Our food and drink guide for Turin and a root canal in Italy...what a week!
Plus, a bit of This & That.
Our Food And Drink Guide for Turin
Before we moved to Turin in 2023, I'd never heard of this northern Italian city outside of the Winter Olympics. And, even though Andre knew of it, he'd never traveled there until he visited on one of his scouting trips. Now, I hear about Turin all the time. Friends from Rome often go there for weekend visits, to see soccer games, or as a stop on the way to skiing in the mountains. And more and more people - tourists and foreigners - are adding this city to their list of places to visit and explore as a possible city to live in abroad. The cost of living there is excellent, making it quite appealing to many. With this in mind, we wanted to list our Turin favorites for eating and drinking. With eight months under our belt in Torino, we covered a lot of ground and have a solid list of recommendations that will not disappoint.
GELATO - The best and most consistently delicious gelato we’ve tasted in Italy is in Turin. Many say the dairy in the Piemonte region is superior.
Alberto Marchetti - Solid and delicious choice with many locations. You can't go wrong!
Mara dei Boschi - Great gelato and coffee shop in Piazza Carlo Emanuele II. Many dairy-free and vegan options. It is a great place to sit and enjoy with excellent staff and owners!
Niva - In Piazza Vittorio Venetto. Fantastic gelato.
Gasprin - Our favorite and a great location in Gran Madre. Very fresh and never too sweet. Flavors and quality are top.
Torre Cremeria Bar - Insanely delicious granita and great gelato.
APERITIVO, WINE, AND COCKTAILS
Pepe - This is a great place to sit outside in a piazza park and have aperitivo. It's more about the location and simple pleasure than anything else.
Bar Maggiora - In Crimea, a fun, outdoor spot where you can enjoy aperitivo. The kids especially loved their little pizzas.
La Drogheria - Best overall cocktail spot in Torino.
Banco - Great wine bar in Turin and sister spot to a renowned restaurant called Consorzio, which we often liked more for its wine list than food. Great wines and simple bites.
Bar Cavour - Part of the Del Cambio group and above the restaurant. Great drinks and vibe.
Piattini Caffe Vini - An awesome little spot for good wine, a bite to eat, or a quick coffee.
RESTAURANTS
Caffe dell’Orologio - Fantastic wines (all from Piemonte), excellent piemontese food. Low key vibe and great staff.
Del Cambio - Super fancy and historic. Traditional mixed with new interpretations. Try to sit in the iconic main dining room at all costs.
Lao - This is the restaurant the boys miss the most from Turin. After eating tons of Northern Italian fare, fantastic handmade steamed pork buns and soup dumplings are a welcome flavor. And, they are legit. Also, the owner Tina is so kind, as is everyone who works there.
Madama Piola - A nice date night spot. The food is rich, but the vibe is vibey.
Pastificio DeFilippis - This was one of our favorite weekend lunch spots. Delicious hand made pasta.
Pescheria Gallina - pull up to the counter or grab one of the few seats. Excellent fish market with this side spot for brunch/lunch.
Ristorante Da Mauro is a very old-school place with Tuscan influence. You can regularly enjoy an excellent Spaghetti Vongole, which you will undoubtedly crave after so much plin and tajarin.
Scannabue - Top spot for great Piemontese food and wine.
Trattoria Coco's is a fantastic small and local spot. There is nothing fancy here, just a handful of excellent simple dishes. The Pasta e Fagioli is a must.
Tuttofabrodo - It's wild that Torino has two top spots for soup dumplings in Italy. Word on the street was that they managed to wrangle some old dumpling makers from Din Tai Fung in Hong Kong. It must be true because these were quite similar.
Ristorante Vittorio - Since 1918. The lights are bright, but don't let that dissuade you from having a nice lunch or dinner here.
PIZZA - Both are chains in Italy, but they’re super good and not like any type of pizza chain in the US. Great spots with kids.
COFFEE, TEA, + PASTRIES
Caffe Baratti & Milano - A must for seeing one of the most classic and beautiful cafes in Torino and to try a Bicerin. Such a nice place to sit and have a quiet morning.
Farmacia del Cambio - Caffe and pastry shop of the Del Cambio group. Delicious pastries, coffee, and piazza vibes. A bit of a line quite often. Get there early.
Kintsugi Tea and Cakes - Japanese tea house with wonderful tea, desserts, and treats.
Mara dei Boschi - As previously mentioned for their gelato, they have some nice coffee here and serve up their own roasts from their coffee company called Ialty.
Orso Laboratorio Caffe - One of the best specialty coffee shops in Turin.
Pasticceria Piscitella - A great pastry shop with standard homemade offerings as well as many regional pastries, and done quite well.
FOCACCIA and BREAD
Focacceria Roberta - Very good ligurian style Focaccia. Roberta is kind and has a great product and fun attitude!
Perino Vesco - Excellent focaccia and breads. Nice for a grab-and-go.
Tellia Lab - this is where we would always buy our weekly sourdough bread.
OUTSIDE THE CITY
Rantan Farmhouse - A reservation that needs to be booked well in advance. The owners Francesco and Carol met in Copenhagan while working at Noma and Relae. They have created an intimate farmhouse dining experience where they serve lunch and dinner for a maximum of 14 guests in their home at a long communal table. A very special food and wine experience.
A Root Canal In Italy
I woke up on Saturday morning with heavy pressure in my sinuses and a pounding headache. Ughhh, I thought, another kid cold on the way. Everyone at school, including our boys, has been taken out by fevers, congestion, bronchitis, and the stomach flu over the past few weeks. I quickly took some of my favorite congestion potions from Tasha Rose, some zinc and vitamin C, and went about my day. On Sunday, it had gotten a bit worse, but still, I chalked it up to a sinus infection, taking Sudafed to help relieve some of the pressure that had now moved to the left side of my cheek. By Monday morning, I knew something was seriously wrong with a molar in the back of my mouth. Moments after dropping the boys off at school, I turned to Andre, "I think I have a dental emergency. I can barely bite down on my left side. I need to see a dentist immediately." A medical emergency in a foreign country has been one of our biggest fears since we moved. When emergencies happen in LA, while still overwhelming and scary, especially with children, we always had the comfort and confidence of knowing where and who to go to. We hadn't set up any of those safety nets in Rome yet. But luckily, we had found a community. With a quick referral from our neighbor and friend GG, we called a dentist she highly recommended, praying they spoke English and could get me in immediately. And luckily, both were true. Well, almost immediately. They could see me on Wednesday at noon.
I was relieved to know that relief was in my near future, but I was still experiencing debilitating, throbbing, relentless nerve pain at this point. I struggled through the next two days, trying to manage the kind of pain that nothing will alleviate, the kind that gnaws at you, taking over your mind and making it impossible to think straight. And, with the pain came overwhelming fear. What was wrong with my tooth? What could be causing this excruciating pain? Was I going to have to get a root canal? Was that going to be equally as painful? The spiral continued until finally, my Wednesday appointment arrived.
By Wednesday morning, the pain was so bad that I was now silent. I could barely speak, and then, I was falling into an anxiety spiral, anticipating the worst at my appointment. I feel like people my whole life have been telling me how horrible and painful root canals are. And now, it was my turn to suffer! But, as much as I was afraid, my pain far surpassed any desire not to go, and I was at a point where I was willing to let them do anything to make the pain stop.
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