Salone del Gusto 2014

If it's not for a friend who reminded me, I wasn't even aware that this year's Salone del Gusto, the "Olympics of food festivals" held only every 2 years in Turin, was at the same time we were in Piedmont.

Lunch in a Castle - Ristorante al Castello di Grinzane

It's hard to find a grander venue to eat than Ristorante al Castello di Grinzane, located inside a castle thought to be built in the 13th Century, up on the hill at Grinzane Cavour in the Barolo region, where we had lunch on a bright sunny day on the last day of our trip.

White Truffles Dinner at Umami Concepts

We brought back a medium-sized white truffles (about 100g) from Alba and a few days after we came back to Hong Kong, organized a small gathering with the AG meetup group at Umami Concepts, a private kitchen studio on Bonham Road and a brainchild of the Canadian chef Nolan Ledarney.

When new meets old - Le Ciau del Tornavento

We were somewhat surprised when we found ourselves standing in front of a packed dining room at Ristorante Le Ciau del Tanavento in the commune of Treiso on a Friday evening. After all, Treiso is a small, remote town near Barbaresco and Neive which according to Wikipedia, has only 800 residents, while there must have been over 100 people drinking and eating, not counting numerous front and back staff cooking and serving at the place as we arrived just before 8pm. 

Journey to Piedmont: The Land of Truffles and Wines

We have encountered the following conversation countless times in the past few months:

"So, heard you guys are heading to Italy soon. Where about are you going?"
"Oh, Piedmont" we replied.

Usually that would lead to an awkward silence. Even when we tried to explain that Piedmont is an area in Northern Italy close to Milan, many were still a bit confused at where exactly we were heading to, and why.