Bill Klapp

Robert and other readers: I posted the above unfinished because I was working from a laptop in Italy and did not want to risk losing it to connectivity problems. It is now complete.

First, the particulars for Robert Brown: it is located in Rivoli, west of Torino just off of the tangenziale, as part of a complex, once a House of Savoy summer palace, which now houses a contemporary art museum in addition to the ristorante. It is a new ristorante replacing chef Davide Scabin's former place, Al Combal in Almese (Combal is the localita of Almese where the old ristorante was located). It is a Michelin one-star (as was the old place), 88 in the 2004 Gambero Rosso (tying it for second best in the Piemonte with Flipot, both trailing Villa Crespi's 90)and 96-101 Veronelli. Open for lunch, closed Monday and Tuesday and also August 5-26 and December 24-January 2. E-mail davidescabin@hotmail.com, phone (011) 9565225, no website. The ristorante itself is a contemporary art museum of sorts. Nice, conservative modern works placed around the dining room, along with artsy wooden crates. Glossy wood floors throughout, large, well-spaced but undecorated tables, stylish modern black, white and grey tableware, almost Japanese in its look. The food is clearly intended to be the ultimate (and nearly only) color-based decorative touch. The "walls" are floor-to-ceiling glass, with a commanding view of Torino. It is long rather than wide (only two tables wide), so every table benefits from the light and open nature of the room. There appears to be a rooftop terrace for summer dining. Our two servers were dressed in black, and all but invisible in their flawless, competent service, as in all of the best Italian ristoranti. The winelist features bottles from all over Italy and around the world, with a somewhat surprising focus on value rather than just the greatest bottles of our time. Sure, there are enough great Piemontese bottles for the hard-core types, but also interesting things like (decidedly) off-vintage Sandrone Cannubi Boschis (1992 and 1994) for 40 Euro a bottle. Pretty tony stuff for "restaurant" vintage wines. Barrique wines are clearly indicated as such on the list. There were 6 of us. We had a very dry, unoaked Friuli tokay selected by our friend Piero (I want to say De Lenardo "Toh", but in truth, I was so absorbed with the food that I did not pay close enough attention!). Our red was a 1989 Gastaldi Rosso, made by an increasingly famous neighbor of ours in Neive, Dino Gastaldi. The wine is huge and rustic, but ultimately outstanding when opened up and IMPOSSIBLE to find. (Florida Jim got an interesting thread going on that wine a couple of months ago on Craig's wine board.) 42 Euro for the Gastaldi (giving it away, really) and twenty-something for the tokay. Both wines were fantastic with the food. As luck would have it, Combal was hosting a private winemaker's dinner last night, so we were offered lunch instead. We were the only ones in the restaurant! I know, I know, you would usually think this a bad sign, but not in this case. Rivoli is a bedroom community too far from the heart of Torino for lunch, and not housing enough businessmen to fill up a place like this. In addition, my sense is that the palace is a seasonal attraction, and only schoolkids were attracted yesterday. The place is also too far out of the way for the truffle worshippers to seek it out. I would not be surprised to see it closed for lunch in the future. By the same token, it does not have the feel of a place hurting for business, and I am told that young wannabes are lined up around the block to do a stage with Scabin, who is as close as Italy comes to Ferran Adria. In any event, the moment had the feel of Scabin cooking a private lunch for six of us, and it was perfection as far as we were concerned. And now the food. After some reflection, deconstruction, intellectualization, anti-intellectualization and general cogitation, I have concluded that Combal.0 ties Al Sorriso and Flipot for the best ristorante that I have known in Italy, and one of the five best LIFETIME. (To give you a frame of reference, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence cannot make my "top ten in Italy" list.) We started with an amuse-bouche of two tiny dates wrapped in speck and quickly grilled. Perfectly seasoned, very rich and flavorful, but accompanied by the first of the Adria-like wonders: a polenta CHIP, about two inches square, and quite literally, as thin as a single ply of two-ply toilet paper! It, too, was lightly seasoned, and left the essence of polenta on the palate. Next, the antipasti. First, two sunnyside-up quail eggs with little pieces of fried nori (lattuga di mare, or high-quality seaweed) and a light, delicate peanut and butter (no, not peanut butter!) sauce. This was obviously intended for white truffles, not much in evidence this year. This simple plate was all about technique-the edges of the fried egg white were as crisp as potato chips, white the yolks were perfectly runny. I suspect that I would run through ten dozen quail eggs trying to duplicate it. The nori added the salt, while the peanut sauce added a touch of sweetness and richness. Next, a take on the classic vitello tonnato: six miniature disks of poached veal folded over a tuna sauce that was more butter than mayonnaise, served on a bed of curly endive, with marinated sweet red Tropea onions as a garnish. As good as the old Guido's, and far more delicate, but also more intensely flavored, because the veal had been poached in a broth which contained the elements of salsa tonnato, such as tuna and anchovies. Next, one of everyone's two favorites, a cartoccio di panelle with cream of pea and mint soup. This was the second major Adria experience. In Liguria, they make a popular snack called farinata, which is, in essence, a thick chickpea flour crepe. It is also found in the Piemonte. Scabin fashioned a small paper cone, and filled it with tiny cubes, not unlike home-fried potatoes, that carried the flavor of the best farinata that I have ever tasted. It was served with a crisp of Parmesan, and a shot glass of the sweetest, most intense cream of fresh green pea-mint soup I have tasted. The latter was served without a spoon, which made it seem all the more precious. The final antipasto was a dead heat with the cartoccio for dish of the meal. It, too, exhibited Scabin's unfailing devotion to the classic Piemontese ingredients and recipes. The base was a classic, rich crema Parmentier, a potato soup that is more solid than liquid. In the center, he placed a ball of the traditional merluzzo mantecato, reconstituted dried cod beaten together with butter and coarsely riced potatoes. Around the edge of the crema were slices of taggiasche olives, the premium black eating (and oil) olive from Arma di Taggia in Liguria. Finally, it was drizzled with fresh parsley EVOO. Beyond that, I do not have words to describe how delicious it was. Nothing that we ate was as much as a degree off in the precision of the seasoning. And then the pasta course: a choice of saffron risotto endowed with threads of the best buffala that I have ever tasted, with a dollop of a concentrated marrow-black truffle sauce in the center, done to perfection, or heavenly, lighter than air potato gnocchi with a light pesto sauce and haricots verts. The first is a take on the classic risotto Milanese, the second a take on a classic Ligurian pesto dish, both of which are popular in the Piemonte. Again, no real experimentation here, just sublime execution. For the secondo, there was a choice of rack of lamb garnished with a potato gallantine and roasted sweet peppers, or veal tongue braised in Barolo with a cauliflower ganache. Again, these were not Adria-style dishes (many more of those appear on the 110 Euro Menu Combal.0), but both were perfectly executed. Along with the dessert, these were two of only three dishes all day that were even remotely ordinary, and to be fair, no secondo I have ever eaten in Italy could triumpgh over the antipasti. My wife remarked at how much the tongue resembled corned beef (but braising in Barolo makes all the difference)! The palate cleanser before dessert gave us our last glimpse of experimental whimsey. We were served a tall shot glass with a parfait of crema di latte (the taste of panna cotta, but given its lightness, obviously made from a deft reduction of milk) topped with a cappucchino foam. No cheese course. We finished with an exquisite cold Grand Marnier souffle on a bed of orange slices, ganache and a classic Torinese chocolate sauce. The mignonettes at the end were all house-made, and included cubes of raspberry jelly, tiny cylindrical chocolate truffles, zabaione in miniature chou pastry cups and candied ginger. I cannot wait to try the more exotic Menu Combal.0 next time!

RRainey, glad to see your good report on Arco. It has gone through some changes in the last couple of years, but it was fabulous, and I hope that it has returned to form. Ate at Lalibera last night, with the following observations: involtini di peperone (roasted red and yellow peppers stuffed with tuna, capers and homemade mayonnaise) was the standard by which this dish should be measured; carne cruda was a little stringy and not as finely chopped as it could have been; vitello tonnato was of average quality; a small tart filled with a Parmesan-cardoon mixture and topped with a sunnyside-up QUAIL egg was off the charts good; crema di zucca (like a cream soup, but really, more solid than liquid-pumpkin puree with a ball of chestnut puree in the middle, sprinkled with cocoa powder) was also superb; tajarin with fenferli mushrooms was exquisite; cernia (fish) on a saffron-mushroom base also a big winner; cheese plate outstanding (11 varieties with an excellent cugna); white chocolate mousse with a hazelnut sauce was the dessert of the night, although my plate of 4 small desserts based upon mountain honey was a close second. Drank 2002 Almondo Arneis Ciliegie (the best Arneis that I have ever tasted) and Alfieri's "second-growth" Barbera d' Asti (behind Alfiera), La Tota, both at 12.50 Euro and both perfect with the meal.

Ciao, Ernesto! Do a search of this board. There are a zillion recommendations buried in the Piemonte-related topics. Be sure to go to the earlier pages of topics.

Marco, keep the info coming! During my first week here, I have had too much going on to keep my eye (and nose) on the truffle situation. Centro is better than ever, and the other two consistently good as ever. Il Vicoletto has been converted to a high-end carryout, to extraordinary effect. You can get many of the classics from the old menu, as well as things never before seen in the ristorante. The missus is still in the kitchen, while Bruno and their daughter run the front. They give you perfect reheating instructions as well. In addition to prepared foods (including several homemade pastas each day), they offer up dolce, cheeses, salumi, wines, oils, candies, etc. Always select rather than numerous. I went there on Sunday, and got some fresh lumache (snails) from nearby Cherasco, done up in a light but intensely flavored vegetable-based sauce. They were the best that I have ever tasted. I nearly wept...

In fact, based upon exactly two swallows of wine, one from each vintage! (Even Bob Parker has to work harder than this, albeit not much.) We had dinner last night with our friends Marisa and Piero. We drank his 2001 Barbera with dinner, but he broke out a taste of the 2003 for us. My assessment? 2001 was a relatively large crop with HUGE fruit and surprising complexity on the nose and palate. Piero vinifies his wine exclusively for consumption with meals, and he strives to keep the alcohol down (10-12%). In the 2001, he did so by leaving a trace of residual sugar, which rounds out the wine nicely without being too sweet. The 2003 Barbera is a horse of a different color. It is obviously not yet finished, but it was vinified completely dry. Jeese Louise! The alcohol is on the long side of 15%! On the first taste, it resembles nothing so much as Zinfandel. It is in a bit of a closed state now (as much as that is possible with Barbera), but despite the high alcohol, the balance with the fruit and acid is excellent. My verdict? Two very different, but equally outstanding years for Barbera.

Due to relatives a casa, I have done only Il Centro, Osteria Lalibera and Cantina del Rondo so far. Nary a truffle offered at any of the three, although Centro is offering a lot of mushrooms. Imported porcini down to 26 Euro/kg in the mercati. Il Vicoletto's food shop using porcini liberally in their offerings.

Robert-IF you can find any! I think that the quantity and the size are bigger problems than quality right now. They have HUGE porcini in the Alba and Asti markets right now-imported from Tuscany!

Welcome, Morel! In a good year, white truffles, eaten at the source, are like crossing mushrooms with the best sex you ever had! I'd like to hear Sam kinsey weigh in on this topic.

That doesn't sound right to me.

See info on La Meridiana in the Alba Accomodations thread. Also, TANARO (as in the river in this area) valley?

Craig, we must be importing porcini from your neighborhood. 47 Euro a kilo here!

www.guidoristorante.it is the webpage, but not much on Pollenzo (it covers Santo Stefano Belbo, too). Also, I suspect that info@guidoristorante.it, rather than ".com", is the e-mail address, despite what was given on the Pollenzo branch's business card. I have not eaten there yet. I hope to next week.

Don't be afraid that your overseas travel has been limited to Italy-"no fear"!

And the Slow Food cheese shindig in Bra in September is not a bad consolation prize, if you cannot make the Salone. I was by the new Slow Food gastronomic university in Pollenzo yesterday, and it appears that it will be a happening thing next year. (Tuition: 19,000 Euro per year, but that includes an apartment in Bra, transportation to the campus, and airfare and lodging for the several "stages" each student does at locations around the world.) The wine bank and the new Ristorante Guido are open, too.

Sadly, this is not a pithy question. Just writing from the Piemonte to tell you that (a) the white truffles suck this year, and (b) the Giacosa family still remembers you after all of the years that have passed, and were delighted to hear that you had made something of yourself! (It is a shame that you could not have heard me describing "food critic for the L.A. Times" to signora Giacosa in Italian!)

I am in residence in the Piemonte now, as it happens. See the Lake Orta thread for a discussion of Piemontese restaurants, as well as a couple of older threads with "Alba" in the title.

Talpearl, sorry, but my laptop crashed as I was about to finish up. In Alba, we love Osteria Lalibera for a casual lunch or dinner. I also believe that Antine in Barbaresco is at least the equal of Il Centro, although with a less traditional atmosphere. In the Torino area, try Combal.0 in Rivoli (doing a Piemontese El Bulli thing) or Le carmagnole in Carmagnola (fixed price meal with matched wines; idiosyncratic but great fun). Finally, the long-awaited new Guido (actually, the second new Guido, but I think the one with the most promise) in Pollenzo is open (e-mail info@guidoristorante.com, phone +39 0172 458422, fax +39 0172 458970).

Talpearl, I drafted a long-winded response, but lost my connection as I was trying to send it! Robert is right-I strongly favor Crespi, because, while everything Robert says about san Rocco is true, I find that it has something of a European convention hotel quality about it. Nix Felicin and Sancarlino, and definitely do Trattoria della Posta in Monforte. I would also nix Cascinale Nuovo, which, while good, has a lame and overpriced wine list. I have not been to Borgo Antico or Da Cesare lately, but have heard good reports on both. I still say that Sorriso is the best ristorante in the Piemonte, and not to be missed. Il Centro keeps getting better and better. A friend had a funghi (mushroom) feast there two nights ago. I also second Robert's recommendation of All' Enoteca (also called Enoteca del Roero) in Canale. More to follow...

I AM Bill Klapp, and here we have one of those rare moments of disagreement. Robert ordered the wrong thing at Al Sorriso seven years ago, and I am still at a loss to imagine what it might have been! It is the finest ristorante that I have visited in Italia (so far), and amazingly unstuffy (and not terribly expensive) for a three-star. Great fish dishes, great wine list and a cheese cart from God! And I favor the delightfully "pseudo-Moorish" (we agree on that!) Villa Crespi, which has a fine restaurant in its own right. I do agree on Pinocchio, however.

I can only tell you that this will NOT be a good season: small and expensive. The forecast is for rain next week in Alba, which may help the late-season truffles some, according to friends there.

I'm not sure that I am going to order up any of that Donatella Versace sausage...

I'm on to your little game, Hollywood! That Washington Post link re: Milan would have what, exactly, to do with food?

The 1983 would have been merely overpriced, rather than fraudulent. It is at least a good vintage.

At some point, abuse becomes fraud. What happened to you is fraud. 1966 is a forgotten vintage whose greatest virtue is being old. That price for that bottle is a rip-off, pure and simple. Based upon that event alone, I will never frequent that restaurant, regardless of its reputation.