Ristorante Pinocchio

in ,

After gaining substantial experience in the culinary sector, in 1980 Sara and Nino established this restaurant in the lush Val Lerrone, offering a traditional, local cuisine which will satisfy also the most demanding guest. Their dishes are appreciated by Italian customers as much as by foreigners, thanks to the finest local ingredients, and to their ability to merge Ligurian and Piedmontese traditions. The offered entrees are vegetables of the garden dip with Ligurian olives-flavoured oil, olives, and tried tomatoes, served with a mix of salamis: donkey’s, pork’s, and spicy from Calabria. The menu features a long list of starters: hot and cold, with fish, meat and cheese – such as goat’s tomino with peppers jam on the side, cured meats, steamed octopus, and exquisite rossetti (small fish) fritters. Among the first courses, the ravioli with borage stand out, but gnocchi and tagliatelle are also worth trying; everything is handmade, and served with seasonal sauces. The second courses are very important, substantial: grilled mixes, roast-beefs, and roasts, but also fish options such as the sea bream and salmon. Skilful pastry chefs create desserts such as fruit pies, amazing tiramisu, delicious semi-freddos, and pudding. Excellent value for money: tasting menu at 30 Euro, including homemade wine. It is also possible to stay for the night.

Ristorante Il Sogno

in ,

The new location of the restaurant in the center of Finale is very successful, the restaurant’s dining rooms are very bright, the furniture very nice and elegant. The chef and owner Timi has achieved his dream here, to offer customers the excellent fish always fresh, cooked with passion. The tasting menu at 35 euro is composed of an appetizer, chickpea puree with rosemary and fried shrimp tails, followed by noodles of fresh pasta cut with a knife, sea bass sauce and sautéed vegetables, then the baked fish of the day with potatoes and Taggiasca olives, local artichokes, and it ends with the delicious sorbet with clementines and vodka. In the a la carte menu you can choose the bonito tartare, soy sauce, fennel salad and oranges pernambucco or the hot pie of pasta brisè with Jerusalem artichokes and cream of buffalo mozzarella. Among the first courses we mention the double ravioli stuffed with fish and artichokes, mullet and broccoli’s sauce or half paccheri with purple prawns from Sanremo. Among the second courses you can taste the grilled veracious squid with cream of celeriac or the delicious lamb chops cooked in oven-baked hazelnuts. The desserts, all homemade, are interesting such as the hazelnut semifreddo, ganache with fondant, salt crystals and chocolate earth. Wide selection of wines with high quality labels and a careful selection of champagne.

Trattoria in Ciassa da Francesca

in ,

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.

Ristorante Babette

in ,

Location of great beauty for Fabio Bonavia’s restaurant, chef of great experience, who since 2002 has opened his first restaurant in the old town of Albenga and about 6 years ago just on the beach, facing the island of Gallinara. The structure is large and very bright, both outside and inside where there are large dining rooms, elegant and well furnished, with large windows for having dinner overlooking the sea. The menu changes every season, the chef is served by local farmers and fishermen. From the menu we mention the anchovy chest marinated in Ligurian way with stuffed confit of red onion and the cloud of crunchy fennels among the appetizers (15 euro). We continue with the inviting black tagliatelle with cuttlefish sauce, clams and crunchy broccoletti (17 euro) or yellow saffron ravioli filled with fish and the artichoke sauce of Albenga (18 euro). Among the second courses, the grilled mixed fish and shellfish with the lemon emulsion, the parsley salmoriglio cups, capers and red onion confit (33 euro) or among the meats the Fassona tender cheek with cream potatoes flavoured with nutmeg and Nebbiolo sauce (19 euro). The desserts are inviting such as the tart filled with almonds and pears, salted caramel sauce and praline ice cream (9 euro). Two tasting menus for 43 euro and 48 euro. The wine list is broad, with interesting offers of local wines.

Da Rosina

in ,

6 kms from Dego, in the village of Porri (in the Savonean inlands), you can find a well-established restaurant surrounded by woods perfect for a walk or a hike, especially after trying Gerardo’s cooking. Since 1980, Gerardo manages this tavern, where you can not only enjoy an exquisite cuisine, but also vacation, staying in one of his 10 guest rooms. The venue is unpretentious and welcoming, the front of house being characterised by a fireplace and wood furniture which put you at ease, together with the smiling and pleasant presence of Mrs. Giorgia. “Da Rosina” offers a traditional, domestic cuisine, result of a masterful mix of Ligurian and Piedmontese traditions. You can find fresh, homemade pastas, such as tagliatelle and tagliolini, as well as filled pastas such as ravioli and “pansotti”, with seasonal sauces. Among the second courses can be found braised and roasted meats, such as game meat, with a side of mushrooms and vegetables from the garden. The desserts are also homemade with seasonal ingredients; they will not disappoint, and will be an enjoyable last course. The staff is very polite and the value for money is excellent: the average price is 30 Euros per person, including a good homemade wine, or a typical Piedmontese wine such as Dolcetto or Barbera.