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By Manos Angelakis
There are numerous world-class restaurants in and around Torino. However, even the less exalted ones – the ones without Michelin-starred chefs – are not too shabby. We tried some with very traditional kitchens, some more innovative, a sushi bar, an excellent gelato parlor and a pizza restaurant that makes one of the most decadent pizzas.
Tre Galli, Vineria Ristorante, Via S. Agostino 25, 10122 Torino, was an  interesting center-city (Roman Quarter) eatery with a young-professional clientele. The chef offers traditional specialties, like the pictured sformatto -a flan made with vegetables - outstanding desserts, and the cellar was well stocked with upscale Italian offerings. The staff was young and enthusiastic, but not always effective. But one goes to this place for the good food and wine, not to discuss world politics with the waitresses.
 Outside Torino, in Diano d’ Alba at Via S. Croce 17 (Loc. Cascinotto) is the Trattoria nelle Vigne. It is a typical countryside Piedmontese family trattoria (typically, Italian trattorias don’t serve à la carte meals, only the chef’s daily choice) and, on the Sunday we were there, extended local families, grandparents, cousins, children et al were enjoying chef Sabrina Farioli’s cuisine, both in the dining room and the outside terraces with views of the local vineyards. A library of the best local wines and grappas lined the walls. Like most of the restaurants we visited, they had extensive antipasti – anchovies in a hazelnut sauce, fried bread covered with speck (a fatty smoked bacon sliced paper thin), and a roast pimento tonnato being some of the more unusual and mouthwatering offerings. There were two primi piatti, both a pasta and a risotto.The secondo piatto I had was an excellent rabbit dish and there was an oxtail dish as well. A 2003 Sorí Luma, from the Trattoria’s own vineyard was recommended, as the Barolo I was thinking of getting was deemed too heavy by chef Farioli. This is a true, traditional, country restaurant that uses the best farm fresh seasonal ingredients and artisanal products, lots of fresh butter and good olive oil and great wines from both its own vineyard and the surrounding villages.
 Antico Ristorante Porto di Savona (www.portodisavona.com) at Piazza Vitorio Veneto 2, is in the heart of Torino, and serves typical Piedmontese dishes. The kitchen is really old-fashioned and not given to much experimentation but, if you like classic Northern Italian cuisine, that’s the place to have it. Note worthy: a risotto made with Barbera and radicchio. The house wine, served in pottery pitchers, is quite quaffable, especially the red.
Tratoria Contemporanea Birilli, (www.birilli.com) is one of the few city restaurants that is open 7 days a week in the summer, when the garden is available (most restaurants close Sunday, and some both Saturday and Sunday), but in the winter, when the garden is not open, it closes on Sunday. It is located at Strada Val San Martino 6. Some dishes of note: Carciofi farciti al profumo di tartufo e crema di zucca is the best brace of stuffed artichokes I’ve had this year; try the Gnocchetti di patate e ricotta con crema di porri, spinaci e speck as primo piatto, and Carbonade di camoscio profumata al rafano con purea all’aglio as secondo piatto, if you like roasted garlic.
If you feel like having sushi while in Torino, Arcadia (www.ristorantearcadia.com) an Italian restaurant and sushi bar located in Galleria Subalpina (Piazza Castello) is definitively the place for the freshest raw fish available. The selection is not very extensive but everything is very fresh – considering the fact that Torino is a long way from the sea. They did not have the plum wine that I like, my usual accompaniment to sushi, so we were offered a bottle of Mionetto IL Rose, a lovely deep-pink, medium dry, sparkling (frizzante) wine from the Veneto. On my return to the States, I discovered that it is available here as well. Very nice indeed!
Have you ever dreamt of a really decadent pizza? One with extra thin crust and lots of black truffle shavings on top? At Tartufi e Vini in the Lingotto shopping mall, Via Nizza 262, this dream can become a reality.
No matter what your culinary inclinations are, you can’t leave Torino without having gelato, the exceptional concoction that’s Italy’s ice-cream. Caffe Fiorio, Via Po 8, is considered by the locals as having the best gelato, so we stopped by for a scoop on a cone. Barbara tried their signature flavor, gianduiotto, a blend of chocolate and hazelnut paste. According to her it was heavenly. I had a scoop of strawberry and I concur. The next day we had more at a gelateria in the Lingotto mall, in the same complex as Le Meridien Lingotto Arts+Tech. It was sweeter and not as light (I guess if you have had the best, everything else pales by comparison). I could get very easily used to having gelato every day!
To read more about Torino and Piemonte, please see articles in Destinations (Piemonte & Torino), Hotels & Resorts (Le Meridien Lingotto Art+Tech), and Restaurants.
© May 2005 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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