La Fornace

Situated in the countryside around Alessandria, this 18C farmhouse has a modern, minimalist decor which serves as a backdrop for traditional Piedmontese cuisine with a clever modern twist. The chef offers just the right amount of creativity, with a focus on meat dishes and satisfying, memorable flavours that appeal to the emotions as well as the palate. Adding to the appeal, the elegant and exclusive ambience is the result of careful refurbishment, which has transformed the dining room into a triumph of art and design.

A grandparents’ home has evolved into a charming bistro-like restaurant, while outdoors, the owner-curated garden beckons a peek. The cuisine is simple and classic, comforting, with certain regional dishes alongside fish courses, while an entire menu page is dedicated to risottos.

This little bastion of traditional Monferrato cuisine is situated in a rustic building on the side of a road outside Masio. Most of the dishes here are local in flavour (as is the wine), including specialities such as Russian salad, veal tongue in green sauce, braised beef marinated in Barbera wine and semifreddo al torrone dessert. The classic, comfortable dining rooms have a welcoming feel.

This restaurant in a small village dominated by a bell tower boasts a charming inner courtyard which provides a romantic setting for a meal in fine weather. The Piedmontese cuisine served here is prepared using top-quality ingredients. A friendly welcome completes the picture, making this an enjoyable dining experience.

Almost ten years after it opened, this restaurant run by the Billis twins is moving towards what its owners describe as a “new tradition” – a personalised way of interpreting local traditions through the lens of global influences. While maintaining roots in solid Piedmontese traditions, the cuisine combines local ingredients with international techniques. Examples include “roasted rice”, a dish which is cooked in the oven and then flavoured according to the season and whim of the chef, and the “Carpaccio in Ramino”, beef which is lightly seared in a copper pan with rosemary, bay leaf, salt and

In the evocative vaulted dining room that once housed the celebrated Cavallino, Ciccio Bistrot now brings to the table a forthright, deeply local cuisine, faithful to tradition and free of unnecessary digressions – except in the playful titles that punctuate the menu. Among the offerings, the whimsically named “no name” deserves a taste: agnolotti del plin served with the sauce of your choosing, a small ritual of personalization that wins over regulars. Each day brings a few off-menu delicacies, while wine maintains the role tradition assigns it: a discreet yet essential companion, supported b

To step inside Da Manuela is to gift oneself a moment of genuine conviviality, especially precious on the grayest winter days, when the warm welcome and proudly regional cuisine have a way of lifting the spirits. At the entrance, Berkel slicers take pride of place, devoted to showcasing local cured meats of great character, while the table receives freshwater fish prepared with skill – as in the charcoal tagliatelle with coarse perch ragù and Arctic char roe – alongside game preparations. Not to be missed are the fried frogs’ legs, snails offered in multiple versions, and the risottos of the d