When talking about Italian gastronomy, we often hear the same cliché over and over again: it is one of the best cuisines in the world.

At Littleboboon we don’t pretend to know Italian gastronomy extensively, but we often eat Italian cuisine in Italy and outside Italy to formulate our own humble opinion.

Recently, we’ve been invited by our friends in Torino for a long week-end at their home and we took this opportunity to sample Torinese and Piedmontese gastronomy.

This was our third time in Torino and our sixth time in Italy altogether. We were disappointed with the food produced and cooked in restaurants, bars and hotels in general.  Most of the time, we found ours meals were simply ok; sometimes, below average, and a few times, really great.

Here are a few examples of the places we ate in Italy over the past few years:

La Credenza is a one starred Michelin restaurant just in the outskirt of Torino.  At the helm of the restaurant are Giovanni Grasso and Iggor Macchia, the host and the chef respectively.  Unfortunately, we were not impressed by the “Tasting Menu” of six dishes with wine pairing.  On the six dishes we’ve tasted, only the salmon dish really stood out, it was really amazing soft and refined accompanied by a delicate broth.  It’s probably one of the best salmon dishes that we had in our memories, and finally our dessert, a fake Nutella pot composed entirely of celery root which was truly original and fun. Their restaurant is a beautiful and cozy avenue with a small garden for aperitif and coffee during summertime.

Of course, we enjoyed simple local trattorias or pizzerias in Rome, Torino and Florence, but we ate better pastas in Prague and Tokyo and more delicious pizzas in New York. We also appreciate venues like Eataly which offers a panorama of Italian products, cooking and lifestyle. But overall we found the food in Italy very expensive for what it is and the quality not what it seems to be.

In term of goodness, we discovered Alle Murate in Florence where Giovanna Iorio offers to her clients a taste of Tuscany with elegance and freshness.  Her obsession is fresh ingredients and authentic recipes for her cooking. That was the only time we were dazzled by the Italian haute cuisine.

Next time, we would like to discover the likes of Davide Scabin, Enrico Crippa, Massimo Bottura and Massimiliano Alajmo, just to name a few chefs that are Italy’s (and the world’s)  sensations right now for their cooking. We hope they will convert us to great Italian cooking.

Below, are the pictures from La Credenza in Torino:

Ristorante La Credenza

Via Cavour 22 San Maurizio Canavese (TO) ITALY

+390119278014 info@ristorantelacredenza.it
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