LA CASA NEL BOSCO

The main source of income for this country house is the vegetable garden. Gianni has a 700-square-meter garden, a 60-square-meter greenhouse, and a 2,000-square-meter orchard with 65 varieties of fruit. This alone should pique your interest, as foreign guests often are.

You are in one of our favorite places, in Cassinasco, a small town rich in literary talent (this is where Maltese Narzioni, a historic literary magazine from the 1980s to the 2000s, was born). It looks like an enchanted house, surrounded by greenery, with warm rooms for the winter and a beautiful porch overlooking the herb garden for the summer. A warm welcome goes hand in hand with high-quality cuisine rooted in the local area, but what has always struck us is the passion of this Mr. Gianni, who has made several appearances on the TV show "La Prova del Cuoco," and more than one has glimpsed vague similarities with Mike Bongiorno.

Now, here the "apríbocca," as they call it in these parts, will be with cured meats or a small vegetable flan. Then the appetizers (€8): veal carpaccio with Garessio chestnuts, rabbit roll with vegetables and balsamic vinegar, Roccaverano tomato bavarois. And that's before the (€9) baked lasagna with garden vegetables, robiola gnocchi with lavender flowers (in summer), and the delicate ravioli del plin with roast sauce. But if you'll excuse me, don't miss his vegetable minestrone for anything. For main courses (€12), try the sliced duck breast with Moscato d'Asti, capunet (cabbage rolls with meat), and a compelling cod in white sauce with potato cream, which in summer becomes an eggplant roll. A tasting of robiola cheeses from various origins and ages will pave the way for dessert (€7): Brachetto aspic with berries or panna cotta with hazelnut cream (our favorite), and peach tiramisu.

The menu is varied, with options for all budgets: 2 appetizers, a first course, and dessert for €25, and 2 appetizers, a second course, and dessert for €30. Just one more reason to come!