Ristorante Girasole « Barcollo »

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A restaurant which guards the local tradition from place different from the one where it is located. Since the start of this year it has been managed by Enrico Neroni in the dining room and his wife Veronica Leone in the kitchen. They were the owners of BARCOLLO restaurant in Amatrice which was completely destroyed after the 2016 earthquake. The owner of Il Girasole, Giovanni Bottero, who was near retirement, decided to generously offer the couple to manage his restaurant in a show of solidarity. From now on Il Girasole will serve Amatriciana cuisine with dishes from the Lazio region. Which means a lot of typical Lazio cold cuts. Among the first courses you’ll find the real Amatriciana (without onions), the mezze maniche with gricia or carbonara sauce, cheese and pepper tonnarelli pasta and the penne with arrabbiata sauce. From their second courses: lamb skewers, grilled lamb chops, « saltimbocca alla Romana » (rolled veal with ham and sage), Vaccinara ox tail and tripe and mushrooms when in season. Homemade desserts: ricotta cakes, English trifle and fruit tarts. The wine list includes labels such as Rosso Piceno and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo as well as some of the best Piedmontese labels. The bill won’t go over 25 euro and the portions are « Amatriciana » sized (meaning plentiful.)

Antica locanda Il Duca Bianco

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The restaurant is located inside an elegant building near the center of the town. Inside it is bright and spacious with modern decor and in the summer you can have lunch in the small garden outside or in the nicely shaded terrace. The quality of chef Vito’s cuisine is guaranteed because of the products he uses as well as his ability in preparing traditional Piedmontese dishes with a touch of creativity. The appetizers alone are worth your while: you can have the « vitello tonnato » prepared according to the original Langarola recipe, tongue in green sauce or the peppers with « bagna cauda ». The first courses are delicious from the donkey meat ravioli to the typical plin agnolotti as well as the cheese gnocchi with truffles and the tajarin with wild boar ragout. The desserts are great as well including the « bunet della nonna » and the hazelnut cake with English cream. You’ll surely feel welcomed by the kind and smiling staff. Suitable prices, 30 to 40 euro for an entire meal.

Byblos

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Since 25 years he has been managing this restaurant, Marco Cuccuvè has been able to offer a high level cuisine, with always fresh fish, coke with prowess by a well rehearsed kitchen brigade. Splendid is its location, in front of the beach, and on nice days, even in the wintertime, it is very pleasant to have lunch by the sea heated by the tepid Ospedaletti sunshine. In the hall Mrs. Carla and her friendly and professional staff guarantee an impeccable service. In the kitchen the chef Gennaro Vivo comes up with dishes studied with care, even from their presentation, based on high quality seasonal products. Much sought after, in the appetizers, the “fantasy of raw stuff” consisting of oysters, prawns, shrimps, tuna tartars, seared tuna, scallop, swordfish, smoked wild salmon or tepid octopus with salad. In the first course dishes shall be highlighted anglefish ravioli with clams and lemon, or lobster tagliolini, a specialty of the chef. In the second course dishes cannot be missed either mixed fried seafood, light and crunchy, or the tasty frilled fish. Extended section of delicious desserts hat shall all be tasted like rum babà, ricotta cannoli, tiramisu, the superb mille feullie. The environment is stylish and refined, perfect for special occasions and romantic evenings. Good selection of wines with particular focus on the area wines. Booking is always recommended.

Osteria La Torre

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Cherasco, a very culturally lively town which is worth knowing, just as this family run establishment where you’ll find classic and genuine Piedmontese cuisine which has been smartly and creatively revisited. For about 10 years chef Marco Falco, currently aided by his son Matthias, has been offering strictly local and seasonal dishes. All female servers (Gloria, Erica and Sasha) who are cheerful and polite. The atmosphere is modern and welcoming, in the summer you can eat on the terrace surrounded by the greenery. In addition to the à la carte menu, the daily specials are written on the blackboard just as other osterias used to around these parts . Among the appetizers are the classic vitel tonné and 62 ° egg with stewed asparagus and fondue. From their first courses you should try their egg yolk tajarin with Bra sausage ragout or the « plin » agnolotti with three roasted meats and beef stock. Among second courses we recommend the snails which are locally grown, as well as the rabbit civet and the rump steak breaded with grissini. Finish on a sweet note and try the Marsala zabaglione or the delicious sorbets. A la carte meals around € 35. Large wine list with local, national and international labels.

Ristorante Il Sogno

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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.

Playa Manola

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Restaurant and seaside resort on the Arma di Taggia promenade, an enchanted place in any season, completely made of white and blue wood, with wide windows and maritime style furnishing. A lighting environment both in the wintertime and in the summer season, when it is possible to remain outside in the wonderful porch. Ivan Lombardo’s restaurant offers a cuisine of the territory, mostly seafood, well cooked and presented with fantasy, like the appetizers served on many small plates staked like a pyramid. Among the appetizers an be enjoyed the brandacujun, stockfish and potatoes seasoned with garlic and oil, raw tuna and swordfish, among first course dishes seafood ravioli and swordfish tagliolini are very appreciated. Excellent is fried fish, delicate and tasty, flavourful are also meat and seafood grilled dishes, like “picanha”, a sirloin of Argentine meat. Must be tasted also the desserts, even made on the spot, like chocolate soufflé or Taggia fennel biscuit. Welcoming and available staff. Ideal for lunches and dinners for special occasions. Good selection of wines, especially from the territory. Ivan, the chef is well known charged with great positive Energy, goes around the tables to cheer customers and chatting with them.

La Cuvèa

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A typical tavern located downtown Sanremo, cosy and comfortable, attended a lot by all the people from “Sanremo” as well as by the tourists that, after having tested the cuisine, come back with great pleasure. In the hall Andrea welcomes the customers with his smile and quickly presents the dishes of the day, always different that shall be all tried. The menu offered start from the small menu for 12 euro with a first course dish, a dessert, water, wine and coffee, if a second course dish replaces a first course one or an appetizer we reach 14 euro, and with 18 euro we can also get a first and second course dish with wine, water and coffee, adding a dessert we reach 22 euro, ending with 27 euro with a complete tasting menu. Among the appetizers we can always find fried anchovies and octopus with potatoes. Shall not be missed borage ravioli, specialty the house, pesto gnocchi or the highly scented minestrone. Among second course dishes guazzetto octopus or the classical Ligurian rabbit ore crust fish also prepared at Ligurian way, with olives and artichokes. Good selection of homemade cake, he excellent tarts, fruit cakes and cheesecakes. The right and balanced formula of genuine and local products, cooked with simplicity, represents an excellent solution for a real tavern with great value for money. Small is the list of wines with good presence of quality labels.

Cantina del Rondò

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In the hills of Barbaresco, following the initiative of two people with a passion for their land and its products this restaurant opened its doors in 199. The atmosphere is charming with a great cellar with exposed bricks and sail vaults. After Francarlo’s passing, Emanuela, who’s also Carlo Arpino’s (one of Langa’s great cooks and bakers) niece, has decided to go ahead and make their dream come true. One of their specialties is the “bourgeois vitel tonné”, the meat tartare salad, their extraordinary royal finanziera with rooster, bull and rabbit offal as well as the tajarin with sausage ragout, plin ravioli, “bagnet” farm raised rabbit which is prepared according to the old Alta Langa recipe. Mushrooms and truffles are available when in season and their fruit aspics are not to be missed. Rondò also produces wines such as Nebbiolo, Barbera and Barbaresco. There’s a tasting menu available a € 45, if you order from their à la carte menu you’ll spend a bit more but experiencing Langhe traditional cuisine paired with great wines is well worth the expense and trip. You eat at tables with white tablecloths, in the evening you eat by candlelight and during the summer you can have your dinner in their open air space with a full view of the Langhe. They also offer cooking courses if you wish to learn how to prepare the dishes from their menu.

Trattoria di Campagna

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Historic spot in Valdostan cuisine located on the state highway from Aosta to Mont Blanc, this restaurant has a very spacious parking lot and a refined open air space during the summers. Decor is simple but orderly, tables are arranged with care and in the dining room owner Maurizio will make you feel comfortable right away and will promptly inform you on the dishes of the day. You’ll find classic dishes such as Valpellinese soup or Valdostan fondue with rustic polenta and the Carbonade with a side of polenta concia. Their fassone meat stew cooked with red wine and mountain herbs and berries is very good. Their dessert cart is very inviting, we recommend their moist homemade apple cake, a suitable ending for a traditional meal at a trattoria with years of history behind it. Good wine selection which includes the best local labels. The restaurant’s philosophy is to have a wide choice of menus from their kid’s menu priced at € 7, to their complete menu which starts at € 35 and which is proposed in different variations: from a light traveller’s sampling menu to a more intricate one suited for the most demanding palates.

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.