A trip with Pinocchio among Albenga, Alassio and Casanova Lerrone - Part II.

The cuisine is the typical Ligurian and Italian fare that has always delighted the restaurant's guests over the decades, and that today is occasionally given a light reinterpretation by the chef. One of the restaurant's flagship features is its vast selection of appetizers: about a dozen are always prepared, starting with the tasty pinzimonio of vegetables. On our arrival, in fact, we are offered a basket of vegetables to taste with a pate of Taggiasca olives, anchovies and sun-dried tomatoes, accompanied by bread toasted in the wood-burning stove. After the vegetables, a basket with three kinds of salami arrives at the table: spicy, cacciatorino di maiale and donkey salami, which we enjoy with fresh broad beans from the area. We also taste various quality hams carved in the dining room and served with seasonal fruit, as well as a delicious meat carpaccio with arugula, grana and almonds.

We also very much like the boiled meat with green sauce served as an appetizer, the homemade Russian salad, the bell pepper fillets in oil, the green beans cooked with butter, parmesan and pancetta, and the tomino with pepper jam. We don't even pass up tasting a few other appetizers from the Ligurian tradition, including salt cod with potatoes, chard and rice pie, fried panissa, stuffed zucchini flowers and borage frittata. Everything is prepared fresh, using excellent quality ingredients, including seasonal fruit and vegetables from the Piana d'Albenga, partly from the establishment's own kitchen garden. We continue with exquisite homemade ravioli with a white, fine dough prepared on the spot with just a few eggs, filled with chard and potatoes and dressed with butter and sage.

Staying on the theme of tradition, we certainly don't miss the chance to enjoy the tagliolini with pesto, green beans and boiled potatoes, but the gnocchi al Castelmagno also win over our group. We wash down these treats with the excellent house wines, mainly a Piedmontese Barbera, a Chardonnay and a fresh rose. We stay with tradition in choosing the dishes too, including the unmissable rabbit Ligurian-style. Some of us opt for grilled lamb ribs and roast beef, while others, inspired by the thick surrounding woods, prefer braised wild boar. In winter we could also enjoy brasato cooked in red wine, while this time the Ligurian-style snails are also a great success, to the point that a friend of ours decides she wants to try making them at home too, so she asks Giandomenico for the recipe, and he is not at all reluctant to reveal it to us.

(see recipe at the end of the article) The homemade desserts also help remind us that we are in a fairy tale: a myriad of tasty temptations that none of us tries to resist. So here we are, enjoying the creme caramel, the panna cotta, the strawberry or honey semifreddo with crunchy bits inside, but also the hazelnut mousse and the tiramisu. The almond cake or the one with fresh fruit also delight us, as do the jam tarts, to which in winter the apple strudel is also added. The children go crazy for the puddings, and we are all won over by the little chocolate cake with a warm center and pears. A Lucullan dinner like this at a price that is also fabulous: 30 euros in all, including two desserts and the house wines.

Coming back here on Thursdays in July, August and September, we could enjoy the fantastic royal mixed grill of meat made with four cuts of meat, two side dishes, two desserts and the house wines for 23 euros in all. One of the venue's strong points is precisely its themed evenings, tasty and fun occasions that always enjoy great success. You might find yourself at a murder-mystery dinner, a medieval dinner, or evenings of live music and even with Brazilian samba dancers or belly dancers. On 2 June there will be an event for the Festa della Repubblica (Republic Day) involving several nearby localities, with the participation of Antonio Ricci and Jimmy Ghione from Striscia la Notizia. Tradition and faraway flavors will pair beautifully during the Festa dell'Asado, celebrated on Friday 25 August by Mr Mario together with the Comitato San Giuliano.

This is by now a traditional event that was born thanks to the emigrants from the Chiavari hinterland in Argentina who, once they returned home, "imported" the art of preparing the asado, using a method that is also striking to watch: cooking a beef belly placed on iron crosses over the embers of a large bonfire and brushed with various herb sauces. So there are many occasions that could bring us back here in the future too, and it will always be a pleasure to do so: new excursions await us on the paths embraced by the olive groves, to be followed by succulent dinners in the company of friends, including everyone's childhood friend, Pinocchio.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Pinocchio

Piazza Giardino, 70 fraz. Vellego

Casanova Lerrone (SV) Tel.: 0182/74168 334/1582634 OPEN from October to June: Saturday evening and Sunday lunch from July until the end of September: Thursday, Friday, Saturday for dinner, Sunday for lunch and dinner

Recipe: Ligurian-style Snails

We take some farmed vineyard snails, already purged. We prepare the brine with 10 liters of water, plenty of thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, plenty of salt, red wine vinegar. We boil it for an hour, then drain and wash the snails, setting them aside nice and clean. We prepare the onion base with garlic and parsley, browning it well. We add the snails with coarse salt, plenty of white wine, water, tomato paste and a little chili pepper. We let it cook for an hour until the sauce reduces. If necessary, adjust with water and spices. At the end we add a chopped mixture of parsley and mint, and after a final ten minutes of cooking we are ready to serve the exquisite Ligurian-style snails.