I depend on Yelp reviews to help me make a better decision. I realize there were only eight and…read moresome from a long time ago, Sadly, I found the food to be very disappointing. Perhaps it was just the kind of food and other people would like it. We had the vegetable salad, which was apparently grilled vegetables in a mayonnaise base. It reminded me of egg salad. We had the mushroom risotto, which was actually pretty good, but I had it a few nights earlier, at another restaurant where I thought it was exceptional. Finally, we had the braised beef in a Barolo wine sauce. Sorry, not good at all. We had the cheese tray, which was delightful. We had the best bottle of wine I've ever had. The service was fabulous. Our server was so kind and had everything split for us. I really wanted to like the food and maybe it was just a bad night. I thought the ambience in the front of the restaurant was more Italian authentic. The back was a little more eclectic but still nice. My favorite part was a bottle of wine that our server recommended and the complementary appetizer they gave us. The cheese selection was great. If I lived in the area, I would definitely come back and try them again because I think they just had a bad night.

Okay we have not been here since 2009, well before I was Yelping! Here is what I wrote on my blog…read moreback then: A few weeks ago we were in Barolo, Italy and enjoyed a fabulous meal at a restaurant called La Cantinetta. The food was great and the service fun and relaxed. Here are a few photos from that evening. We ordered the antipasti tasting which happened to be five courses of starters. We expected a lot of local cured meats and pickled veggies - we were very pleasantly surprised that was not the case! The first course or amuse bouche was a very thin slice of local salami and small blini sized frittata of greens - crispy on the outside yet tender and with great flavor. We didn't think to photograph the dishes until the next course arrived - a rabbit mousse with caramelized red onions and toasted brioche. OMG! Heavenly, and for those of you squeemish about rabbit just think of it as a chicken with fur. It was amazing - creamy, savory, sweet and crunchy! he next course was delicious vitello tonnato. Have always shied away from this dish thinking it was too strange a pairing. Well I was wrong. A tender, perfectly roasted slice of veal with a tuna and caper sauce. We had to have seconds, hence the dirty plate in the picture! That was followed by a famous raviolo filled with verdura (chopped mixed greens), a soft egg yolk and topped with Parmigiano Reggiano and browned butter. Amazing that such simple and pure flavors could be so response provoking. The mmm's and oh my's kept flying out of our mouths as we devoured this delicacy. To bring it to the next level they offered a crispy asparagus tart with a fonduta sauce. It's hard to describe how perfectly crisp and yet light the pastry shell was on this dish. The cheesy sauce was a perfect smooth and silky accompaniment to the crisp and tender asparagus in the tart. To amaze one even further a dish of spinach gnocci with gorgonzola sauce was beyond description. Surely we will never have gnocci this light and tender without it being at all wet as most gnocci tend to be. We had braced ourselves for knock your head off gorgonzola flavor only to find that the chef used a slight hand with such a potentially overwhelming cheese. A dish / the local classic - ravioli al plin - were tasty but woefully inadequte next to that masterpiece of spinach gnocci. Regardless of the tastier dish on the table, all the ravioli al plin were consumed! We had no room for dessert and missed what appeared to be a delicious mixed berry tart that we saw them shaping in the pan just as we were arriving. We can't wait to return to the area in the future and experience another wonderful meal here.

If you like fresh, homemade, spectacular food THIS is the place for you!…read moreIf I could give it a million stars it still wouldn't be enough. This place is spectacular in every sense of the word The food is not only fresh and homemade but has that quintessential "italian " love that you can only get from those that have TRUE passion for what they do and life overall. If you are in Leeds - and let's face it - why would you not be??!! Go to La Piola. The staff is friendly and make you feel at home immediately. The food is so delicious you will only ever compare every other meal in your life to it, and the atmosphere in this 9 table restaurant will keep you asking " why isn't it bigger?" If you are lucky enough to snag a table here you are truly in for an experience of a lifetime! Enjoy the gem of a restaurant!!

Perfectly situated in the center of town is the busy and chic: La Piola. It was by happenstance…read morethat we walked by, captured by the near full indoor and outdoor dining space filled with happy diners, and fortunately they had one table for us! This was hands down the best pasta with truffles we had.

I'll let the car hire boys do the history bit:…read more http://www.car-hire-centre.co.uk/rd-italy/alba.html "Alba is the capital of the historical Langhe region and part of Piedmont in northwestern Italy, the small city of Alba is one of the many provincial spots in the country that offers tranquillity, history and charm in abundance. Replacing the early Celt and Ligurian tribes, the city itself was originally founded by the Romans as Alba Pompeia. Expanding into a site of regional importance, Alba was especially remarkable as the birthplace of Pertinax, the shortest serving Roman emperor in history (lasting just 86 days in 192 AD). Decimated by the marauding Burgundian, Frankish and Lombard tribes, it was only in the Middle Ages that Alba regained some semblance of stability as part of the 12th century Lombard League. Later dominated firstly by France then Spain, the city passed definitively to the Savoy family in the 17th century only liberated two centuries later by the Risorgimento. A notable anti-Fascist centre during the 20th century, even winning a Medal of Valour during World War II, the city is now more famous for its truffles than its politics. However, for a taste of the quiet life in a truly beautiful setting, Alba is the place for you." These Piedmontese white truffles are an expensive underground fungus delicacy that taste of earth, wood, garlic and - as some say - even sweat. They are tracked by dogs, unlike the French black ones, which are sniffed out by pigs. In October, the annual truffle festival takes place, when restaurateurs from all over Europe gather there. Parking is not easy among all the vans with registration plates ranging from Paris and Berlin to Barcelona. You can smell the market from a long way away and inside, the pungent pong is unbelievable. Learn more here: http://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/PURSUITS/FOOD/9908/truffle.lat/ We decided to eat at the Aldente which was conveniently situated just off the Piazza and looked interesting (their website doesn't work, so somebody might like to correct the address). To start with, I had barbecued octopus, which I can still taste today in my imagination! They then recommend various dishes to go with truffles and I went for beef tartare. They bring a truffle to the table - along with digital scales - and shave truffle over your food until you decide you have enough. The amount of truffle consumed is charged by weight, and the truffle then removed for further use. Cheap it is not for an Italian lunch (EUR120 for 3) if I remember correctly, but then truffles don't run cheap. Still, I was given a handy little billfold with their name on it, which is a pleasant reminder. One caveat though: I subsequently learned that the Piedmontese claim truffles taste best with hot food and say that a fried egg is best. The waiter could have told me that ;-( but I'll forgive him because of the octopus. Alba is known not just for the truffles but also for fine wines such as Barbera d'Alba and Dolcetto d'Alba which are freely available at a reasonable price in the U.K. No truffles in these though - the latter prefer to grow under trees rather than grapevines! A nice place to go in this charming city. Note - off season it is a charming little place (we have been back), but during the festival it is seething...

Amazing food! The truffle and ravioli first course is delicious! The swordfish was also very good…read more Would recommend.

I was going to this restaurant with high expectations. It did not live up to them. Excellent…read morepresentation. Extensive wine list. Polite staff. Food was good but not spectacular. Tortellini dish was just barely warm. But main thing that shocked me was desert issue. I did not like it and left it almost untouched. When manager saw it he went a long way to understand why I did not eat it. When I said that there was nothing wrong with the desert and it was just my personal preference he lost any concern or interest. You would expect in such high end place they would offer replacement to satisfy the client. What it would cost them, five Euro? Nope, nothing like that. They did not care. Therefore three stars and not coming back or recommending to anyone.

We saw that they could arrange a private truffle hunt - definitely arrange this ahead of time…read more When we arrived at 9:30am, they had water and some sweets and cookies laid out very nicely for us. We were greeted by the owner, the manager (?), our truffle hunger, and our interpreter. The truffle hunt was €30 a person, and the interpreter was €40 an hour (2 hour hunt), which was well worth it. Her English was perfect, and she could help explain everything the truffle hunters were saying in both Italian and Piedmontese. We learned a ton about truffles and the process. We drove out about 10-15 min away to a random area and were surprised that the dogs started sniffing and finding stuff right away. It was a drought year, which explains the outrageous prices, but they found some black ones and some tiny white ones. There ended up being two truffle hunters and their loyal dogs, and they just train dogs and do this for the love of it - not just to sell to restaurants. If you wanted, you could pay for the truffles that were found, but they were honest and said the quality wasn't great. It was a super educational experience and seemed better than the more expensive one offered by the Fiera de Tartufo. After the hunt, we had some time to walk around town before lunch. When we came back in, the dining room was about half full by 12:30pm, completely full after that. We started with a basket of bread, crackers, and grissini all made in house - I loved the lingua cracker (like the Rustic Bakery ones in the US). Then, they brought over some house made butter and soft focaccia. We opted for a Riserva from Coppo next door, which is a big local producer in Canelli. It's too bad we didn't get to go see their famous underground cellars. To start (on the house): Puréed cauliflower with a soft cooked quail egg, topped with white truffle - possibly my favorite dish. The tasting menu is incredibly reasonable at €55 per person (they also had a la carte and a €45 option). We opted to skip truffles since we had been eating them at every meal, but it seems like everyone else was going all out with truffles. Tasting (degutazione): €55 1. Veal tartare: with a marinated egg yolk and an amazing balsamic reduction. This was great with the long lingua cracker. 2. Fondue: with porcini and crispy bread - I've never had such big fresh porcini mushrooms before - they were generous on the mushrooms. The cheese was great 3. Tajerin: served table side. I regretted not adding truffles since the buttery noodles were basically made as a vehicle for truffles 4. Risotto: quite al dente. I liked the sauce - a jus/reduction drizzled in. It was served with a roasted cardoon. In the end, I couldn't finish all of the rice 5. Lamb: I actually wanted something lighter and got a seasonal zucca (pumpkin soup) as a substitution, which I was happy with. I did try the lamb. It was on the saltier side but wasn't too gamey 5. Cheese plate: at this point, I was so full (and jet lagged), but they made me a small plate with local cheeses and house made marmalade's (all very interesting using local seasonal produce). When we went to pay up front, they had a nice tray of chocolates, chocolate truffles, torrino, cookies for us by the door to nibble on. In the end, for the truffle hunt, interpreter, meal, and very nice bottle of wine, it was about €300 for 2 of us. Service was very polite, we never felt rushed, and I thought the truffle hunt experience was pretty unique and awesome. They do speak English in the restaurant. The drive was about 40 min from Alba. I would definitely recommend driving out here for the truffle hunt experience (5 stars) and the lunch (a great value for a Michelin starred place).

After many meals with many courses we were looking for someplace just a little more casual and…read moreopted for this inviting place; just a short walk from our hotel in Sinio. While the servers spoke mostly Italian, there was just enough English for us to get by (and just enough Italiano by us to indicate what we wanted). We started out on the nice covered Terrace with a table overlooking the hills but after our antipasto (deliciously fresh buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes), we were moved inside due to a impending thunderstorm (lots of beautiful lightning in the distance). Inside was nice too and the servers continued to be so very attentive and helpful. We each ordered pizza, my wife got saliscca with delicious sausage and I chose the Milanauno -thinly sliced salami with arugula and shaver Parmesan-really really good. In retrospect we could have shared 1 pizza but too late noticed all the locals eating the center and leaving the outside edge-hint for next time. Mine was particularly good with the arugula (not too much lettuce salads in Italy so it was good to get some greens). They have plenty of space inside and by 8:00 they were mostly full of locals-lots of extended families with mom, dad, Nona and baby. There is a nice wine list including Barolo by the glass (8€) and lots of local choices. We enjoyed it. We stretched things out with a limoncello and by 9 the pouring rain was almost ended so we walked back up the hill with full stomachs and smiles on our faces. Bravo!

Tell me how many pizza joints are selling bottles of Barolo Wine valued upwards of €200, with some…read morebottles going back to 1961? OK, this really isn't just a pizza joint. It is a very nice restaurant that just happens to sell pizza. They also have a variety of pasta dishes. We got an unusual pizza with sausage and Thinly sliced roasted pig on top. We also had a truly delicious local tajarin pasta made with egg yolks served with a meat sauce. We could not resist buying a terrific bottle of the local Barbaresco wine as well.The restaurant is tucked in to the tiny town of Sinio and I doubt you would ever find it unless you knew it was there or you had some guidance from yelp. If you are in the area, this place is worth a stop when hunger strikes.

Bovio is located in the beautiful land of La Morra where you can find Barolo which is some of the…read moremost delicious wine in the world. At Bovio, you can get a 6 generous course set at the price of 55 euros (drinks excluded) during lunch! Each dish was insanely delicious and very classic to the La Morra region and we were genuinely floored by the food, beautiful view, and amazing wine. My favorite dish had to be the veal tartare which was topped with black truffle. Its taste and consistency reminded me very much of my favorite beloved prosciutto. Our menu 5/16/23 is below: 0Entree (All 3 is served) Veal tomato with old style tuna sauce Veal tartare with parmigiano cheese and black truffle Tart of asparagus and cheese fondue 1Primi (choose one) Typical ravioli "del plin" stuffed with meat, vegetable, and beef sauce or Risotto carnaroli with asparagus 2Secondi (choose one) The typical braised veal jowl in Barolo wine sauce or Roast baby goat from Alta Langa and vegetables 3Dessert (choose one) Selection of cheeses from Piemonte and cugnà or Tasting of three typical desserts Instagram: @jessgoeat

First of all, the view is perfect. In the summer, they open the windows in the main restaurant and…read morethere is also a patio. Second, family owned. The wife is very sweet, I guess the husband does the cooking? If we hadn't been at a Michelin stared the eve before, I maybe would have given it 5 stars. I hear of you come during truffle season, you get quite a treat. I thought the food was just okay- the veal carpaccio was lacking flavor and so was the tagatelle with bra sausage sauce. We liked the veal with balsamic entre and the baked onion stuffed with cheese and sausage.

Formerly Osteria Italia. Again Yelp can't keep up. New ownership new name. Google seems to know…read morethis already. Gorgeous ambiance. Clean and modern with classic touches. Bread basket, although ostentatious, was Outstanding. Amuse bouchée croquettes. Nice touch. Octopus salad. They say that octopus needs either two minutes or two hours to properly prepare. All I know is this was epic. There was almost no need to chew. Just tender and fresh with excellent texture and flavor. The bed of structured whipped potatoes and slow roasted peppers gave additional depth. Tajarin burro e tartufo. Wow. You just can't pass this up. We actually fought over this dish over who would get the last bite. Take my advice and DO NOT share this. Just order your own and savor every last truffle and homemade strand of tajarin noodle. Will not forget it. Brasato al barolo. In the states you would equate this to a slow braised short rib type of dish. This brasato shatters everything you thought you knew about slow braised beef. 100% silky, tender, flavorful tenderloin that literally flakes away with a fork. And zero grizzly or fatty parts. Accompaniment of purée potato and jus reduction. Truly amazing signature slow food experience. Braised veal. Thick cut boneless veal mouthwatering tender. Touch of flaked sea salt. Amazing mustard garnish. Again fighting for the last piece. You'll also enjoy reasonable prices on a library volume of world class wines both by bottle and glass. For me, the house Barbaresco was first class. You might find this location on Yelp as Osteria Italia, but that no longer exists. Ventuno has replaced it. They say it's better to be lucky than good. Luck paid off with the best slow food dining experience in Alba so far.

These guys are on their way to collecting a Michelin star. Delightful staff, attention to detail,…read morewell appointed room, not to mention outstanding food. Eggplant parmigiana, beef en Barolo, and the 3 Chocolate desert were all excellent, showing a deft hand in the kitchen. Spaghetti with truffles alone would be worth a detour.

Sensational. Everyone should expect great food at any…read moreMichelin starred restaurant, especially a 3 star. Even having said that this place is remarkable. It helps for sure being surrounded by such amazing produce, but, my mind was blown by the attention to detail and sheer variety of the menu. We (literally) bumped into to chef when we were leaving, he looked like a mad genius which makes sense as you can almost feel his obsessiveness in each and every bite. I'll likely never go back but I don't need to, this one experience will live long in my memory.

It was a good experience but very pricey. We had the Barolo Tasting Menu and it was fine, nothing…read moreto write home about. Here are some of the dishes we had: - The Aperitif of Turin - Winegrover's Salad - L'Albese - Snails and Polenta - Risotto Rooibos - Cardoncello Mushroom - Podolica - Pumpkin Seeds and Malghesino - Profiteroles - Cavour Biscuit & Zabaione