Italian Riviera

[menton1]

Thinking of spending a few days in Liguria, possibly in the Noli/Spotorno/Finale Ligure area in June. Looking for suggestions on hotels/restaurants. Can't wait to have that green lasagne!! Thanks!

[Jim Dixon]

We spent a day and half in Rapallo (east of Genova) on our way up to Milan in October 02. Very nice little town, with a promenade along the bay. Ate well at a small trattoria we found by asking locals, and liked it so much we went back the next day (need to locate notes for name).

Salsa di noce, heavy cream with finelt ground walnuts, is a local specialty and good on the stuffed pastas.

Jim

[francesco]

I couldn't resist a reply as I am originally from Rapallo. The trattoria was U Bansin or was it U Giancu, near the highway exit? Or somewhere else...just curious....

Noli, Spotorno and Finale are on the other side of the Riviera so any trip to Rapallo would be very time consuming and that area probably has more quality restaurants than the Rapallo side anyway.

Not being from the area I can't really recommend small haunts or trattorias. However, if you want to splash, Paolo e Barbara in Sanremo is probably the best restaurant in Liguria at the moment but it is expensive. If you do happen by the eastern side of the riviera, Ca Peo in Leivi does an excellent pesto (very few still do it with a mortar) and probably the best pesto lasagne in the whole region. Leivi is in the hills above Chiavari, about 25-30 mins drive from Rapallo.

Francesco

[peterpumkino]

If you do happen by the eastern side of the riviera, Ca Peo in Leivi does an excellent pesto (very few still do it with a mortar) and probably the best pesto lasagne in the whole region. Leivi is in the hills above Chiavari, about 25-30 mins drive from Rapallo.

Francesco

I'll second Francesco's comment in Leivi. But there are a lot of good restaurants in Ligure. Just ask around, the Italian's know. I'm jealous.

If you get a chance go to Santa Margherita. Apart from being a great place (with Portofino a hop skip and a jump away) it has one of my favourite restaurants for sea food. I cannot remember the name but it's very easy to find. This restaurant is al freco and located above a fishmongers (presumably that's why the fish s so good) overlooking the bay in the center. Go there early to make a res. and order the 'special' (it has to be preordered about 3 hours before). It's sea food pasta but unlike any seafood pasta you have ever had. Lobster, mussels, clams, calamari - need I go on?

[menton1]

Thanks, everyone, but I have done Santa Margherita, Portofino, and the Cinque Terre a couple of years ago. I want to go to the "Riviera Ponente", the western side, because of its magnificent coastline and littoral landscapes; I have honed in on Noli-Spotorno, it seems less touristed than Alassio and Diano areas. San Remo seems a little past its prime. I LOVED the Ligurian food last time, and was looking for suggestions in this specific area, hotels as well, even though this side is off a lot of peoples' radar. (That's the idea). Help, Francesco?

[Joe H]

Under absolutely no circumstances should you miss the Michelin starred La Fornace di Barbablu in Vado Ligure. This is a 2,100 year old former Roman era furnace which produced some of the actual stone for the coliseum in Rome. Eight years ago part of it was "converted" to a restaurant and it is the most unique and interesting of any I have every been to anywhere on earth. It is romantic, intimate and small with wood beamed, stone ceilings and walls which at some places are only five feet high. The food is excellent, about what you would expect for a one star. It is virtually impossible to find but this is part of its charm and the true ADVENTURE of going and dining there. Go to the Michelin website and you can find directions by using their system. They are not 100% accurate but they will get you into the area. This is about 30 miles west of Genoa and well worth the trip.

Just outside of Genoa Baldin (50 food points in Gambero Rosso) may be the city's best restaurant. 32 seats and just excellent. No star but the equal of most one star anywhere in the country. Wonderful outgoing owners who are passionate about their food and wine.

But go to the Furnace. I cannot rave about this fascinating and unique restaurant enough! Not for the food (which, again, is good) but the experience which is unlike any other!!!

[Jim Dixon]

franceso,

The place we liked in Rapallo was the trattoria Genovese. It's on a side street just east of the main drag that comes down from the freeway, and closer to the north end of that street. Several people had recommended another spot closer to the old part of town, but it was closed for renovation.

We had asked a woman sitting on her scooter about a good place...she looked at the two men she was talking with and they all spontaneously said "genovese." We found it full of what looked like business people eating lunch, and while we were waiting for a seat the same woman stopped by on her scooter and stuck her head inside the door to make sure we made it.

We had picked Rapallo because it was about halfway between Chianni (in western Tuscany) and Milano. We arrived mid-day and stayed most of the second day before driving north. Judith had been searching for a pair of red boots (I think I saw the inside of every shoe store between Campania and Liguria), but it wasn't until our very last day in Italy that she found them in Rapallo. I was happy because I found a shop (tiny little cheese shop near the harbor) that could vacuum pack some grana, so I carried several kilos home.

Jim

[menton1]

JoeH-- I found the website for La Fornace and it looks fabulous!! Thanks so much for this tip!! We will definitely be going there! This part of the Italian Riviera is undiscovered by Americans. A european secret. Any familiarity with Hotel Punta Est in Finale Ligure? Thanks again!!

[Peter Rodgers]

Tried but failed to find the La Fornace website. Can you provide it?

[Joe H]

There are several excellent photos on it.La Fornace Website

[Joe H]

I'm not familiar with that hotel-we stayed in Genoa. When you drive to La Fornace it is very, very tricky. We went in the daytime as part of just driving along the coast exploring. We were able to find it without too much trouble but I was actually rather lucky. I am not certain that if it had not been light out that I would have seen it. The key is that it is on a tiny street called Via Lazio which runs up a hillside from the road that will take you from Vado Ligure into Sant Ermete. Good luck if you go and reserve first.

[francesco]

francesco,

The place we liked in Rapallo was the trattoria Genovese. It's on a side street just east of the main drag that comes down from the freeway, and closer to the north end of that street. Several people had recommended another spot closer to the old part of town, but it was closed for renovation.

We had asked a woman sitting on her scooter about a good place...she looked at the two men she was talking with and they all spontaneously said "genovese." We found it full of what looked like business people eating lunch, and while we were waiting for a seat the same woman stopped by on her scooter and stuck her head inside the door to make sure we made it.

We had picked Rapallo because it was about halfway between Chianni (in western Tuscany) and Milano. We arrived mid-day and stayed most of the second day before driving north. Judith had been searching for a pair of red boots (I think I saw the inside of every shoe store between Campania and Liguria), but it wasn't until our very last day in Italy that she found them in Rapallo. I was happy because I found a shop (tiny little cheese shop near the harbor) that could vacuum pack some grana, so I carried several kilos home.

Jim

Jim,

yes, I had forgotten about this trattoria, maybe because I've never been! It opened quite recently and since I am in Rapallo at most for a total of 4 weeks/year I haven't had a chance to try it myself. I do know that my father-in-law finds it good value for money and I do know that they do ravioli (or pansoti) with pinolia sauce (as opposed to the more traditional walnut sauce). Sounds like it's worth a try next time I'm in town.

The shop where you bough the cheese sounds like "La Bottega dei Sestieri" which is by far the best cheese shop/salumeria in town and (I am told) has recently been put in a list of the best 100 food shops in Italy. The shop was also featured a few months ago in the Italian edition of the Gambero Rosso magazine (they have the cheese shop/salumeria and another location near the train station where you can find wine and deli items).

Menton1, I am afraid that all the help I could give you would come from reading the usual food guides and not from personal experience: Paolo e Barbara is one place I have tried and found really good. Balzi Rossi is past its prime, Claudio and Il Palma used to be great, now they tend to be inconsistent (I hear), etc. I hear pretty good things about La Conchiglia in Arma di Taggia. The problem is people from one riviera don't tend to go to the other.......

[robert brown]

I had lunch at La Conchiglia about six years ago. It faces the sea in a rather bustling commercial tourist part of town. The food there is very good, but I have to admit I have not had an overwhelming desire to return. Even though we sat on the terrace on a beautiful day with four friends, the service was rather cold or not too friendly. We have had a couple of meals in Albenga, a quite funky town,and I get the impression that you could walk into any respectable-looking resaurant, order a fritto misto of fish and walk away really content. I can't seem to find one we really liked. The chef was old and perhaps he closed the place down in the last two years. My most vivid memory was going into the kitchen to complain that the only other diner during our lunch had received an interesting-looking dish that wasn 't on the menu. The chef's answer was to pick up a menu and point to two dishes that he had put together for this person and say, "Look, this is on the menu and that one's on the menu". I wish I could find the name since the food (and the place) was simple, really fresh and tasty. All I can say that it was in the eastern part of town and on a quiet street a few blocks in from the sea on the side of the street closer to the sea.

[Jim Dixon]

pansoti with pinolia sauce

I actually had this, altho' they called it salsa di noci....is it just pine nuts with heavy cream?

Jim

[vmilor]

I second Francesco about Ca Peo in Leivi. We had dinner twice there In June of 2001. They are on the very top of the hill and it is very panoramic. The owner is a oneophile, his wife is in the kitchen and they have some amazing 64 Barolos for reasonable prices. Fiammenghilla Fieschi in Sestri Levanti was equally good but from what I gathered reading 2003 l'espresso guide is that they may have lost the chef. Michelin also removed their star so I am not sure.

[francesco]

pansoti with pinolia sauce

I actually had this, altho' they called it salsa di noci....is it just pine nuts with heavy cream?

Jim

Jim,

the original sauce, "salsa di noci" is with walnuts. It shouldn't be with cream but with prescinseua which is a kind of soured milk, although it is difficult to find and most restaurants will use cream (which seems a bit heavy) or ricotta.

What Genovese does, I was told by my father in law, is to substitute walnuts with pinolia (pine nuts) which is a bit of an innovation.

vmilor, the only thing about Ca' Peo is that they do have consistency problems. As you might have noticed the owner has some health problems and his very talented wife is, I believe, getting tired of the whole thing. They have two daughters but only one is interested in the restaurant and she does not cook. So whenever the wife feels like it, the food is really excellent but on other days they just seem to be going along. Someone told me they hired a good young chef to help in the kitchen but I haven't been in a year and so can't tell what effects this has produced.

Also, I agree the cellar is quite good but I find the wine expensive.

[Jim Dixon]

franceso,

thanks...I was guessing that it might have been heavy cream instrad of sour cream because, as I remember, it didn't have a noticeable sour flavor. But it might have been the prescinseua. It was served as a thick dollop on top of the pansoti, and it was very smooth.

I've also seen Tuscan recipes for salsa di noci using bread crumbs and milk.

Jim