Day 8: Great cappuccino before a half day trip to Turin. Dinner at a slow food restaurant in Turin.

Day 8: Great cappuccino before a half day trip to Turin. Dinner at a slow food restaurant in Turin.

Restaurant / Store / Cafe visited:

1. Caffe Vergnano: (4.5 star. Really delicious capuccino. Beautiful espresso machine.)
2. Eataly, Turino (5 star. Must visit if you are in Turino and love Italian food.)
3. Caffe Confetteria al Bicerin (4 star. Super creamy chocolate-y coffee drink called “Bicerin”. Delicious. Stop by if you are in the area.)
4. Ristorante Consorzio (5 star. Incredible value for solid comfort food. Recommended by Slow Food Association.)

Morning Cappuccino

I went to Caffe Vergnano for my coffee this morning. I had walked by this caffe several times, and it looked very modern and clean from the outside. The cappuccino I had was really creamy and delicious. I had expected coffee here to be just average, since it seems to me that the store is more focused on selling coffee beans and souvenir than the drink itself, but their coffee turned out to be really good. Creamy and smooth. A nice surprise!

After the morning coffee, I had an attempt at making truffle Tajarin (a type of pasta special in this region) but I added garlic and parmesan cheese, which I think ruined the truffle. They were too strong for this dish. Lesson learned! Just butter, and butter only, for truffle pasta dishes.

Half-day trip to Turin: Stop 1, The original Eataly store, a drink called Bicerin, and a meal at a slow food restaurant.

After finishing my pasta, it was time to go to the original Eataly store in Turin! I am super excited about visiting this store. It was in New York City when I first discovered Eataly. I had a couple of hours to kill in NYC that day and I was using TripAdvisor City Guide on my phone to see what attractions were nearby. Eataly came up on top of the list and I had no idea what it was. Since it was ranked really high, I figured I’d check it out. It turned out to be a gourmet fantasy come true. I had never seen anything quite like it before. If you ever go to New York City, make sure you check out that store. A mecca for Italian food lovers.

It takes about an hour to drive from Alba to Turin. Oh, and by the way, I recommend paying Italian highway toll with your card instead of cash. Bite the bullet and pay the foreign transaction fee on your card for these charges. It will make your trip much easier and it is totally worth it. Also to know is that on some highways, they charge toll based on the distance you’ve traveled. That means when you enter these highways, you will take a paper ticket from the machine. And when you exit these highways, you have to put in the ticket, and then the credit card into the same slot to pay the toll indicated. No English on these machines. I got stuck there on my trip to Alba for 10 minutes last Friday until a person came out to the machine and showed me that I had to put in the paper ticket and then the credit card. Also, they will check the time of your check-in and check-out and cross-check the speed limit. If you check out too early, you will get a speeding ticket!

Back to the Eataly. The drive to Turin was pretty smooth this time. Once I entered Turin city limit, it was again 3-car-side-by-side-in-one-lane situation. LOL. I am very impressed that I survived driving in Turin not once, but twice! I followed Google driving directions and arrived in Eataly without any difficulty. There is a parking lot attached to the store so you can park there. You do need to pay though.

I’m not sure if this store is bigger than the one in New York City, but it has a lot more local specialty products here, namely chocolate, hazelnuts, chestnut and rice. There is also a small food-related book section and a huge wine section that occupied the entire basement. There is also a section for kitchen tools and small appliances. There are several restaurants scattered in different places in the store, just like the one in New York City.

Look at all the chocolate selection that have here. This is only 1/10 of the shelf space!

There are many cute kitchen tools that I’ve never seen before. Like this pasta timer that you throw into the boiling water with pasta and when the pasta is al dante, the timer will make a sound!

And also this macaroon kit!

And this beautiful grill. There is no way I can bring this back with me. I’ve found it on eBay. I’m so going to order one when I get back.

I also went down into the basement to check out their wine selection. I am not a big wine drinker, but I know that Barolo is the most famous wine in this region. The more reasonably priced Barolo are all the way in the back. Just when I was wondering why I didn’t see any famous Barolo producers, such as Gaja or Bruno Giacosa, I saw two guys walking into a glass-wall chambered and I quickly followed them into that room. And wow… This is where all the highly-sought-after wines are displayed! Look at the prices of these Gaja wine. In Euro!

Half-day trip to Turin: Stop 2, a drink called Bicerin from Caffe Confetteria al Bicerin

Caffe Confetteria al Bicerin is located closed to city center where parking is much harder to come by. I circled around a bit and drove by an area that looked like a parking lot. I drove in and there was a guy gesturing me to drive in and he pointed to an open space, so I parked my car there. He was in a black jacket that looked like a city official so I asked him how much it would cost to park my car there. He said “One, or two, or three. I watch it for you.” Uh…… Just when I was deciding what to do next, another group of Italians parked their car and walked by us. This guy said something to that group of Italians and they looked at him like he was crazy and they just walked away…Whenever in doubt, do what the locals do! I turned and just walked away from that guy. I heard that guy calling me. I continued to walk away and never looked back.

Caffe Confetteria al Bicerin was so small that I missed it the first time when I walked by it. There were just 8 very small tables. A woman came out to the bar from the back room to get my order. I forgot the name of the drink, so I just started by saying, “Uh…The drink…”, and she smiled and said “Bicerin?” Hahahaha. I guess everyone comes here for THE drink. It was delicious! Thick cream on top, melted chocolate in the middle and hot espresso at the bottom. I don’t think it is by itself worth driving to Turin for, but if you are in the area, check it out.

I hadn’t made any plan for dinner yet, but I remembered that I had saved some restaurants in Turin on TripAdvisor app. I checked my phone and the closest one, Ristorante Consorzio, was about a half a mile away. It is recommended by Slow Food Association. I decided to walk over to check it out. On my way walking there, I got more and more worried about my car. Would they flat my tire or key my car? If I go pick up my car late after dinner, will there be less people around and I end up getting robbed by him? I decided to go pick up the car and park somewhere else now instead of later. Thankfully, when I got there, everything was fine. I got in my car quickly and drove away.

Half-day trip to Turin: Stop 3, Ristorante Consorzio: A Slow Food recommendation

I found a parking space on the street about 5-minute walk from the restaurant. The restaurant opens at 7:30pm and it was still about an hour away. I remember reading somewhere on the Internet that restaurants in Italy prefer people calling ahead to make a reservation instead of just showing up at the door, even if it is just an hour before the reservation. The number was already on TripAdvisor app, so I just called them. The owner picked up the phone and he speaks English! Good English, too! I asked him if I could come in at 7:30pm to have dinner and he said yes, but I’d have to leave before 9 because they need to free up that table for another group of people. Awesome!

I walked around a bit to kill some time and even gave another guy directions with Google map on my phone to where he wanted to go. LOL. I got back to the restaurant at around 7:20 and took some picture of the store front of the restaurant. A really cute little restaurant, but seems like they have won lots of award and recognitions! I am getting excited!

 

The owner came and opened the door at 7:30pm sharp. He told me that the restaurant opened 5 years ago. Impressive to gain so much recognition in such short amount of time! Inside was a cute humble little space. Almost like going to grandma’s house for dinner. There was a photo of what I thought the chefs of the restaurant. The person who opened the door and spoke English to me was the second one from the right.

 

I went with their tasting menu, which was just 32 Euro. I also ordered a glass of Barbaresco. to go with it. Again, like every other restaurants in Piedmont, there was Amuse-bouche. I am starting to think that it is their tradition of showing hospitality! I love it!

Amuse-bouche. Fried ravioli with hazelnut crumbs on top. Delicious!

Beef tartare. The best way to serve it. Just great quality Piedmontese beef and salt. They also put olive oil, black pepper mill and salt on the table for me. I drizzled a bit olive oil on top. It was delicious.

Fried egg with spinach and bacon. Feels like a brunch dish back in the US? The egg was cooked perfectly.

Ravioli. It was delicious. I have no idea what meat the filling was but it was really good. The menu says “Agnolotto gobbo”

Braised Piedmont beef and seasonal vegetables. The beef was cooked perfectly. So tender and melt-in-your-mouth. From the texture of it, I think it was the shank.

Dessert. Panna Cotta with red wine sauce. Really delicious! Just the perfect ending for the meal.

I left the restaurant just about 5 minutes before 9 o’clock. It was a great meal.

Day 7: Lunch at Ristorante La Ciau del Tornavento (Micheline 1 star), a quick tour of Barbaresca and a drive-by at Ferrero factory in Alba.

Day 7: Lunch at Ristorante La Ciau del Tornavento (Micheline 1 star), a quick tour of Barbaresca and a drive-by at Ferrero factory in Alba.

Restaurant visited:

La Ciau del Tornavento: (5 star, Great food. More formal than I expected. Friendly services. Micheline 1 star.)

Slow and rainy morning

I woke up to a rainy morning so I decided to stay in and use this time to get day 3, day 4 and day 5 uploaded. Since the apartment that I am staying does not provide wifi (This is turning out to be much more inconvenient than I anticipated.), I walked over to the tourism office to use their free Internet for uploading. I was thinking that this all would be done in 30 minutes, but it took over two hours! I was going to have a cup of cappuccino afterwards, but it was almost 12pm when I got the upload finished. Italians do not drink coffee with any milk in it after 11am, so I gave up my morning coffee and rushed back to the apartment. It takes about 20 minutes to get to my lunch restaurant. I gotta get going.

La Ciau del Tornavento was recommended to me by Laura, the owner of the apartment that I’m staying in. I had mentioned to her that I love risotto and she said that this restaurant has really good risotto.

So far, I have had amazing risotto at Trattoria da Romano in Venice, and really great risotto at Piazza Duomo in Alba. How will La Ciau del Tornavento’s risotto fare?

They offered a truffle menu. It was very tempting. However, risotto was not on it. I decided to skip that and go with beef tartare for appetizer and truffle risotto for main course.

Just like every other restaurant I’ve been to in Piedmont, Amuse-Bouche were served: Cream of chestnut soup and some small pastry bites.

 

Then my raw beef arrived. Truffle on top, of course! It came with some sauce but I thought it was unnecessary. The beef was really good. A bit of olive oil and salt, plus truffle would’ve been enough. I am really surprised that I can eat raw meat like this. I remember thinking that there’s no way I’d eat this when I was still back home doing research. The quality of the beef here is so good and there is no gamy taste at all.

Then risotto arrived. It was perfect. Rice was al dante. Creamy and buttery. Every single grain was intact. This risotto is very close at the top with Trattoria da Romano in Venice. This one is cleaner and of course with truffles, while the one from Trattoria da Romano was done with fish broth and nothing else. Both were amazing.

Now my dessert. Panna cotta gelato with caramel syrup and shaved white truffle on top. This dish was amazing. The best dessert that I’ve had on this trip. The gelato was smooth, soft and creamy, paired with slight bitterness and smokiness from the caramel and the heavenly shaved white truffle on top. I can’t imagine any other dessert topping this. I was blown away.

And the sweets at the end.

After I paid for the lunch, they offered to have a visit to their wine cellar. Some amazing wine in there. The oldest wine was a bottle of Barolo from 1945! That was the year when my parents were born!

I decided to swing by Barbaresco before heading back to Alba. The vineyards looked so mysterious and romantic hiding behind the fog and misty rain.

 

I stopped by the tourism center at Barbaresco and the girl there told me that all the humble looking residential houses on the road are wineries. Every single one of them! She said just go knock on the door and many of them will receive guests who came here for wine. Since I don’t know wine very well, speak no Italian, and I was driving, I decided to simply drive around a bit and head back to Alba. Who would’ve thought that the big name winery such as Gaja and Bruno are in such a humble looking small town!

As I head back to Alba and right before I entered the old town center, I saw the factory of Ferrero, the maker of Nutella! They do not receive visitors, so I can only take a picture of the front entrance.

It was raining pretty hard by the time I got back to the apartment, so I called it a day and stayed in to continue writing. I got many days to catch on.

Day 6: Day walk in Alba downtown. Dinner at Piazza Duomo (Michelin 3-star)

Day 6: Day walk in Alba downtown. Dinner at Piazza Duomo (Michelin 3-star)

Restaurant / Cafe visited:

1. Caffe Fiorio: (4 star. Great cappuccino. Friendly service)
2. Forneria Pasticceria : (Bakery, 3.5 star. Good bread. Average pastry
3. Il Salotto: (cafe. 4 star. Delicious sugar chestnut. Haven’t tried coffee yet.)
4. Piazza Duomo: (4.5 star. Great food. Service was a bit stiff.)



Morning walk in downtown Alba: Charming tourists-friendly town

I haven’t had a chance to walk around downtown Alba yet so I got up early this morning to check it out.

There aren’t that many Asian visitors in Alba, and I find that people here tend to avoid eye contact with me. I guess that’s what non-Asian visitors in Taiwan experienced(I’m originally from there). It’s giving me a new perspective to be on the other side! What I have been doing, whenever I have a chance, is to smile and say “Buongiorno” to them first. It’s awesome to see how people’s facial expression suddenly completely changed from nervous and suspicious to friendly and relaxed. Many times, all it takes is that first step, isn’t it? :-)

I’ve also discovered that when an Italian enters a store, he/she always greets the shop keeper with a “Buongiorno”(Good day) or “Buonasera”(Good evening). The shop keeper of course greets back, too. It really gives it that small-town feel, where everyone knows everyone. I love it!

Maybe because these greetings are in Italian, I am able to see people’s reaction to these words without me being affected by the words themselves. I’m totally fascinated by this! It’s something that I want to bring home with me. Always greet people and acknowledge others’ existence. A true connection has to start somewhere. Why not start it with a sincere and warm “Good morning.”?

”Buongiorno”, I greeted the two baristas behind the bar as I entered Caffe Fiorio. This was going to be my first cup of coffee in Alba. “Buongiorno”, they greeted me back. Connections were now established on this chilly Sunday morning. I ordered a cup of cappuccino and it was really good. I think Caffe del Doge in Venice is still better but this one was pretty close. Nice crema on top with thick milk foam. It is so good to have a cup of cappuccino on a cold morning like this.

 

After my cappuccino, I went back outside and onto the main street, and saw this pastry shop that I walked by several times. I went inside and got myself a typical Italian dinner roll and a couple of pastry. The dinner roll was pretty good. Really soft and chewy on the inside and nice crust on the outside. The pastry, however, was just okay.

I went back outside to the chilly air and suddenly had an idea! I had signed up for a cooking class on Wednesday at the tourism office yesterday. Why not check with them and see if they can teach me how to make that cocotte dish during the class? The egg, cheese and cream dish that I almost fainted eating with shaved white truffle on top. With white truffle costing so much less here, I will just bring my own truffle to the class and shave it on top of the dish and see if I can recreate it! That would be the best souvenir I could ever imagine bringing home!

I went to the tourism office and the girl who signed me up with the class yesterday recognized me right away. I told her how much I loved those cocotte dishes and showed her the pictures. She laughed and said “Yes. That is the best way to enjoy truffles. Sure. Let me call the instructor. It shouldn’t be a problem.” As I nervously waited, she spoke those beautiful Italian words that I didn’t understand into the phone, and then turned to me and said “No problem. They said they’ll include it in the class.” This, seriously, is going to be the best class ever. If you know me personally and are in the Bay Area, you are in luck, too! I will for sure do a truffle party when I go back and this will be on the menu!

As I walked onto the main shopping street in Alba, there were truffle stands everywhere. The entire downtown area was filled with white truffle aroma. This is truly an amazing experience. Everywhere I go, I smell truffles. For some people, a vacation is lying on a warm white-sand beach listening to the ocean waves hitting shores. For me, the ultimate vacation is right here. To wonder on these little cobble-stone streets between centuries-old brick buildings in Italy and completely submerge myself in the aroma of Alba white truffle. This is heaven.

 

There are so many beautiful spots for photography in this town. Every few steps, I had to stop and take pictures. A few steps, an old church appeared in front of me. A turn at the corner over there, a beautiful curvy street with beautiful buildings on it sides. I think Venice still is at the top of the list for travel photography but Alba is really beautiful in her own way as well. There used to be hundreds of towers in Alba that demonstrated its wealth and power. Most of them are no longer around but a few that are still in existence today are beautiful to see.

   

And then, of course, I saw this…

There are times when I don’t want to see your beautiful faces, Hollywood people…

Oh well. I suppose everyone has his/her own path finding his/her own identity. I hope that the young people here see how beautiful their own culture is. So full of life, depth and richness that there is no need to look outside to find their identities.

Farmers Market

As I hastily slide away from Hollywood star power and turned a corner, a Sunday farmers’ market appeared in front of me. I was so happy to see this and to check out what the local farmers here are growing.

Hazelnuts and chestnuts definitely stole the show. They are in season and in abundance. I got myself some vacuum-packed hazelnuts to bring home. I also got a rosewood truffle shaver. Where else better to get a truffle shaver than right here in Alba? Made in Italy! :-)

I walked by one of the booths and saw this woman making some amazing looking flat bread, so I got some to try. It was really delicious. Tasted like thin polenta cake with flour mixed in. Crunchy on the outside and soft and flavorful on the inside.

 

My bag was getting heavy and I was getting a bit sleepy, so I went back to the apartment for a short nap and worked on my blog posts before getting ready for my dinner at Piazza Duomo.

Piazza Duomo: The second Italian Micheline 3-star restaurant on the list

Piazza Duomo was just added to the Micheline 3-star list last year. It is about 3 minutes walking distance from the apartment that I am staying. My first impression of the dining room was: “It’s pink!”

After I sat down, before I even finished reading the menu, they had set up the Amuse-Bouches that covered my entire table! The most impressive Amuse-Bouches I’ve ever had.

There was a dish that tasted just like Chawanmushi (Japanese savory egg custard). They told me that it is flan with miso. I couldn’t tell if there was dashi in it. It was done well, but a chawanmushi served in an Italian Micheline 3-star restaurant?

Before I finished all the Amuse-Bouche, 2 more Amuse-Bouche arrvied! Green olive with raw veal stuffing and black olive with raw beef stuffing. (Raw meat is a specialty dish in this region.) They were really good. I can’t remember what the other foam dish was.

And then, guess what? Yep. Another Amuse-bouche!

After the impressive display of all the Amuse-Bouche, the main dinner finally began. I was kind of half full already by now. Oh well…

There were a few tasting menu choices as well as an a la carte menu. I went with the “Evasione e Territorio” menu, which was meant to showcase the chef’s creativity. There were total of 11 courses.

  

   

Overall, I like the food of Piazza Duomo better than La Calandre. I think the heavy Asian influence definitely created more challenges and pushed the chef to be more creative at Piazza Duomo. Especially the seafood dishes, I think their execution was flawless. Some of the Japanese ingredients selections for their dishes were questionable, like umeboshi for the shrimp, or miso for the egg flan. I just wasn’t sure how much they added to the dish. Nevertheless, it was a great dinner and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Will I come back again? I doubt it. I think that the traditional Piedmontese dishes are so amazing already, it is impossible to add anything to it. The food that I had in Piazza Duomo feels like something that I have had in New York City or Napa Valley. Much of the local characteristics were lost in chef’s attempt at making something new.

If you are visiting northern Italy, compared to other restaurants that I’ve visited so far, I do not recommend spending your money at either Le Calandre or Piazza Duomo. Spend it on the regional traditional restaurants and you will have an amazing gastronomic experience and spend much less.

Two more Micheline 3-star restaurants to try. Will either of them change my opinion about Micheline 3-star restaurants in Italy? :-)