Using Alba as the home base, we drove around the neighbouring towns and explored La Morra and the Barolo wine region. Lunch was settled at a local osteria, called L'osteria del Vignaiolo. The little town was, well, tiny. It had a church, this restaurant and a small but nice looking hotel. That was about all of town, all within 50 meters. Ahh, such is the charm of the countryside, I suppose.
We were there in Alba for one thing and one thing only. White Alba truffles. Just picture my glee when we got seated next to the truffle. I was basking in parfum au tartufo and loving it!
Lunch began with a simple dish of seared scallops and fresh porcini mushrooms. The robust flavor of the mushrooms melded with the sweet scallops. A good starter indeed.
Then it was a simple dish of plain ravioli stuffed with cheese and a butter sauce, followed by additional shavings of white truffles. It was Euros 4.50 / gram for that white nugget. I had about three grams and was in heaven momentarily. We also had a half-bottle of Barolo red wine, the region's specialty, very easy to drink and not too dry.
We shared a dessert of apple tart and ice cream. Simple but done well. Listen to this - Euro 7 for a dessert that came with a glass of bubbly Asti wine. That was some good value!
By the way if you are curious how this whole truffle thing works, here's what would happen:
1. server would take the truffle and a digital scale to record the pre-shaved weight.
2. server then starts shaving the truffle on your dish.
3. you (the customer) then tells server to stop when you think you would have enough.
4. server takes the weight of the now-shaved truffle and you will be charge for what was shaved off.
That's all there is to it really, in addition to a nice budget of course ;)
To end off, here's a shot of La Morra region, just a few meters away from the restaurant.
Tel: +39 0173 50335
We were there in Alba for one thing and one thing only. White Alba truffles. Just picture my glee when we got seated next to the truffle. I was basking in parfum au tartufo and loving it!
Then it was a simple dish of plain ravioli stuffed with cheese and a butter sauce, followed by additional shavings of white truffles. It was Euros 4.50 / gram for that white nugget. I had about three grams and was in heaven momentarily. We also had a half-bottle of Barolo red wine, the region's specialty, very easy to drink and not too dry.
We shared a dessert of apple tart and ice cream. Simple but done well. Listen to this - Euro 7 for a dessert that came with a glass of bubbly Asti wine. That was some good value!
By the way if you are curious how this whole truffle thing works, here's what would happen:
1. server would take the truffle and a digital scale to record the pre-shaved weight.
2. server then starts shaving the truffle on your dish.
3. you (the customer) then tells server to stop when you think you would have enough.
4. server takes the weight of the now-shaved truffle and you will be charge for what was shaved off.
That's all there is to it really, in addition to a nice budget of course ;)
To end off, here's a shot of La Morra region, just a few meters away from the restaurant.
Frazione Santa Maria, 12
12064 La Morra Cuneo, Italy
2 comments:
WOW! Looks great. I might be headed out there too this month. How's the wifi there? did u get a simcard from an italian telco? Thanks! Can't wait to read more of yr posts!
Cavalock: oooh, nice! hope you get to go. I got a SIM card with data plan (not wifi) from WIND, a local telco. The network is not all too great so I would recommend you try others if possible. Enjoy!
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