My Favourite Restaurants in Piemonte

From Barolo to Gavi, hazelnuts to white truffle, plus the bucolic views buttressed by mountains and sea, Piemonte’s restaurants have it all—but THESE are my favourites.

Jun 20, 2024

My periodic travels throughout Piemonte curated this evolving list of restaurants, osterias, enotecas and more. An evolving list means this is updated over time, so bookmark it! Share it! Check it out now and then!

Why do I have this list?

I bought a house in Monferrato after months and years of research. Piemonte (or Piedmont, to some) is home to some of Italy’s best-known dishes.

Stuffed meaty agnolotti, gossamer sheets of vitello tonnato from local Fassona cows, blushing hand-chopped steak tartare, pungent bagna cauda, eggy tajarin, shattering grissini and the origin of the Slow Food Movement.

Piemonte gave the world Nutella, Ferrero Roche as well as their famed white and black Alba truffles.

Then there’s the wine: Barolo, Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Barbera, Barbaresco, Gavi, Alta Langhe sparkling and the resurgence of funky Timorasso.

Piemonte is spoiled for restaurants. I plan to visit many more than those featured here, but I personally visited and recommend these which, I concede, leans towards Piemontesi cuisine.

The headers also share the type of restaurant, budgeting and standout features. Pricing is based on a meal plus a drink in the following categories: Budget Eats (up to €10), Cheap Eats (up to €15), Mid-Range (up to €25), and High-End (above €25).

Ristorante Bar Corona. Traditional Piemontesi & Ligurian | Quaint Restaurant | Cheap Eats.
A small restaurant run for the last 320 years by the same family! If you are lucky, Marta will serve you personally with her bright eyes and broad smile. Ristorante Bar Corona sits in a small village and has an extensive menu that draws upon traditional Piemontesi and Ligurian regional dishes. The real magic lies in its selection of antipasti dishes, such as slow-cooked peppers with anchovies and vitello tonnato. If it's available, order the chard-stuffed ravioli with ricotta. A good wine selection is also available by the glass and the bottle.
Ristorante Bar Corona, Via Vittorio Emanuele, 14, 15056 San Sebastiano Curone, Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy. Ristorante Bar Corona Website. +39(0)131786203.

Il Fiorile. Piemontesi | Farmhouse Family Restaurant | Mid-Range.
A drive through the hills will reward you with a homely meal at family-run Il Fiorile inside a fairy-lit barn. Sit outside if you can. The restaurant beats with familial warmth. The dad cooks and the daughter is both a waitress and sommelier. She emailed us the next day itemising houses for sale near their village when she heard we were looking to buy a house in Piemonte. When did you last get that at a restaurant? Il Fiorile is a Bib Gourmand restaurant (at the time of dining), attached to a small hotel, focusing on traditional Piemontesi dishes. Il Fiorile offers both a la carte and tasting menus. Stand-out dishes: a lemon-yellow, egg-rich tajarin is crumbled with a white meat ragu and a chocolate fondant with homemade ice cream and peaches. Read a full Il Fiorile review here.
Il Fiorile, Via XXV Aprile, 6, 15060 Castel Dè Ratti Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy. Il Fiorile Website. +39143697303.

Ristorante Enoteca La Curia. Modern Piemontesi | Great Wine List | Mid-Range.
A stone’s throw from the main square in Acqui Terme, Ristorante Enoteca La Curia is a smart restaurant with modern spins on regional classics. You can come here for lunch or dinner with a menu that changes regularly (English menus available): puréed borlotti beans with stewed octopus, olive gnocchi with tomato fondant and squid, tajarin with lamb ragu or grilled Iberian pork. However, the superb wine selection is the real reason to come. A sparkling bottle of Alta Langhe awaits you. The excellent wine shop sells wine to take away.
Ristorante Enoteca La Curia, Via della, Via Alla Bollente, 26, 15011 Acqui Terme, Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy. Ristorante Enoteca La Curia Website. +39144356049.

Trattoria Losanna. Traditional Piemontesi | Generous Portions | Mid-Range.
Perfect for lunch, Trattoria Losanna is a casual dining spot on a countryside road, turning out enormous portions of traditional food. It deservedly sports a Bib Gourmand at the time of dining. The owner amuses his guests while he serves everything personally. Think large platters of beef or ricotta agnolotti (Piemontesi ravioli), beef tartare or antipasti, among many other dishes. Trattoria Losanna features an impressive wine cellar, which the owner is more than happy for you to investigate. Local wines are aplenty such as Roero Arneis and Barbera del Monferrato. I brought my parents when the came to Piemonte.
Trattoria Losanna, Via S. Rocco, 40, 15024 Masio, Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy. +39131799525.

Accademia Ristorante. Modern Piemontesi | Outstanding Decor, Must Visit | Mid-Range.
A truly unique restaurant in Casale Monferrato housed inside the historic Palazzo Gozzano Treville, home to the Filarmonica di Casale Monferrato. Breathtaking frescoes line the entire entrance leading towards the restaurant. Accademia Ristorante is a time capsule and a must-visit for the decor alone. The food was still awarded a Bib Gourmand at the time of dining. Modern spins on traditional classics served with finesse. The wine list is equally impressive. Service is friendly, and bookings are essential. Read a full Accademia Ristorante review here.
Accademia Ristorante, Via Goffredo Mameli, 29, 15033 Casale Monferrato, Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy. Accademia Ristorante Website. +39142452269.

Cascina Faletta 1881. Modern Piemontesi | Beautiful Location | Mid-Range
Winery and restaurant, Cascina Faletta 1881 is a beautifully restored farmhouse turned restaurant with views overlooking the Piemontesi hills and valleys—plus a swimming pool. Rooms in the attached hotel are also available. The menu moves Piemontesi food forward a little: soft poached egg with Gorgonzola and potato cream. The wine from the vineyard keeps prices down with their Barbera del Monferrato and unoaked Chardonnay. Service is friendly, and English menus are also available. Bookings recommended.
Cascina Faletta 1881, Regione Mandoletta, 81, 15033 Casale Monferrato, Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy. Cascina Faletta 1881 Website. +39142670068.

Volpedo Food Market. Community | Local Produce | Budget Eats.
Volpedo showcases a Saturday food market that draws in outstanding local farmers and producers in the area. Buy bushels of basil for €1, locally brewed beer with labels painted by hand and meet cheese and pig farmers selling their farmed. Build in time for an early morning ramble around the town and stop for espresso freddos. The real trick is Volpedo Food Market’s pizzas made on-site. You usually need to preorder, but we never did and always got lucky. We bought a bottle of wine from the adjacent stall. If there are no pizzas available, just buy some superb seasonal and local eats from the market — especially if peaches are in season. Volpedo peaches are famous around Piemonte. Make an afternoon sightseeing around Volpedo. Crafts and nicknacks are also available for sale.
Volpedo Food Market, Piazza Perino, 15059 Volpedo, Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy. Volpedo Market Website.

Ristorante La Fermata. Modern Piemontesi | Comfort Food | High End.
La Fermata lies inside a hotel spa along an industrial lane – perhaps this is why La Fermata’s decor is sort of modern industrial. La Fermata is unexpectedly good, better than expected, even for a one Michelin Star restaurant. The service is friendly and professional, if not slightly amused by English speakers visiting the restaurant. (The team translated the menu into English for us when they heard me struggling to make a booking over the phone.) Both a la carte and tasting menus are available. The food reads like elevated Piemontesti comfort food: a gooey stuffed, salt-based onion begs for wintery days. Supple gnocchi parcels paired with soft, sweet courgettes that taste of the season and small, light agnolotti Alessandria steeped luxuriantly in butter and aged parmesan. Read a full review of La Fermata here.
Ristorante La Fermata, Resort La Fermata, Str. Bolla, 2, 15122 Spinetta Marengo, Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy. La Fermata Website. +390131617508.

Asti Comune

La Braja. Traditional | Classical Decor & Service | High-End.
A father-son duo manage this time warp with charm and panache. Walls are littered with awards, classical furniture fills the dining room brightened with mustard yellow walls. Service features a trolley service including an incredible cheese trolley (absolutely no miss) and choices of aperitifs to start as well as digestifs to finish. La Braja is fine dining as it used to be. Both a la carte and tasting menus are available. The homemade tajarin with rabbit ragu is light and delicate, bacon and zucchini blossom-wrapped prawns are far better than expected. Menus in English are available, the wine list excels in regional options, and the service is so good that you’ll want to move in. La Braja’s dining has fallen out of fashion in some ways, but you can’t help but wish it came back.
La Braja, Via S. Giovanni Bosco, N.11, 14030 Montemagno, Asti, Piemonte, Italy. La Braja Website. +393311799615.

Vicolo Battisti. Neapolitan Pizza | Modern | Cheap Eats
Vicolo Battisti tears up Italy’s pizza rule book with a devil-may-care attitude about pizza conventions. The outside terrace seating along a busy street in Asti brings in bags of atmosphere and all that al fresco dining that probably brought you to Italy in the first place. Friendly service and menus are available in English. You could order the light agnolotti plin with beef among other dishes, but you should delve into the seasonal pizza menu. Expect bases made of smoked aubergine or creamed chestnuts, fior di latte burrata or pork shank or tartare and Gran Padano. Classics are also available for the less adventurous but, my advice? Fortune favours the brave!
Vicolo Battisti, Via Cesare Battisti, 14/A, 14100 Asti, Piemonte, Italy. Vicolo Battisti Website. +393202274222.

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Alba Comune

100 VINI Alba. Bar & Restaurant | Great Wine List | Cheap Eats.
A solid option in a touristy nook of Alba, 100 VINI Alba features a staggering wine selection as the name suggests. Weather permitting, you want to sit outside in the middle of the adjacent square for some people-watch and enjoy that dolce vita al fresco dining. The views outside the courtyard piazza are worth it during the warmer months. Alba is filled with high-end dining so simpler cheaper places can be hit or miss. Also, many restaurants close by 3 pm. 100 VINI Alba is a good option for late lunches, reasonable prices or a place simply for aperitifs before heading off somewhere else. Simple eats available like fried calamari, tuna steaks, veal tartare, and homemade pasta all washed down with Langhe Riesling.
100 VINI Alba, Via Roma, 2, 12050 Alba, Cuneo, Piemonte, Italy. +39 0173 065937.

Petricore Enoteca con Cucina. Wine Bar & Restaurant | Must Visit | Mid-Range.
This remains one of my favourite places in Piemonte to date. A small wine bar that turns out remarkably good food including the best panna cotta to ever pass these lips and a lovely guinea fowl with mash. Petricore Enoteca offers a very broad wine list including an extensive range by the glass, Petricore Enoteca shines in the regional options including exceptionally rare bottles (some less than 12 per year). Natural wine, orange wine, local wines and famed Barolos, you will be hard-pressed to find this range elsewhere. Thank God the food soaks this up. The sommelier is superb and enjoys tables that want to delve into wine with him. Read a full review about Petricore Enoteca con Cucina here.
Petricore Enoteca con Cucina, Via Ospedale, 6, 12051 Alba, Cuneo, Piemonte, Italy. Petricore Enoteca con Cucina’s Website. +39173067431.

Piazza Duomo. Modern Italian | One of the World’s Best Restaurants | High End.
Piazza Duomo sits at the cutting edge of Italian cuisine pushing the conversation forward. With three Michelin stars, it consistently features in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List. Chef Enrico Crippa is world famous for using local vegetables farmed by the restaurant offering tasting menus and wine pairing. You must order the wine pairing. Standout dishes from the tasting menu included the burnt lemon risotto, red prawns with cherries and the uni carpaccio with pecorino and tomato jam paired with Moscato di Asti. The pastel pink cavernous walls brighten the dining room. Piazza Duomo is definitely for special occasions with a bill that matches. It’s one of life’s bucket list dinners. Read a full review of Piazza Duomo here.
Piazza Duomo, Piazza Risorgimento 4, 12051 Alba, Cuneo, Piemonte, Italy. Piazza Duomo Website. +39 0173 366167.

Osteria dei Sognatori. Traditional Piemontesi | Social Al Fresco Dining | Cheap Eats.
Osteria Dei Sognatori is busy every time I walk passed it — always a good sign. So much so that walk-ins needed to wait upwards of an hour for a seat. Good neighbourhood, casual dining as you would expect from an osteria. Al fresco dining in the sun and along the street allows for maximum people-watching. For indoor dining, don’t be surprised if local residents bring their dogs to sleep under the tables like in British pubs. The menu changes seasonally, but hazelnut pesto tagliatelle, beef ravioli or tajarin al ragu stood out together with a carafe of local Nebbiolo. Service is a little slow during busy, peak periods. Just order another glass/bottle of wine and remember that you’re in Alba!
Osteria dei Sognatori, Via Macrino, 8, 12051 Alba, Cuneo, Piemonte, Italy. +393337124121

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