero, from the various appetizers with veal tartare with herbs, the classic Russian salad, the spinach quiche with fondue, the homemade pastas with Piedmontese ragout, or seasonal mushrooms and truffles and Raschera gnocchi. Among their second courses we recommend civet deer, turkey braised in Nebbiolo wine or local lamb. Desserts include bunet, pannna cotta and the soft hazelnut torte with zabaglione. Wine cellar includes local labels.