Just came back from spending 10 amazing days in my favorite food region in Italy. Turin (4), La Morra (4), Stresa (2). First to all except the middle part. Not surprisingly this was filled with some of the best food we’ve had in Europe. I dont know how subpar restaurants survive here, especially in the Langhe area. I tried to time it, but it was too early for white truffle season. There were plenty, but they weren’t good. The mushrooms OTH were fantastic. And we couldn’t get enough of the Fassona, and many other things. Details to come…
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Turin
Barbagusto - Dont know if I could have picked a better spot for a simple first night dinner. One of the faves of local critic/blogger Luca Iccarino. They are known for the antipasto misto and the ability to order half of just about everything else which allowed us to try most of the menu. I wont go over every dish. The antipasto mix was a revelation. All the classics for 18€, with the highlights being the raw Fassona beef and raw Bra sausage. Funny that, just like in Spain Russian Salad is a thing here.
Agnolotti cooked with Barbera is another specialty here, really good. I also tried Luca the critic fave, Tajarin with anchovies and lemon knowing full well I may not like it, and the outcome was I disliked it more than I imagined. Just too strong, overpowering with the anchovies. Acquired local taste?
We were in the only tourists in the house.
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I presume it’s because, as everywhere, not every customer has high standards/expectations
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@Ziggy that looks SO good!
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Omg I miss Torino and my favourite lunch spot. May I go again soon!
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Al Gufo Bianco - Recommended on this Turin thread. Thanks you. One of the better meals in Turin. A mature, old school type that made us feel very comfortable. We didn’t take advantage of their three carts, cheese, salami, and dessert which made the walks to the bathroom very painful. Ok, one walk.
Excellent zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta. Tajarin with butter and white truffles. We would have destroyed it just as fast without the truffles. But the real star was the veal cheeks. Superb, deep flavors. Another place where we were the only tourists. This will alternate from now on. Nice house Chardonnay.
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Le Vitel Etonné - Well, it didnt take long to prove myself wrong and @Harters right. Not bad, but compared to the rest of trip, at the bottom of the pack. A Slow Food institution where all tourists are sent to the stuffy tourist dungeon, while its nice, and cool upstairs.
They are known for possibly best in the city Vitello Tonato, and while it’s impossible for me to concur, it was indeed excellent and one of the better ones we had.
The rest was just ok. An egg, mushroom, cheese combo sounded better than it was. Tagliatelle with Bra sausage was uninspiring, especially compared to other such plates we enjoyed the rest of the way. And the Fassona Tagliata was nice and clean if not a little overcooked. Cooked Fassona was less and less cooked the rest of the way.
Our first of many aromatic Arnais that became our white of choice.
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good to know!
L’Acino - Best meal in Turin. An intimate mom and pop that’s not exactly a local secret. Its so popular, with locals included, that they manage two sittings and require reservations days if not weeks in advance. You can do it via email. He runs the front and speaks just enough English, while she runs the kitchen. Sometimes you can feel it in your gut that its going to be a special one before you even sit down.
Finally tried Cherasco snails. Dont even recall seeing them on the menu at the great La Torre in Cherasco last time. I was surprised by the way they were served. The snails are meatier, but its more of a sum of all parts dish, with the tomatoes, garlic and plenty of spice. The onion was even better. Stuffed with delicious sausage and with that cheese sauce, so satisfying. Mrs Z, the onion hater, loved it too.
Beef cooked with wine was solid comfort food. The Tajarin with ragu was best of the trip. More sweet oomph than the typical ragu in Piedmont. Excellent Barbera by the glass. I was a little under the weather so took it easy with the drinking. Go!
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Thanks for this report, wow! Looking forward to hearing more about your eating adventures in Turin (Torino).
You are discerning—so impressed. Your insight tracks to something I heard on a trip this past week, so I will share that it might be a supply issue. My husband and I just returned from visiting friends in the Monferrato region of Piedmont. We were lucky to spend a little time talking to some truffle hunters, who explained that excessively wet weather this fall hasn’t been good for truffles, especially not the white variety. The truffles they are finding tend to be the black truffles (summer truffles). They’re hoping for better weather conditions in November. White truffles are being imported from Croatia to meet demand, they said, because people expect to have white truffles this time of year. Towns in the region also hold truffle fairs during the month of October.
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Thank you. Yeah, I got the same explanation. In the past 3-5 years they either got no rain or too much rain. This time the rain pushed the peak season by a few weeks. Ten years ago at this time (our only other visit to the Langhe) we smelled them from across the room. To your point, we had lunch with a truffle hunter and his wife in Roddi a week ago, and they served only black truffles. A lot of them. We unexpectedly enjoyed the mushrooms more this time.
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PS, this was an homage to Allende, the Piedmont inspiration from the Chowhound days. Anyone still in touch?
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would love to hear too , he was a great voice on CH.
Scannabue - One of the more famous places in Turin. Unlike at L’Acino the night before, you are not only surrounded by English speakers, but to make you feel truly at home, the tables are a little closer together. Young staff, all spoke English (Even Taxi drivers spoke English here, never saw that in Italy). Funny misunderstanding early on: We finally saw soup on the menu and ordered it even though Zucchini soup isn’t something we’d normally order. The waitress said, “Oh, instead of Zucchini we have mushrooms”. Heck, even better. Imagine the surprise when a fairly basic plate of just mushrooms arrives. My bad for not taking her words literally I suppose.
The environment wasn’t exceptional, but the food was. The Agnolotti del Plin and Veal cheeks were the stars of show. I have one more place or experience to tell you about where I had better Plin in Turin (cooked with the meat juices instead of butter), but this was dreamy. There was also an excellent rabbit in a tuna style jar you pour over salad. And a fine Fassona tartare. No A/C laws, no windows or fans meant no dessert. But I do recommend Scannabue for the food.
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Greatly enjoying your report and treating myself vicariously! Thank you.
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All the food looks incredible. We were only in Turino for one night & lucked out at a trattoria about a 40 min walk from the city center, where our hotel was. Some of the best pizza I’ve had. But I’m experiencing serious pasta & fassona envy.
I could travel to Italy every summer and never tire of the food. Ever.
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I could travel to Italy every summer and winter. Problem is she wants to go to new places, so Switzerland is next. We alternate. Italy, what she wants, what she wants, what she wants, Italy…
Turin has a very healthy pizza scene. Especially the San Salvario area
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I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface (Tuscany a few times, Sicily once, Turino far too briefly), with so many other regions and cities to visit. But then I also want to go to Istanbul, back to Greece after decades, Thailand after almost a decade…
And we only travel during the summer months due to my PIC’s jobligations, so time (not to mention money) is limited.
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Our favorite food experience in Turin wasn’t in a restaurant. It was a food tour with Abram of I Eat Food Tours. I was a little concerned about being introduced to food I’m already familiar with, and that it may not be as original as the name suggests! but it turned out be a very pleasant surprise. Probably our second favorite food tour (tough to beat the first in CDMX), and we’ve taken many.
Abram is a Michelin star trained chef that runs the small group tours with his wife. He’s full of stories, has just the kind of personality for this, and developed a special relationship with the vendors. Its not easy to do. I tried! The food was not only varied and plentiful but some of the best we had on the trip. He curated a very unique tour full of surprises. Eg, a very local trattoria that served us Plin stuffed with roasted meat and finished with the juices of the meat, among other deliciousness in that place. Highly recommend.
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I need whatever is in that first picture! 
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