In the land of master glassmakers: A weekend in Altare

The crystalline blue of the sea that from these heights can be glimpsed like a dream, the pink and orange of the typically Ligurian houses of the centre, the intense green of the woods surrounding the town: looking at a very colourful glass vase, an artistic object of the historic glassworks of Altare, one has the impression of seeing in it the splendid landscape in which this municipality is immersed. Altare is located in the Savona part of Val Bormida, exactly where the Alps and the Apennines meet: the Bocchetta di Altare, an important pass already known to the Romans, is precisely the demarcation point between these immense mountain ranges. In the 1880s of the 19th century some forts were built here, now abandoned, such as Forte Cascinotto and Forte Tecci, at the time the seat of the meteorological-seismic Observatory of the Fortress of Altare.

We arrive in the town crossing a characteristic single-lane tunnel, above which is the very colourful sign: “Welcome to Altare, city of glass”. The first stop of our stroll is in fact the Museo del Vetro, where we admire numerous objects, both artistic and for daily use, created in Altare over the centuries of flourishing craft activity. From the 12th century, it was the Benedictine monks who devoted themselves to the art of glass, which then spread to the point of attracting numerous craftsmen here from all over Italy. In the town there are still elderly people who remember the times when people waited at the port of Savona for the landing of raw materials such as the fondente, and the artefacts were sent off towards distant cities, sometimes even on board small hired galleys.

Even when we look at ourselves in a mirror, this charming Ligurian town can come to mind: in the seventeenth century it was in fact the man from Altare Bernardo Perotto who perfected the method of producing mirrors, in particular large ones. In a municipality called Altare, a visit to some beautiful churches could certainly not be missing, first among which is the seventeenth-century Parish Church of Sant'Eugenio. The oldest church in the town, however, is the former parish church of the Santissima Annunziata. Erected towards the middle of the 12th century by the Benedictine monks, it was dedicated to Sant'Eugenio. After half a century of neglect, in 1650 it was the Altare glassmaker Matteo Buzzone who rebuilt it, dedicating it to the Santissima Annunziata.

Another jewel of the religious life of Altare is the Oratory of San Rocco from the late sixteenth century, initially dedicated to the protector of glassmakers, San Filiberto Abate, and later named after San Rocco following the eradication of the plagues. Not far from this beautiful, all-white church, we reach the tasty destination of our evening, the Ristorante Quintilio, in Via Gramsci, easily finding parking. Since we want to devote the second day of our stay to healthy walks along the trails of the hiking route Alta Via dei Monti Liguri, which runs from La Spezia all the way to Ventimiglia, we take advantage of the availability of the comfortable rooms inside the establishment. “At the end of the nineteenth century this was the first post station in the area, where those travelling up from the Ligurian Riviera towards Piedmont could find refreshment.

The Ristorante Quintilio, today listed on the Gambero Rosso as the best restaurant in Liguria for value for money, was founded in 1930, with grandmother Virginia at the stove. It was the glassmaker Quintilio, grandmother Virginia's son-in-law, who introduced into the menu several typical dishes also from other regions, which he visited during his work trips,” Lorena tells us; today she runs the restaurant together with her husband Luca, great-grandson of Signora Virginia. We begin our dinner in the name of the flavours of Ligurian-Piedmontese cuisine with the fassona tartare all'albese chopped by knife, with white truffle, and duck foie gras in a terrine marinated in sauternes with a compote of peppers and apples and warm brioche bread. We also taste the stoccafisso bran de cujun with black Taggiasca olive pâté.

We follow these delicacies with home-made pasta first courses: tagliolini with Sanremo red prawns and Albenga artichokes, and hand-made ravioli al “plin”, with meat sauce. Some of us instead choose the vialone nano risotto creamed with Piedmontese cheeses. For the choice of wines we let ourselves be advised by Lorena, who is a sommelier and helps us navigate among the 380 labels of Italian wines in the wine cellar. We continue with a fassona fillet in traditional Modena vinegar sauce and fried sweet milk, but we also taste the rack of lamb in a crust of Ligurian aromatic herbs with artichokes al verde, as well as the vitello tonnato and the cappon magro.

The sweet epilogue of the dinner finds us immersed in pleasure thanks to a shortcrust pastry and custard tart with baked caramelised apples and cinnamon ice cream, a warm Walrhona dark-chocolate flan with artisanal ice cream and fiori di latte, and a frozen cake with two chocolates, white and dark...

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Quintilio Via Gramsci, 23 Altare (SV) 019/58000