Nonna Genia is a haven for simple piedmont cooking. Nonna cooks, papa is the waiter. The trattoria occupies an enclosed verandah area in the family home. It is a little out of the way, situated in a quiet country street.
Papa is the host. He appears regularly, carrying food, from a room with a TV tuned to a football match on this Wednesday evening.
There is no menu. The meal is a fixed price of 23 euro per person. Diners are expected to arrive around 8pm and service to the various tables tends to be synchronised.
Serves are numerous and generous. Papa announces each of them as they are placed with varying degrees of care, before the diners. All are traditional dishes, none particularly sophisticated. All are tasty, several outstanding.
At the conclusion of the meal, on request, papa willingly wrote down the dishes, in the order they were served:
inslata di toma (salad with local cheese)
carne cruda (cold meat)
vitello tonnato (thinly sliced veal)
crostini di polenta (polenta with various flavours)
peperoni con bagna caoda (peppers with oil and garlic sauce)
spinaci con fondua (spinach fondue)
gnocchi al raschera (gnocchi with cheese)
tajarin al ragu (thin egg pasta with ragu)
corniglio (rabbit)
dolci (dessert)
The polenta was mouth watering, four cubes of smooth polenta, each with a different, seasonal topping, including porcini mushroom and pesto. The spinach covered in a creamy fondue sauce, the melting gnocchi with cheese, the regional tajarin noodle. These dishes will not be forgotten. And the wine, a barbaresco, was reasonably priced and perfect with the meal.
It is polite to book a table to give notice of the intention to dine. The restaurant is not too far from Alba, the closest small town is Farinetti, a few kilometres from Grinzane Cavour.
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Comments (1)
awwwwwwww polenta!! Sounds fabulous, this is only available in Italy.
Posted by The Blog Wine Cellar | May 23, 2007 3:18 PM
Posted on May 23, 2007 15:18