This may be the smallest restaurant I have ever eaten at. But the experience is always great and wonderful! We totally fell in love with this restaurant, the owner Alessio, and his beautiful mother-in law and wife. Alessio is king of the restaurant and the wine list, while the women rule the kitchen.
Not only does Alessio have a unique and exciting wine list that contains a lot of wine from local wine makers, but he is a big fan of champagne and introduced us a few new producers. There is nothing like sipping champagne on a warm summer day. And it is always inspiring to listen to an enthusiastic wine lover. What a great guy!
The food is also very good. They serve the kind of food the locals eat. And oh so yummy! On our first visit, we started out with some awesome charcuteries before we had the homemade burrata and tomatoes (burrata is related to the buffalo mozarella, but more soft). It is the best burrata I have ever had. But the most memorable dish of the day was still their rabbit salad. So clean, so light and so fantastic! Also, if they made hazelnut ice cream on the day you visit, make sure you try it!
The meal and the atmosphere were so fantastic that we chose this place for a special lunch gathering for our wine club. We were allowed to set up our own menu and choose the wine. Alessio suggested that we do a horizontal tasting of Luigi Pira. We started with their Barbera D´Alba from 2010. Smooth sailing on to their Barolo Serralunga 2008, and then we had their Barolo Vigna Rionda 2004. The last drops from Mr. Pira that day were from his Vigna Rionda 1998. What a beauty! But the star of the meal was not the wine in our glass. It turned out that the day before, Alessio had a great wine enthusiast visiting him. A man with a budget way beyond ours. They had opened a bottle of Monfortino 1964 that wasn´t good, so Alessio decided to boil a rabbit in it! The rabbit we got to eat… It is VERY cool to be able to say that I have had the Monfortino 64!
For dessert, we asked for a moscato de Asti (a semi-sweet, lightly sparkling (frizzante) wine) by Massolino, since he is located right around the corner from the restaurant, but he gave us an even better alternative. A Vigna Vecchia from Ca´ d´Gal. And after that bottle was finished, he came out with a seven years old bottle from the same producer, and it tasted like heaven. Who would have know that a moscato could taste so fantastic after being kept in the basement for a few years…
The restaurant isn´t easy to find. You have to know about it, or stumble into it by accident. But I promise you, it is so worth a visit! And say hello to my favorite restaurant owner in Piedmont from me if you do.