Restaurants in Piedmont
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Turinese comic TV presenter Piero Chiamretti’s latest culinary offering is this funky postmodern set-up with retro toys adorning its outlandish interior, and dishes such as mussels in tomato sauce or penne with zucchini.
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Grom
The first-ever outlet of this Slow Food–affiliated ice cream, renowned for organic flavours such as green tea, was started here in Turin. There’s another branch at Via Accademia delle Scienze 4, which keeps the same hours.
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Piazza Duomo-la Piola
The best of both worlds are bivouacked in this two-in-one, suit-all-budgets culinary extravaganza in Alba’s main square. Downstairs, La Piola sports local blackboard specials, such as vitello tonnato, that change daily and allow diners to create their own plates. Upstairs, the theme goes more international in chef Enrico Crippa’s Michelin-starred Piazza Duomo, where you can eat creative food beneath colourful wall frescoes painted by contemporary artist Francesco Clemente.
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Porta di Savona
An economical, low-on-pretension trattoria with a deserved reputation for superb agnolotti al sugo arrosto (Piedmontese ravioli in a meat gravy), and gnocchi di patate al gorgonzola. The mains – including bollito misto alla Piedmontese (boiled meat and vegetable stew) – are equally memorable. Be patient: the food takes a while to arrive, probably because it’s 100% homemade and 100% Piedmontese.
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Locanda da Peiu
Only the best and freshest local ingredients are used at Locanda da Peiu, located 3km from the town centre, but within an easy five-minute bus ride (ask for schedules when you book). The €35 set menus are outstanding value, including antipasti, first and second plates, dessert and wine. Quality dishes include gnocchi with Castelmagno cheese, served in a hard-baked bread basket.
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Kuoki
Head around the corner from the Mole Antonelliana to this intriguing spot run by Giorgio Armani’s former personal chef, Toni Vitiello. At high communal tables, you can dine on Italian blackboard specials, or sushi bar twists such as a Kuoki roll (salmon or tuna with ricotta, olive oil and basil). Toni’s other fusion creations include chicken in Coca-Cola with orange peel.
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Pizzeria Stars & Roses
The list of pizzas on offer at this stylish place is lengthy and adventurous, with toppings including salmon and whisky, or caviar and vodka. Each of its rooms is themed according to colour (red, white, silver, pink, blue and black), so you can choose to suit the occasion. Police mugshots of erstwhile arrested movie stars (Hugh Grant, Al Pacino, et al) line the walls.
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Pizzeria Il Rospetto
There are hundreds of pizzerias in Turin and the nuances of each are never the same, but if you took a poll, the hole-in-the-wall Il Rospetto (little toad) in San Salvario would definitely be competing for top honours. Fast, crowded and insanely popular, it has over 30 tasty thin-crust flavours to sink your teeth into here – including the dessert-style Nutella pizza!
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Osteria la Vecchia Carrozza
You could be sharing the room with a quartet of nuns or a birthday party of celebrating college graduates at this local spot bedecked with white tablecloths and polished wine glasses, but characterised by plenty of down-to-earth Piedmontese ambience. This being Asti, the food is infused with truffles, Barolo wine and a formidable agnolotti di astigiana.
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Vincafé
It’s hip, but by no means exclusive. Anyone can sup on a glass of wine here, as long as you can squeeze through the door (it’s small and popular) and have got the time and/or expertise to sift through a list of over 350 varieties. If in doubt, choose Barolo. Downstairs, in a cool vaulted stone cellar, the restaurant serves up huge healthy salads and pastas.
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Le Quattro Stagioni
As the name implies, the food changes with the season at this bodega-cum-restaurant situated in a street of dark porticos and obscure arcades. The smell of fruity wine through the doorway provides the initial temptation but wait till you get inside for crusty pizza, al dente pasta and the rest. There’s a pleasant giardino (garden) attached.
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L’Ostu dij Baloss
Spring lamb cooked three ways (grilled, in red wine, and baked) and homemade tajarin pasta (finely cut strands, similar to tagliatelle) are among the local specialities served at Baloss’ damask-clothed upstairs restaurant in Saluzzo’s old town. At street level, its casual bistro with funky contemporary decor serves lighter seasonal dishes.
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Pompa Magna
This split-level brasserie-style restaurant is a great spot for a bruschetta and glass of very good wine (the Pompa Magna also owns an enoteca in town at Corso Alfieri 332; closed Mondays). But it’s worth coming hungry for its chef-prepared menus and especially its bônnet (an elaborate chocolate pudding) for dessert.
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Arione
Historic chocolatiers include the 1920s Arione, which invented the Cuneesi al Rhum – a large, rum-laced praline wrapped in cellophane. The chocolates came to the attention of Hemingway, who made a detour from Milan en route to Nice in 1954 to try them – there’s a photograph of his visit in the window.
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Brek
Only Italians could take ‘fast food’ and make it credible and edible. Brek is a small self-service restaurant chain where you can pick up fresh pasta, pizza, sausages, salads and desserts. Inside, the ambience is far from plastic. Indeed you might even be inclined to linger awhile in the plant-bedecked outdoor courtyard.
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Restaurant del Cambio
Crimson velvet, glittering chandeliers, baroque mirrors and a timeless air greet you at this grande dame of the Turin dining scene, regularly patronised by Count Cavour in his day. It first opened its doors in 1757, and classic Piedmont cuisine still dominates the menu. Bookings and smart dress are advised.
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Combal Zero
Combine the trip out to Castello di Rivoli with a meal at its outstanding Michelin-starred restaurant, which features innovative creations such as a 'cyberegg' (caviar, vodka, egg yolk, shallots and pepper wrapped in cellophane) and Piedmontese classics such as truffle risotto. Bookings essential.
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Osteria del Boccondivino
Up on the 1st floor of the recessed courtyard of the Slow Food Movement’s headquarters, this homey little eatery lined with wine bottles was the first to be opened by the emerging organisation back in the 1980s. The food is predictably fresh and excellent, and the local Langhe menu changes daily.
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Osteria dei Sognatori
Menu? What menu? You get whatever’s in the pot at this rustic beneath-the-radar place and it’s always delicious. Bank on homemade pasta in a nutty pestolike sauce and the best breadsticks in Italy. Walls are bedecked with football memorabilia and B&W snaps of bearded wartime partisans.
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Lo Schiaccianoci
A tiny but affordable place (if you can bag a seat) just off Via Roma that is ideal for small lunchtime taster plates or something more substantial if you’re so inclined. The original wood ceilings and magnolia curtains add intimacy. Try the risotto marinara or the ratatouille.
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Al Bicerin
The 1763-established Al Bicerin, beneath a 14th-century bell tower, takes its name from bicerin, a caffeine-charged hot drink of chocolate, coffee and cream. It also serves snacks such as chocolate on toast.
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Osteria della Chiocciola
You can stop by for a glass of wine (from €6) with cheese and salami on the ground floor of this acclaimed Slow Food restaurant. Upstairs, in a buttercup dining room, choose from the handwritten menu’s alchemy of flavours.
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Mare Nostrum
Appropriately enough, Turin's top fish restaurant sits on a street meaning 'fisherman'. Mare Nostrum is an upmarket, lip-smacking choice which uses only the freshest of ingredients in its carefully thought-out menu.
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Baratti & Milano
Among the historic cafes where you can taste chocolate in all its guises are Baratti & Milano, with a stunning interior dating back to 1858.
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Pinky
Sestriere’s central square, Piazza Fraiteve, is loaded with places to eat and drink, including the perennially popular pizzeria Pinky.
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