Falling Harder for Piedmont

Is that melted Taleggio beneath the mortadella & pistachios? On foccacia?

You think I was paying attention? I started drooling like Homer Simpson and my ADHD kicked in. But I’m pretty sure its Toma and Ricotta. It was great, but the Farinata (chickpea flour) before that was a tough act to follow

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Which food tour did you take if you don’t mind me asking? I’m planning a trip for spring of next year.

Markets and Street Food tour with Eat Like a Local

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Thanks :blush:

Its a little bit more expensive than other tours, and for CDMX its very expensive. But once you do it you understand why. Very small groups (up to 6 I think), and you get to experience places very hard to do on your own, for like half a day. Money well spent.

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We ended up having Bicerin at the place that invented it in 1763, Caffè Al Bicerin. It was opened by three women then and run by women ever since. Different ones! Bicerin is a layered drink of espresso, hot chocolate, and whipped cream. You are not supposed to stir. They warn you, but give you a spoon anyway for some reason. Its very good. Just not something I’d drink on a daily basis, but glad I tried.

I couldnt get into any of the grand, historic cafes like Caffè Mulassano or Baratti & Milano. Too busy and hectic for my liking. There are sandwich shops all over that serve sandwiches with raw Bra Sausage (Bra is the birthplace of Slow Food, a town in the Langhe region). Tried one of the sandwiches at crostone.it. Not bad.

We kept passing by a place that serves nothing but a… baked potato. Lines around the corner every single time. Musicians entertaining patrons with potato theme songs. Its quite the scene.

Great gelato at Casa Marchetti. Sadly the only gelato we had the entire trip. Just didn’t see any outside Turin.

It was a little more challenging finding great food in Turin than the Langhe, surprisingly. Its mostly either traditional or refined, Michelin type. Not much in between. The one place in between that’s recommended everywhere is Consorzio but the pictures and some reviews suggested excessive use of butter and other issues.

That’s all I got for Turin. Langhe is next. Some of the best meals we ever had, yet again.

Some Turin pics (Moderators hope its ok)…











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thanks for all of this! We have not yet made it to Turin - and while so far we have not taken food tours your recommendations look super attractive. PS about the Bicerin - maybe one could consume it with the spoon to get a sampling of the layers in one sip? If you are not adding sugar I cant think of any other reason.

As you may know, I’m a big fan of food tours. Its a good way to spend time with a local and other travelers (on this one we met a couple from Lyon). The food is just part of the experience. But it has to be small groups, and not too commercial. Harder to find these days.

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Lots of great photos but I especially love the pomegranate door.

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Looks excellent, my only concern is the “lots and lots of steps “ as my right knee is a bit wonky :sweat_smile:. I was also looking at Culinary Backstreets food tours. A bit less expensive, but not by much.

I think they just mean walking, not so much “steps”. The green chorizo taco alone worth one knee replacement.

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I found it on Google Maps in the San Salvario area where we stayed. Portone del Melograno

lol, gotcha :rofl:. I guess I misinterpreted it. Many many steps is no problem for me. And good food is always worth it.

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Moving on to La Morra/Langhe.

Trattoria La Coccinella (Serravalle Langhe)

Time to reveal the source of the mushroom pasta pic in the original post. A place I’ve been dreaming about for 10 years. Not much has changed. Its run by the same three brothers for over 20 years I believe. One runs the front, two in the kitchen. One of the only places offering a seafood menu, in addition to a traditional, and fixed truffle menu at this time of the year. You can mix and match between all three which is what we did.

The Tagliatelle with mushroom was unlike any mushroom pasta I ever had. It was more like a superb shroom ragu. Tremendous dish that shows the big brother chef’s range. An oldie from last time and still a goodie was the onion baked with salt and stuffed with chicken liver. Whether you like onions is irrelevant in this case, same for mushrooms. A couple of truffle dishes… Gnocchi with butter and a poached egg. Terrific even on their own. And a mixed seafood grill that included Sicilian red shrimp among other goodies. One of Allende’s favorites, and mine as well.




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That stuffed onion dish is fascinating — too bad you didn’t snap a pic of that one.

I’m a total shroom head, so your meal is my idea of heaven. And those Sicilian red shrimp are a dream.

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Mrs Z took one and I forgot to include it…

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Wow! Surprised they didn’t take the paper skins off before serving. Did you just eat the filling, or did the skin slip off easily?

Yeah thats how they serve it. There was a decent amount of onion layers under the skin which you can see if you look closer so we ate that together with the filling. But left much of the skin on the place. Delicious. We hate another version at L’acino in Turin as you can see above. Served very differently tho the meat filling at La Coccinella was better

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Osteria More e Macine (La Morra)

A light(er) dinner after a big lunch. After many visits I still dont know how to eat light in Italy. This is I believe the most popular restaurant in La Morra, with locals included, partially due to its prices. Tremendous value. Excellent Tagliata Fassona, cooked better than the more expensive cut we had in Turin. Faraona (Guineafowl) even better. Almost like an expertly cooked duck confit. Secondis worked better than the overcomplex apps not worth talking about. Solid Tiramisu. Would revisit



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