Where to eat in Alba during the Truffle Fair. The best restaurants

A small town with just over 30,000 inhabitants, in the province of Cuneo and in the heart of the Langhe, it is one of the nerve centres of food and wine excellence in the entire peninsula. The king of Alba is the prized white truffle, the most prized among the types of tubers found throughout the Peninsula, to which the Fair has been dedicated since 1929, allowing visitors to buy, taste and learn about it. A month-long festival that has its centre in the World Truffle Market and where it is also possible to participate in events, dinners, cooking shows, and initiatives dedicated to children. Not forgetting a visit to the dedicated museum, the Mudet, inside the building surrounding the Cortile della Maddalena, the city's historical complex overlooking Via Vittorio Emanuele.

Where to eat in Alba during the Truffle Fair. The best restaurants and bistros

Ape Wine Bar

Bistrot. The Rivetti restaurant, right in the centre, is a modern, reliable, comfortable wine bar. In addition to the wide selection of wines, with Piedmont at the forefront plus Italy, France and the world, there is an inviting menu of dishes and 'piattini' between meat and fish and with a creative touch. In autumn, white truffles dominate. Pleasant dehors.

Ape Wine Bar - p.zza Risorgimento, 3 - 0173 363453 - apewinebar.it

Armonia

Restaurant. Antonio Armentano, born in 1993 and of Calabrian origin, began this new adventure in mid-May 2023, proposing an 'interpretative' cuisine, made up of talent, technique, personality, straddling his lands of origin and adoption. "Sotto la cenere", a new potato cooked in smoked scamorza cheese extraction, then passed with vegetable charcoal and finished in the dining room with 'nduja fondue, is already a signature.

Armonia - via Armando Diaz 2 - 388 4427279 - armoniaristorante23.com

Gastronomia Urbana

Bistrot. Much more than a simple gastronomy. There is one, for take-away, but it is flanked by a small restaurant with a contemporary outlook, different menus for lunch and dinner, and an offer that intercepts a varied public and different needs (open from 10 am to 10 pm). The cuisine is of Langhe tradition revisited with creativity, the wine cellar well stocked.

Gastronomia Urbana - p.zza M. Ferrero, 11 - 349 6001111 - gastronomiaurbana.it

La Locanda del Pilone

Restaurant. In an elegant hillside resort with an incredible panorama, Federico Gallo runs one of the city's most suggestive fine dining restaurants. His cuisine is technical and research-based, taking its cue from the territory but knowing how to travel to other horizons thanks to the use of spices and 'foreign' ingredients, always of excellence. Level wine cellar.

La Locanda del Pilone - fraz. Madonna di Como, 34 - s.da della Cicchetta - 0173 366616 - locandadelpilone.com

Osteria dell'Arco

Trattoria. A temple of terroir cuisine, always linked to the Slow Food world and a tried and tested place if you fancy knife-beating, Russian salad, vitello tonnato, agnolotti del Plin, snails Piedmontese style and bônet comme il faut. There are also seafood dishes (like legume soup, mullet and mussels). There is very good drinking. Make a reservation.

Osteria dell'Arco - p.zza M. Ferrero, 5 (ex p.za Savona) - 0173 363974 - osteriadellarco.it

Piazza Duomo

Restaurant. Essentiality, elegance, perfect technique, genius, continuous research. The cuisine of Enrico Crippa, one of the best chefs in Italy (Three Forks for the Guida Ristoranti d'Italia 2023), is an extraordinary journey into the avant-garde, a cultural experience before being a gastronomic one. To make it happen, take one of the tasting menus. Cellar and service as you would expect in a great fine dining restaurant.

Piazza Duomo - p.zza Risorgimento, 4 - 0173 366167 - piazzaduomoalba.it

La Piola

Trattoria. On the ground floor of the building that houses Piazza Duomo (see) is its prêt-à-manger version, with Enrico Crippa overseeing a menu made up of great classics elaborated to perfection. The executive hand is Dennis Panzeri, author of dishes of substance such as the pork knuckle with mashed potatoes and coloured ribs is workmanlike. Genuine, tavern-like ambience, often crowded, especially during the Truffle Fair (book in advance).

La Piola - p.zza Risorgimento, 4 - 0173 442800 - lapiola-alba.it

The cover photo is of 'La Piola'