One of the great pleasures of being in Piedmont is sampling the cuisine that is unique to this region. Two new pastas you will encounter on menus are agnolotti (a thick tube often stuffed with an infusion of cheese and meat) and tajarin, a flat egg noodle that is often topped with porcini mushrooms. While chilly, foggy evenings call for grilled meat and game, truffles abound in the moist soil, and the farm gardens produce enough vegetables to make meatless meals a special occasion; one of the favorite preparations is bagna cauda (hot dip), in which raw vegetables are dipped into a heated preparation of oil, anchovies, and garlic. If you have a sweet tooth, you will soon discover that Turin and outlying towns can amply satisfy cravings for sweets, largely with pastries. Additionally, with wines as good as the Piedmont produces, even a carafe of the house red is likely to be excellent.
Cafes & Delicacy Shops -- Cafe sitting is a centuries-old tradition in sophisticated Turin. Via Roma and the piazzas it widens into are lined with gracious salons that have been serving coffee to Torinese for decades, even centuries. Below are some of the city's classic cafes. While espresso and pastries are the mainstays of the menu at all of them, most also serve chocolates -- including the mix of chocolate and hazelnuts known as gianduiotti -- that are among the city's major contributions to culinary culture.
Turin has a sizable sweet tooth, satisfied by any number of pastry and candy shops. Perhaps the best chocolatier north of Perugia is Pfatisch/Peyrano, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 76 (tel. 011-538-765; www.peyrano.com), open Tuesday through Saturday from 9am to 7:30pm and Sunday from 9am to 1pm. A wide variety of chocolates and other sweets, including sumptuous meringues, have been dispensed since 1836 at Fratelli Stratta, Piazza San Carlo 191 (tel. 011-547-920; www.stratta1836.it), open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30am to 1pm and Monday from 3 to 7:30pm.
The surrounding region is known not only for its wines but also for vermouth -- the famed Cinzano, for instance, is produced south of the city in the town of Santa Vittoria d'Alba. Come evening, a glass of vermouth is the preferred drink at many of the city's cafes. Paissa, at Piazza San Carlo 196 (tel. 011-562-8462), open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 1pm and 3:30 to 7:30pm, is an excellent place to purchase local vermouths by the bottle.
