Sadly no and we’re leaving Piedmont very soon, but thank you and I will definitely take note for next time!
Gió Gió Temptations Pasticceria (Alba)
Rather good pastries and entremets, most notably a chocolate black truffle shaped one with black truffle flavor in it, and the pistachio maritozzo. One of the few coffee shops I’ve been to so far that will give you a to-go cup for your coffee (bloody tourists!) In the end we went four times in three days. Highly, highly recommended
L’Aromatario Osteria (Neive)
Good wine list with a broad selection of Italian wines and also trendy wines from elsewhere, from the reasonably priced to the stratospheric (2009 Selosse for €700 if anyone is feeling rich); food is decently good but perhaps shaded a little bit by other Piedmontese restaurants we’ve been to; tajarin was excellent here
La Piola (Alba)
Very expensive, right down to the espresso at the end of your meal; food has a bit of a gloss to it, like the sort of thing you’d be served in a Four Seasons, with the edges sanded off; no complaints but not great QPR
Vinoteca Centro Storico (Serralunga d’Alba)
Lunch here was one of the best meals we had in Piedmont; simple in concept but very high quality ingredients - among the best meat and cheese platters we have ever experienced and a delicious steak Milanese fried in butter; memorable service from Alessio and his staff - opinionated but warm, chivvying but generous; wonderful wines available by the glass: 2017 Valentini Cerasuolo rose, 2018 Gaja Barbaresco, 2012 Aldo Conterno Barolo Romirasco; a must-return the next time we visit; p.s. do not order the Bunet
Il Centro (Priocca)
Great sommelier and wines; food started out great: wonderful bread, amuses - e.g. chicken liver pate done up to look like a cherry tomato - and a bunch of other delicious things, antipasti (sweetbreads, topinambur, sweet peppers), we also enjoyed the pastas, then it was downhill for the secondi and desserts; somehow though the individual elements were well executed the secondi and desserts didn’t quite seem to come together; perhaps an off night? Wouldn’t rule out coming back, especially for the wines
Their version is a very stodgy slice of chocolate custard next to a very stodgy slice of vanilla custard, like the kind you would get in an English boarding school. The charming waiter spent some time trying to convince us to order the poached pear instead but we insisted because we wanted to try something traditional. We like the idea of it but would not recommend theirs
MU paolo sarpi (Milan)
On the lively road (Via Paolo Sarpi) that runs the length of Chinatown; authentic and very well executed xiao long bao (“XLB”) and sheng jian bao (think XLB but with a bread-like exterior, and fried till crisp on the bottom), worthy of the top tier that I’ve had worldwide; this is an oddly great place to have an aperitivi
Bar Quadronno (Milan)
I had their prizewinning “Panino d’Italia 1998” sandwich - bresaola, bottarga, game pate, sauce aurore on a toasted roll - and it was excellent, as was their signature Ice Dream cocktail, essentially an Aperol Spritz but with the volume turned up to eleven; a lovely cosy, relaxed, old-school sort of environment, and another oddly great spot for an aperitivi
Rita (Milan, in the Navigli district)
A board recommendation; food is mediocre but you come for the cocktails and the peaceful quiet of the location, tucked away as it is at the end of a very long strip of bars; after trying out several different cocktails, we thought the best of the bunch was the Willy Wonka, an incredibly cohesive citrusy, chocolatey concoction; perhaps in the top 5 of cocktails I have ever tried and I don’t even like sweet cocktails; highly recommended if you’re looking for a break from wine
Ratana (Milan)
They do an amazing job balancing tradition with their avant garde impulses; there’s lots here to make you sit up and pay attention - e.g. a stunning savory tarte tatin made with caramelized beets and leeks, plenty of comforting standards - e.g. meltingly soft osso bucco that just holds its shape, with a glorious well of veal marrow in the bone, and things that are somewhere in the middle - e.g. carbonara with risotto instead of pasta topped with lots of delicately crisp porky bits; service is unforced but attentive, and the 2017 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano for €65 is the cherry on top; highly recommended
TBH I’ve yet to have a Bonet/Bunet that I’ve enjoyed, which is surprising as I’d expected to enjoy it. Poached pears in moscato I always find enjoyable, even when making it myself (and it’s very much a dish of the region as well).
Contraste (Milan)
They buzz you through a nondescript door into a fun space full of interesting ideas; the food is Japanese-inflected but never derivative; sometimes the ideas pan out spectacularly - cf. scallop “noodles” in a dashi made with Italian tuna and a parmesan foam, wonderfully textured red mullet with crispy skin and citrus/saffron sauce, iberico pork with an uni (!) reduction; other times you wonder what they were thinking - cf. overly mushy, indistinct carbonara spheres, and also kampachi sashimi cubes in a matrix with cube-shaped grapefruit, nuts, and squid ink gel; whatever the results, the kitchen is never not swinging for the fences, and that is admirable; spectacularly broad wine list that’s great for the omnivorous but not inexpensive, though that is balanced by the comparatively affordable food prices; lighthearted but attentive service that recalls Epicure in Paris; we’ll be back; highly recommended
Hekfanchai (Milan)
Filthy cha chan teng food from Hong Kong done spectacularly right; if you don’t crave congee and cheung fen and deep fried toast filled with taro paste and pressed sandwiches filled with satay beef then you don’t have to come, but if you do then this will hit the spot
Trattoria Trippa (Milan)
Disappointing experience for such a buzzy restaurant; the experience started well with crisp, clean-tasting chunks of deep fried tripe but rapidly descended into a stodgy, stewy hell filled with nondescript dishes; saved by their one-off collaboration with Il Gusto Della Nebbia, which yielded some delicious results from Sichuan (century egg with chicken parts in a traditional gingery stew, spicy noodles); expensive too - Ratana is affordable in comparison; bit of a pity
Franceschetta58 (Modena)
the endive coated with cuttlefish liver looks like a cuttlefish, tastes like salad, and turns out to be cuttlefish after all - a mischievous way to start the tasting menu (‘I love Modena’); there are some memorable things on there e.g. the risotto with smoked eel, the roasted artichoke with vegetable reduction (beet juice added for a bloody taste that evokes meat!); other dishes are more uneven - excessively salted pork entree, rather meh pate dish, sweetbreads on a bed of mushroom and truffle that never quite came together; good value for your money, but it’s important to set expectations appropriately - this is less a casual version of Bottura and more of another chef’s output in the style of Bottura; also this is where all the grower champagne ended up that should have been on the Osteria Francescana list
FM23 Beerstro (Modena)
Hip and trendy (cf. an entire back wall full of cookbooks, some in English) but there is nothing throwaway from the food: staples with humble origins elevated with quiet, painstaking care - so quiet that you don’t notice it until you’re struck by the resonance of the taste. Humble vegetables take center stage in a simple dish of stewed beans that’s given unexpected heft by parmesan rind and finely chopped lardo (or was it guanciale?). Impeccable tagliatelle in a basic butter sauce kicks like a mule with the addition of pepperoncini, but there is somehow nothing gimmicky or contrived about them and they keep you coming back for more. Polpette in a simple ragu with olives are somehow better than any polpette I’ve ever had in a red sauce Italian joint in America. The wine list is highly affordable in the EUR20-40 range and features many local producers. The desserts are conceptually simple but well executed and crucially not too sweet. Lots to like, and we will be back. Highly recommended
Normally I would be intrigued, but slightly wary of a place trying to be all of this:
Ristorante-Trattoria-Osteria-Birreria-Wine bar-Vino-Gastronomia-Gnocco fritto-Aperitivo-Tagliere di salumi-Degustazioni di formaggi-Pasta fresca-Pasta fatta a mano-Pesce ristorante-bistrot-tapas
So great to have a positive recommendation.
I don’t know if you had a chance to try any Italian beers, but I would absolutely recommend doing so, as there are some wonderful examples. Often not cheap, but some are brilliantly food-friendly, making a €10 750ml bottle a relative bargain versus wine, with the added advantage of a little less alcohol for lunchtime dining. If seeking one to try, I’d suggest Baladin’s ‘Nora’ made with Spelt and spices IIRC, and Baladin have grown to the degree that they can be found well away from their brewery.
I have not had any Italian beers yet but will look for Baladin over the next few days
Cremeria di Santo Stefano (Bologna)
Pure and clean flavors delivered with silky smooth texture, this is just about as ethereal as ice cream can be; we could imagine ourselves eating this daily (if only we could ignore the caloric consequences)
Gelateria Gianni (Bologna)
Arguably just as good as Cremeria di Santo Stefano, and they seem to have won many prizes over the years, but a polar opposite in terms of outlook; they favor heavy, rich flavors with multiple elements: e.g. pistachio isn’t just pistachio, it’s salted pistachio with pistachio praline; everything is sugary and intense and rather a guilty pleasure; if Cremeria di Santo Stefano is Grand Cru Burgundy then Gelateria Gianni is Sine Qua Non
Sette Tavoli (Bologna)
Might have been good once but only serviceable today; there’s all sort of fun bottles on the walls of the restaurant but nothing particularly compelling on the wine list; oh well
Alvinelli (Mercato Storico Albinelli in Modena)
They have awakened me to the joy that is pesto modenese (whipped lardo, garlic, rosemary) and the pinsas are quite excellent too; everything else is done well if not quite transcendent - lasagna, tigelle, porchetta burger, blueberry tart; lovely people and lovely off the beaten path lambruscos to pick from; would I make a detour to eat here? No, but then if I lived here I might eat here every week
Da Danilo (Modena)
The sauces they serve with the Bollito Misto are works of art honed by decades of repetition and when you spoon them onto the simple boiled slices of cotechino you understand how something that seems so prosaic can be so good - in particular mostarda di frutta with pear and yellow pepper and balsamic vinegar, and another sauce that’s essentially mirepoix with porcini and vinegar; there’s high highs and low lows here (do order the Bollito Misto and Tortelli Ricotta, do not order the Lasagna and Zuppa Inglese) but it’s hard to regret the opportunity to witness a bit of history in action - like going to Bocuse’s Auberge du Pont de Collonges - though like Bocuse’s place (RIP) I’m not in any hurry to return
Wow I am currently being served Baladin on the high speed train from Florence to Modena (along with a fancy multi-course dinner). Their “Pop” not “Nora” but in any case well done Italian rail!
edit: and it’s delicious too. Thank you for the recommendation!
superb, and good to hear you’re enjoying the excellent train services in Italy. For us they’ve become more than simple transportation, but an often enjoyable experience in their own right… and one of the few instances where we can justify / afford trading up to 1st class (most especially when booking in advance and even more so when lucking on one of the special offers e.g. 2 for 1 or the absolutely crazy ‘go anywhere for €29 / go anywhere 1st class for €39’).
Love the Italian trains! Our recent trip was carless, so we had a number of great high speed train experiences, though we didn’t try dining. I’d take the Italian trains over the TGV and ICE trains any day.
Last minute addition of Florence, which isn’t on the original list
Gelateria Bloom (Piazza Mazzini, Modena)
In general terrifyingly sweet gelato, though the flavors are good; try the fior di latte with balsamic vinegar, and the incredibly rich vegan cocoa mass flavor
Il Bollito e lo Stracoto by Giacomo Trapani (Mercato Centrale, Florence)
Tremendously fresh, clean tasting lampredotto (the fourth & final cow stomach); highly recommended if you’re into that sort of thing
Il Fritto by Martina Brilli e Gabrio Scaranari (Mercato Centrale, Florence)
Fried polpette, fried bread (like donut holes) served with creamy burrata; both delicious and a cut above what one might expect from a food court
Antica Porchetteria Granieri 1916 (Florence)
Random discovery on the streets; lovely crackly skin and tender meat though we feel the flavors could be a little stronger; still a great place for a quick lunch while transiting from tourist attraction to tourist attraction
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