2006 Italian Restaurant guides

[albiston]

As usual the season of Italian Restaurant guides has been opened by L'Espresso (Italy's leading weekly). L'espresso uses the 20 points score scale made popular by Gault and Millau, with 20 being the maximum. Here are the top restaurants according to the guide:

- 19.5/20: 'Gambero Rosso', San Vincenzo (Li); 'Vissani', Baschi (Tr).

- 19/20 : 'Hotel Cavalieri Hilton la Pergola', Roma; 'Le Calandre', Rubano (Pd).

- 18.5/20: 'Dal Pescatore', Canneto sull'Oglio (Mn); 'Enoteca Pinchiorri', Firenze.

- 18/20 : 'Gualtiero Marchesi', Erbusco (Bs); 'Miramonti l'Altrò, Concesio (Bs), 'Perbellini', Isola Rizza (Vr).

- 17.5/20: 'Combal Punto Zero', Rivoli (TO); 'Cracco-Peck', Milano; 'Osteria la Francescana', Modena.

- 17/20: 'Aimo e Nadia', Milano; 'Antica Corona reale-da Renzo', Cervere (CN); 'Antonello Colonna', Labico (RM); 'Colline Ciociare', Acuto (FR); 'Da Vittorio', Brusaporto (BG); 'Don Alfonso 1890', Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi (NA); 'Duomo', Ragusa (RG); 'Hotel Rosa Alpina St.Hubertus', Badia-Abtei (BZ); 'Paolo e Barbara', San Remo (IM); 'Sadler', Milano; 'San Domenico', Imola (BO); 'Taverna del Capitano', Massa Lubrense (NA); 'Uliassi', Senigallia (AN).

- 16,5: 'Agata e Romeo', Roma; 'Al Sorriso', Soriso (NO); 'Antica osteria del Ponte', Cassinetta di Lugagnano (MI); 'Antica osteria del teatro', Piacenza; 'Caino', Montemerano (GR); 'Capriccio', Manerba del Garda (BS); 'Desco', Verona (VR); 'Dolada', Pieve d'Alpago (BL); 'Dolce stil novo', Ciriè (TO); 'Flipot', Torre Pellice (TO); 'Gambero', Calvisano (BS); 'Hotel Certosa di maggiano il canto', Siena; 'Il Convivio Troiani', Roma; 'La Caravella', Amalfi (SA); 'Locanda Arnolfo', Colle di Val d'Elsa (SI); 'Lorenzo', Forte dei Marmi (LU); 'Madonnina del pescatore', Senigallia (AN); 'Peca', Lonigo (VI); 'Pierino Penati', Viganò (LC); 'Rigoletto', Reggiolo (RE); 'Romano', Viareggio (LU); 'Symposium', Serrungarina (PS); 'Torre del saracino', Vico Equense (NA); 'Zur Rose', Appiano sulla Strada del vino (BZ).

[robert brown]

Alberto, I don't think you peer into the soul of Italian restaurants until you get to Antica Corona da Renzo in Piemonte. What do you think? Regardless, thank you for giving us a preview.

[albiston]

Alberto, I don't think you peer into the soul of Italian restaurants until you get to Antica Corona da Renzo in Piemonte. What do you think? Regardless, thank you for giving us a preview.

←

Robert, unfortunately my knowledge of Piemonte is poor and mostly concentrates on Torino. Your co-host is a damn Southerner .

[albiston]

Gambero Rosso's "Tre Forchette" are out too. 22 restaurnats win the prize this year, two more than last year. Compared to the 2005 list there are two names missing, Teverini and La Siriola, a return, Da Caino, and three new entries -Cracco Peck, Combal.zero and Uliassi- none of which particularly surprising.

I'll add the ranking for the cooking (GR has a separate note for that) and the special prizes like the tre Gamberi osterie later, once they're made public. For the moment here's the 22 winners (and where they are):

Pierangelini, San Vincenzo; Vissani, Baschi - 96

Don Alfonso, Sant'Agata sui due Golfi; La Pergola, Rome; Dal Pescatore, Canneto sull'Oglio - 93

Ambasciata, Quistello; Le Calandre, Rubano; Enoteca Pinchiorri, Florence; La Torre del Saracino, Vico Equense - 92

Laite, Sappada; Villa Crespi, Orta San Giulio - 91

Villa del Quar, Pedemonte; Da Caino, Montemarano; Colonna, Labico; Combal.zero, Rivoli; Cracco Peck, Milan; Desco, Verona; Lorenzo, Forte dei Marmi; Madonnina del Pescatore, Senigallia; Perbellini, Isola Rizza; St.Hubertus, San Cassiano; Uliassi, Senigallia - 90

Edited October 13, 2005 by albiston (log)

[Ore]

Alberto...do you know if La Locanda di Bu moved up or down in any of the guides? (also, did Al Vedel get any mentions?)

I know we had an 80 in GR last year. I think we had a 13 in Espresso. If you have time...thanks!

[albiston]

Alberto...do you know if La Locanda di Bu moved up or down in any of the guides? (also, did Al Vedel get any mentions?)

I know we had an 80 in GR last year.  I think we had a 13 in Espresso.  If you have time...thanks!

←

Ore, I have no info regarding points though I would be surprised if Locanda di Bu had not climbed a few points on Gambero Rosso. The reason is simple: the Italian blog "Il Gastronomo Riluttante" published an interesting interview with Mr Perrotta, the editor of the Gambero Rosso restaurant guide. When asked which young chefs could and should catch the attention of the public in the coming year(s) his reply was (my translation):

... in Piedmont I see a highly skilled Davide Palluda. But I would also bet on the restaurants of Fabio Baldassare (l'Altro mastai) or Teresa Buongiorno in Caroligno. In the Avellino province we were very enthusiastic about Antonio Pisianello, but also Adriano Baldassarre of the Tordo Matto in Zagarolo. In provincia di Avellino ci ha entusiasmo moltissimo Antonio Pisianello, ma anche Adriano Baldassare del Tordo Matto a Zagarolo. Others that deserve to be mentioned are Enrico Pezzotti of La Trota, Roberto Petza of S’apposentu, Vito Netti of La Strega a Palagianello, Oliver of the Capri Palace in Capri or Edoardo Ferrera, who after two years as chef at the Don Carlos of the Grand Hotel di Milano has opened his own place, il Gres.

The order doesn't necessairly correspond to the score (for example: Enrico Pezzotti of La Trota has 87 and is being tipped off as a possible tre forchette next year), but it certainly shows appreciation for the food and expectations for the future.

I don't know about Al Vedel but I will ask around.

[fabio fiorillo]

Alberto...do you know if La Locanda di Bu moved up or down in any of the guides? (also, did Al Vedel get any mentions?)

I know we had an 80 in GR last year.  I think we had a 13 in Espresso.  If you have time...thanks!

←

Locanda di Bu in Nusco (AV) has this score in 2006:

14,5/20 on espresso guide

82 on Gambero Rosso Guide with 49 of food point (high!)

[albiston]

I'm adding a little update on the Gambero Rosso guide: the tre gamberi winning trattorie. Like the three forks for restaurants, these prizes are awarded to the trattorie considered to be "the best" by Gambero Rosso. I noticed that a few of you visited the last year's winner so I thought some of you might appreciate the following list.

Da Amerigo, Savigno (Bologna)

La Brinca, Ne (Genova)

Caffè La Crepa, Isola Dovaresen (Cremona)

Cibus [new entry], Ceglie Messapica (Brindisi)

Locanda al Gambero Rosso, Bagno di Romagna (Forlì-Cesena)

Gostilna Devetak [new entry], Savogna d'Isonzo (Gorizia)

Nangalarruni, Castelbuono (Palermo)

Osteria del Boccondivino, Bra (Cuneo)

Osteria della Villetta, Palazzolo sull'Oglio (Brescia)

Osteria di San Cesario [new entry], San Cesareo (Roma)

La Ragnatela [new entry], Mirano (Venezia)

[cinghiale]

Thanks for the update, Alberto.

I now plan to visit Ragnatela on my way into Venice in late December. It looks quite good. Do you (or does anyone) perchance have an email address for them?

I couldn't find anything on da Amerigo on Girone dei golosi. I searched under BO and also by name. I did discover that they have a *, which is where I located their fantastic website. I was really taken with their lodgings and now plan to switch my stay there from Villa Gaidello in Castelfranco.

[MMerrill]

We ate at Da Amerigo, and also stayed with them in November 2004. Loved everything. We were in Room 2, which is spectacular, but cold because it's so roomy. I'd choose a smaller room in winter.

[cinghiale]

Thanks for the tip. I just received a reply from Alberto, in response to my request for .... Room 2. They're actually closed on the day of our arrival (12/26) but will accommodate us. Room 2 is taken on 12/27, so I asked for it on arrival, then to Room 1 for the next two nights. Also booked a table for 12/28. I realize this is sorta the wrong thread, but is dinner at Osteria dal Minestraio a reasonable drive from the locanda?

[MMerrill]

I think it would be difficult at night. They're both south of Bologna, but the roads to Savigno are small and twisty - easy to get lost. Also our dinner at Osteria dal Minestraio lasted from 8 'til 11! But we only had to drive back to Bologna. Maybe they're open for lunch? (tel: 051742017)

[fortedei]

Sorry about the prior copy of the post.

Albiston's listing of the trattorie mentioned one of the best, if not the best, of the trattorie in terms of wine, La Brinca in Ne'. Ne' is just slightly south of Chiavari, not that far off the autostrada, albeit a little difficult to find (up a winding dirt and gravel road in the middle of the vineyards). Sergio Circella has basically taken his family's trattoria and enhanced the typical 'rustic' dishes from the Lugurian hills which are served, with a wonderful wine list and a cantina where you can buy anything from the list. Sergio is passionate about wine (with no snobbism of any kind) and loves to talk about food as well. A fun guy to be with. As Antonio Santini said: this is a wine list which would rate a 17 or 18 in Gambero Rosso if they rated wine lists of trattorie. A trattoria which, except for the wine list, was commonplace in Liguria 25 years ago, but sadly is dying out. Cucina povera at its best.

[albiston]

As every year Michelin, long awaited is out last (but not least) among the Italian guides.

The complete list of stars and bib gourmands can be downloaded as pdf files directly from the Michelin site, divided by region. For the stars click the link under "Le Stelle" and for the Bib gourmands the link under, ehm, Bib gourmands obviously.

To be honest, no major shake up, although there were gossips of something like this taking place. No three stars demoted (many assumed Al Sorriso would drop to two stars) and one promotion, La Pergola in Rome, bringing Italy's three star total to five. Vissani's absence still seems unexplicable to most Italian foodies and critics.

Continuing, Osteria Francescana in Modena and Il Duomo, in Ragusa, get promoted to two stars. Among the two stars, Perbellini in Isola Rizza gets the, by now famous, red two stars, indicating restaurants that could be promoted in the future to a further star. The "red" one starred establishements are the following: il Gelso di San Martino in Cazzago San Martino (BS), Gambero in Calvisano (BS), Schoeneck in Falzes (BZ) and la Madonnina del Pescatore in Senigallia (AN)

New single starred restaurants: La Pineta in Bibbona (LI), Già Sotto l’Arco in Carovigno (BR), Magnolia in Cesenatico (FC), La Piazzetta in Ferno (VA), Al Porticciolo in Lecco, La Madia in Licata (AG), Il Faro di Capo d’Orso in Maiori (SA), Conti Roero in Monticello d’Alba (CN), Baby dell’Aldovrandi Palace and also L'Altro Mastai in Roma, Zibaldone in San Giorgio in Salici (VR), Casa Grugno in Taormina (ME), L’Birichin in Torino and il Met dell’hotel Metropole in Venezia.

[robert brown]

Alberto, thanks for the recap. It just makes me realize (and nearly everybody else) how rich the restaurant scene is in Italy. I am not the least bit familiar with any of the one-stars you listed, even the one outside of Alba. Also, I never noticed the stars in red. Where do they appear in list form?

[albiston]

Alberto, thanks for the recap. It just makes me realize (and nearly everybody else) how rich the restaurant scene is in Italy. I am not the least bit familiar with any of the one-stars you listed, even the one outside of Alba. Also, I never noticed the stars in red. Where do they appear in list form?

←

I think the red starts are a new idea Michelin tested last year in France, which is being extended to all their guides, to indicate "hot" places which might get an extra star the coming year, or better, it indicates those places Michelin is checking out with particular care for the future edition.

I have to admit I'll add my name to yours in claiming I'm not familiar with some of the one starred places: quite a few of these are scarcely recognised by other Italian guides.