Piazza Duomo

Bruno Ceretto, distinguished Piedmontese winemaker, enthusiast of the good table, has put together this artistic restaurant, designed by New York painter Francesco Clemente and situated over the main square of Alba, capital of the truffle, for a twofold personal vocation: that of gourmet and of a patron of gastronomy. Also for a third reason: he would like his home to have a world-class restaurant. To this end, he has hired, or better yet, made partner in this project, one of the most talented and promising chefs in Italy.
Enrico Cripa, trained in the Gualtiero Marchesi school, collaborator of Carlo Cracco, his masters earned with Ferran Adrià… dictates his intentions for the great space in Piazza Duomo since May 17, 2005. He does so with a clear objective: to be an author.
He has the theoretical and practical knowledge, imagination and aesthetics to conceive a cuisine of the future. After the inevitable ups and downs one runs into at the start, the structure of the restaurant and the team have come together nicely, with improvements on the finishes of the dishes. And not only the finishes, but also in the mental maturity of the creations, with better-structured formulas, more reflection… bringing together elegance and harmony.
The menu has also changed substantially in recent times. They offer traditional dishes of the Piedmont region and Italy in general–always refined, light and beautiful–alongside creative proposals, sometimes quite brilliant. It is safe to say that Crippa is a fine artist in the salad department, after having tried several exceptional offerings this time around. This is particularly the case with the relevant 21…31…41…an exultantly fresh mosaic of aromas, textures and colors using assorted greens, herbs, flowers, black and white sesame seeds, mustard…all dressed with magical subtlety. Crippa is a master when it comes to pasta, especially with the agnolotti (a kind of ravioli from the Piedmont region), which are marvelously flavorful, independent of the fillings. The so-called Plin, which are stuffed with three different meats–pork, beef and rabbit–and served with a reduction of the meats mixed with truffle (November and December) are astonishingly well-rounded and conventional. The Plin entitled ‘fatty, a little sweet and sour, with cheese and hazelnuts’ are vibrant and substantial. A third version, the first among all, beautiful beyond the imagination, are stuffed with rabbit liver, perfumed with bagna caüda (Italian for “hot bath”: a sauce made of oil, butter, garlic, and anchovies). Amidst such exquisite agnolotti, we musn’t forget the noble wheat and farro spaghetti with lamb’s juices and spicy pepper. Nor another daring reinterpretation of popular cuisine: potato gnocchi with Seirass ricotta and aged Testun cheese. Among the fish proposals, the salt cod stands out for its immaculate flavor, lightness, contrasts and colors, served with chard, grapes and cilantro. The meats are phenomenal: the crispy suckling pig with honey; the spit-roasted squab with raw red cabbage marmalade and cinnamon sponge cake; the seared Valle de Stura lamb filet, served rosy, tender and delicate, with a sauce made from its juices along with a few other adornments.