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Osteria dell Arco – last dinner in Alba

March 13, 2016 by Jennifer Che 10 Comments

wpid23548-D4C3676.jpgThis is the ninth post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Because there will be many, many posts in this series, please scroll to the bottom to see all the other posts in this series.

Good-by Alba, already?

It  had been so fast. We had flown from Boston to Alba, arriving on Saturday morning. After a whirlwind (jetlagged) afternoon exploring the International White Truffle Fair (the main reason we first chose to stay in Alba), we had taken a private tour with Robert and Leslie from Travel Langhe for two days, exploring all over the Barbaresco and Barolo regions.
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By the end of the second full day tour, we felt as if we had become friends with our tour guides. They had been so kind, sharing with us their favorite restaurants and showing us so much of the beautiful wine country.

We vowed to return someday. We had barely scratched the surface of this beautiful region. Despite the fact that the truffle fair was the original reason we chose to come here, it ended up being a very, very small part of our entire trip.

If you visit the truffle festival, definitely explore outside of Alba.There is so much more out there to see.
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Alba is still a good home base, and I would recommend staying here. It’s one of the biggest towns in the area, and thus has more restaurants, places to stay, plus a happening town center where you can wind0w shop, people watch, and purchase white truffles!

Because we had an early flight out the next morning, we chose to dine right in Alba city center our last night in Alba, at a very popular and highly recommended “slow food” restaurant called Osteria dell Arco. D4C3901.jpg
This cozy, traditional Piemontese restaurant is known for making very high quality regional dishes in accordance with Slow Food philosophy. It is very popular among both tourists (it’s in the Michelin guide) and locals alike, and thus reservations are a must.

Originally a wine bar, this restaurant has an excellent wine selection with very reasonable prices, with many excellent wines in the $10 – $20 range.D4C3892.jpg
We started with Cocotte Uova, a baked creamy egg casserole topped with freshly shaved white Alba truffles. DSC4645.jpg
Our next course was a classic and one of our favorite dishes of the region: tajarin (or tagliatelle in Piemontese) with 40-yolk pasta tossed with either Alpine butter or sausage gravy (€9,50). We opted for Alpine butter and then added shaved white truffles for an additional cost.
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Our other favorite Piemontese pasta was agnolotti del plin tradizionali (€9,50), mini tortellini-like bite-sized “pockets” filled with meat. The pasta texture was phenomenal, and the addition of local white truffles made it all the better.
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Shaved table-side!
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So. Good.

It was a bittersweet bite. We knew this would be the last bite of white truffles we would enjoy in Alba for quite awhile . . .
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Finally, the server recommended that we try the Brasato, veal braised in Barolo wine (€13,50) as our main “secondi” course. The meat was super soft, tender, and the dish was absolutely fantastic (especially for that price!). DSC4654.jpg
For dessert we enjoyed il tiramisù “dell’Arco” (€6,50), which was pleasantly not too sweet and enjoyable overall.
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Bryan decided to try an after-dinner digestif, and the server was more than happy to let him peruse their cabinet and pick something. I honestly can’t remember what Bryan ordered, but I would guess an amaro or something similar.
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And then, as quickly as it began, our trip to Italy came to a close. It had been a whirlwind few days. We amassed more knowledge about Italian wine in these three days than we had in our entire lives. We probably ate more white truffles on this trip than we had eaten the rest of our lives.

And the stunning scenery of the entire breathtaking area will stay with us forever.

I will end this series on Italy with some of my favorite photographs from the surrounding vineyards next! After that will be our next stop, Bordeaux, France!

Next post: Stunning Images of La Morra and Barolo
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photo credit: Robert Alexander from Travel Langhe

Osteria dell Arco
Piazza Savona, 5
0173 363974
[email protected]

All Posts In This Series
Around the World Birthday Extravaganza
Alba White Truffle Fair
Osteria Dei Sognatori – A Traditional Piedmontese Dinner
Italy Wine Tour – Barbaresco
Lunch at Donna Selvatica in Neive, Italy
Dinner at a Truffle Hunter’s Inn – Tra Art e Querce
G.D.Vajra Winery
Trattoria Della Posta in Montfort D’Alba
Nighttime Truffle Hunting with a Dog in Alba

Filed Under: Europe, Italy, Piedmont, Restaurant, Review, World Travel

« Nighttime Truffle Hunting with a Dog in Alba
Stunning Images of La Morra and Barolo Italy »

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Comments

  1. Donna says

    March 15, 2016 at 5:55 pm

    Love all your posts on Alba! Wonderful photography and words. You’ve convinced me to save up for a trip there!

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  2. Lesley Pittaway says

    March 21, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    This looks just amazing. Definitely on my list for things I want to do whilst I am living on this side of the world. So beautiful!

    Log in to Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Une Cuisine en Ville - Bordeaux France says:
    April 10, 2016 at 10:41 pm

    […] Winery Trattoria Della Posta in Montfort D’Alba Nighttime Truffle Hunting with a Dog in Alba Osteria della Arco – last dinner in Alba Stunning Images of La Morra and Barolo, […]

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  2. La Tupina Bordeaux - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    June 7, 2016 at 5:34 pm

    […] Winery Trattoria Della Posta in Montfort D’Alba Nighttime Truffle Hunting with a Dog in Alba Osteria della Arco – last dinner in Alba Stunning Images of La Morra and Barolo, Italy First Day In Bordeaux, France – Une Cuisine en […]

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  3. Florilege Tokyo - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    October 5, 2016 at 12:30 am

    […] Typically when I travel, I stick to exploring food from the local region. For example, I eat dumplings, noodles, and Peking duck when I’m in Beijing, not pasta. When we were in the Piedmont region, on the other hand, we ate handmade pasta with white truffles every single day! […]

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  4. Rokurinsha ramen breakfast (六厘舎) - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    October 19, 2016 at 11:12 pm

    […] Winery Trattoria Della Posta in Montfort D’Alba Nighttime Truffle Hunting with a Dog in Alba Osteria della Arco – last dinner in Alba Stunning Images of La Morra and Barolo, Italy First Day In Bordeaux, France – Une Cuisine en […]

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  5. Fu Sing Seafood Restaurant Hong Kong - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    November 27, 2016 at 11:58 pm

    […] Winery Trattoria Della Posta in Montfort D’Alba Nighttime Truffle Hunting with a Dog in Alba Osteria della Arco – last dinner in Alba Stunning Images of La Morra and Barolo, Italy First Day In Bordeaux, France – Une Cuisine en […]

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  6. Tim Ho Wan Hong Kong (Central Station) - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    November 29, 2016 at 10:05 am

    […] Winery Trattoria Della Posta in Montfort D’Alba Nighttime Truffle Hunting with a Dog in Alba Osteria della Arco – last dinner in Alba Stunning Images of La Morra and Barolo, Italy First Day In Bordeaux, France – Une Cuisine en […]

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  7. Din Tai Fung Hong Kong - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    November 30, 2016 at 12:26 am

    […] Winery Trattoria Della Posta in Montfort D’Alba Nighttime Truffle Hunting with a Dog in Alba Osteria della Arco – last dinner in Alba Stunning Images of La Morra and Barolo, Italy First Day In Bordeaux, France – Une Cuisine en […]

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  8. Around the World Birthday Trip Extravaganza says:
    December 6, 2020 at 10:35 am

    […] about the nebbiolo grape and wines made in that region.We made sure to eat white truffles every day (and even did a truffle hunt)! They taste the best over eggs or shaved over pasta, but they are […]

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Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
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