Chivasso, Italy, October 21, 2010—
LAST NIGHT WE ATE on board flight AA198 to Milan: no need to go into that here beyond the sketchiest list: braised beef, mashed potatoes, stewed peppers, odd cheese, a brownie. Domaine de Pellehaut (Gascogne), 2009; Cabernet Sauvingon, Frei (California), 2008
We landed at Malpensa this morning, found our rented car — an adventure to document elsewhere — and drove to our hotel in this small city a few kilometers north of Torino. After a nap we drove in to the city for dinner with freinds at a place we've patronized once or twice before, a fine restaurant specializing in bringing traditional Piemontese cuisine into the postmodern 21st century.
To illustrate: I opened with carne cruda, sweet local veal minced, served in timbale shapes, topped alternately with sprouted grass, tiny lettuce leaves, or a chive with minced shallot, and accompanied by little mounds of horseradish cream. Occasional surprising bursts of flavor assist came from grains of very good salt mixed in with the otherwise unflavored meat, which drew all its goodness from the flesh of the beautifully raised animals.
Then we all shared a platter of tajarin (Piemontese tagliarini, very thin, very eggy, very good) dressed with shaved white truffles, after which I went on to a plate of gnocchi al Castelmagno, perhaps my favorite cheese, its mountain rennety sweetness reminiscent of the steak tartar, grassy and honest.
Dessert was a bonnet for Lindsey, who cannot resist that Piemontese chocolate-hazelnut pudding, and a cube of gianduia and zabaglione for me, because, well, because.
It was a delicious dinner. A stroll under the full moon on the nearby Piazza Vittorio Veneto afterward to the Cafè Victoria for a genepi finished off the evening beautifully. We'll do the jet lag tomorrow.
Arneis, "Blanghe", Ceretto (Langhe), 2009; Barbera d'Asti, Vietti "Tre Vigne", 2008
Ristorante Sotto la Mole, Via Montebello, 9, Torino
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