Small Pleasures in Piedmont

Article by: Donna Wheeler, February 2006

A short hop from Milan or Genoa, the southern-most province of Alessandria is both easily accessible and sublimely peaceful. What it lacks in gawp-worthy mountains or significant towns or sights, it makes up for in quotidian charm. Here's just three examples:

Uptown Top Ranking

Gavi could just be another comely hill town in a country that specialises in them, but its raison d'être is definitely not the tourist dollar. Most of the town are involved in the wine industry, and the few other travellers you may encounter have usually come to sample and buy Gavi di Gavi (a delicate, complex white with a cultish international following) from the surrounding vineyards. The town's cobbled streets do get busy though. Gavi is a favoured Sunday passeggiata destination for neighbouring Genovese, who come to take in the fresh mountain air, eat Bar del Moro's famous gelati, pick up some of the exquisitely crumbly amaretti di Gavi and generally check each other out. You could explore the looming mediaeval fort at the hill's summit or the town's lovely 11th-century church of San Giacomo. Or you could just load up your car with afore mentioned wine and biscotti and kick back at the atmospheric little bar on the piazza. Sipping Campari sodas and chatting to the local regazzi, clad in tight black jeans and cowboy hats, you could be in any urban hipster enclave. But thankfully you're not.

Getting There:
From Turin
A21, exit Alessandria east (12km) or A21 or A26, exit Novi Ligure (120 km)
From Milan
A7, exit Serravalle Scrivia (100km)
From Genoa
A7, exit Vignole Borbera (50 km) or A26, exit Ovada (60 km) or Bocchetta Highway (39 km)
www.comune.gavi.al.it

When the Moon Hits Your Eye

When every second pizza you eat in Italy is close to perfection it's hard to start throwing around superlatives. Pizza pedants will, however, find in Pizzeria da Pietrino, intimations of that mythical thing, perfect pizza. Find the unassuming village of Vignole Borbera and join the queue for a table, then decide for yourself. It's rapture time for bianco fans: Da Pietrino's widespread renown is due in part to its range of simple but wonderfully intense crema toppings – pastes or purees made from fresh, often local, ingredients such as porcini, truffle, pumpkin, olives or artichoke. The margherita (the purist's baseline measure) is also worthy of devotion, with judicious use of sugo, made-that-morning fior di latte and young, fragrant basil. The crisp, friable bases serve the crema toppings especially well, but do not disappoint on either score. It's noisy, but that's because it's hard to remain composed when you're eating what may well be the best, most perfect, pizza of your life.

Pizzeria da Pietrino
Via Mazzini, 61
Vignole Borbera (AL)
Tel: +39 0143 67 7780

Concrete Jungle

Visiting the 'largest outlet mall in Europe' may not sound like a particularly memorable or authentic travel experience. But this is Italy. The notion of bella figura is a cornerstone of Italian identity and it's at McArthurGlen Serravalle – usually referred to simply, if reverentially, as 'Outlet' – that you can witness label-led zealotry in full frenzied flight. Yes, there is something horribly Westworld about the faux 18th-century Ligurian 'streetscapes', but once you see the prices of crewneck tees at Petit Bateau, you too will get over it. A map and plan of action is obligatory, ie don't spend up big in Furla only to find that Mandarina Duck is just around the corner. The locals love the ultra-luxe linens at Frette and the Anglophile but avowedly Euro style menswear at Henry Cotton, and are also partial to sportswear giant Fila. There's a comfortable carpeted indoor playground for keeping children sane (very useful in winter), plus an in-store Bodum cafe. Word to the wise: you'll regret the purchase of several over-engineered push-up bras in lurid rainbow colours from Infiore before you reach the car park. Ditto – no matter what Zia whispers in your ear - that Dolce et Gabbana satin bustier dress with a large print of bananas, apples and grapes.

McArthurGlen Serravalle
Via della Moda, 1
I - 15069 Serravalle Scrivia (AL)
Tel: +39 0143 60 90 00
serravalle.mcarthurglen.it