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.

Tre Galline

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Locate in the heart of the Quadrilatero Romano, behind Porta Palazzo, this restaurant has been part of the city’s food industry for 500 years. Its exposed beams, wooden panelling and dishes in which tradition is revisited continue to attract Torinesi and tourists (foreigners and Italians alike) who want to know the absolute musts of Piedmontese cuisine. Here you’ll find the classic meat tartare with Robiola cheese cream and the pears in red wine sauce as well as the crispy veal head. When in season you’ll find the « bagna cauda » while the codfish confit is available year round. From their first courses you should try the agnolotti with three braised meats and the « tajarin » with sweetbread ragout. Among the second dishes the house « finanziera », the braised « guanciale » and the classic boiled meat cart with its seven cuts of meat and seven accompanying sauces. In addition to the rich cheese cart, you’ll also find the popular « bunet » and « bicerin ». The wine list offers the best of Piedmontese labels including the prized Nebbiolo but there is also a selection of national and international wines. A meal will set you back about 40 to 50 euro.

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.

Il Bagatto

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“Il Bagatto” is located on the “tamburello” square inside a gorgeous building with exposed bricks, a wide welcoming dining room and a fireplace. The restaurant’s cuisine has been passed on for generations and it offers authentic traditional dishes. Among their appetizers you’ll find the “vitello tonnato”, peppers in “bagna cauda”, chicken in pickled sauce, cold cuts from Monferrato and Piedmontese Toma cheese. Among their first courses (which are all homemade), you’ll find the “agnolotti” and “tagliatelle” followed by the mixed boiled meats, suckling pig fillet, game and, if you book in advance, Piedmontese mixed fried fish. From their desserts we recommend their “bonet”, artisanal gelatos and their bavarian creams. We’re in truffle territory and here is where they can be tasted best. Two tasting menus are available, one for 35 euro which includes 2 mixed appetizers, two first courses to sample, a second course of your choice with 1 side, a variety of desserts and coffee and a second one for 20 euro, which includes a vegetarian option, with a first or second course of your choice, 1 dessert and 1 coffee. Wide selection of local wines and if you don’t finish your wine bottle you can take it home with you.

Trattoria Bel Deuit

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The ideal spot for those who go up to the Basilica of Superga in search of memories of the Savoias and of the Grande Torino football team which met its end on this hill on the 4th May 1949. Trattoria Bel Deuit (dialect expression which means “the good way of doing things”) has an enchanting view of the hills of Turin and offers traditional cuisine. Their menu has a long list of appetizers which change from season to season but you’ll always find the veal with tuna sauce and veal tongue with green sauce. Among the first courses you’ll find the traditional plin agnolotti but also tajarin with a freisa di Chieri wine sauce sauteed in a reduction of the same wine and radicchio. From their second courses you should try the beef braised in Nebbiolo Langhe the Cherasco snails and the mixed fried fish. Among their desserts you’ll find the fresh zabajone with the hazelnut cake, bunet and, when in season, Martin pears cooked in Freisa with cloves and cinnamon. Good selection of Piedmontese wines. A meal will set you back 30 to 40 Euros.

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.