This is the seventh post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Because there will be many, many posts in this series, please scroll to the bottom of the post to see all the other posts in this series.
Hello Monfort D’Alba!
A small, charming village on top of a hill, Monfort D’Alba is part of the Barolo wine-producing region. The town itself boasts phenomenal views of the surrounding vineyards, ancient medieval structures, and incredible food.
We stopped by this town for lunch at Trattoria della Posta, a historic bed and breakfast inn with a restaurant right inside. The restaurant began back in 1875 when Sabino Massolino, the current owner’s great-grandfather, opened up a place for travelers and tourists to eat and stay.
Today, the part-B&B, part-restaurant is located inside a large country house where a large part of the first floor consists of dining areas.
The ambiance is warm and cozy. You almost feel like you are visiting someone’s home and having them cook for you.
A peek inside the kitchen shows busy chefs working hard making pastas. Check out those HUGE pots!
The food is decidedly Piemontese and all the classic dishes from the Langhe region are well represented, such as tajarin (the regional version of tagliatelle made with lots of egg yolks), dishes with the regional sausage from the town of Bra, meat tartare, and agnolotti del plin. The menu is very reasonably priced, with dishes ranging in price from 10-20 Euros (unless you get it with white truffles, in which case the costs goes up to around 40 Euros).
We began with some excellent freshly baked bread: olive, focaccia, or plain. We also had the plain cracker-like breadsticks (which for some reason I find irresistible!) and a bottle of delicious nebbiolo from the Langhe region.
The spread that came with the bread.
The salads in this region are simple but always full of fresh, hyper-local, seasonal ingredients. This particular salad included a bed of lettuce topped with shaved fennel, carrots, red peppers, and local herbs.
Our tour guide highly recommended that we try the Stuffed Onion (10 Euros), which consisted of a whole baked onion filled with toma di Murazzano (a local cheese) and baked Bra sausage.
It was decadently rich but very flavorful. Because I am not a huge fan of raw onions, I did not love this dish since there are parts of the onion inside that aren’t super soft. However, onion lovers would be all over this appetizer.
On the other hand, I was totally all over the pasta dish, a “30-yolk” tajarin tossed with mountain butter and topped wth glorious amounts of shaved Alba white truffles (40 Euros). The “30-yolk” refers to the amount of egg yolks used per kilogram of flour. To learn more about the background behind this type of pasta, check out this post where I explain all about it.
Intoxicating smell of super fresh white Alba truffles!
This was definitely one of my favorite dishes from the entire region.
We also tried the Green Ravioli (12 Euros), which was filled with caprino (goat milk cheese) and tossed in a sauce of Bra sausage and leeks. Bra sausage is an Italian sausage made from veal and pork belly. It’s not really aged and is commonly eaten raw (like in this meal!). I loved this dish. The texture of the pasta was perfect, and it was fantastic with the rich, flavorful sauce from the Bra sausage and leeks.
We ended with some simple but elegant mignardises.
All in all, we really enjoyed our lunch at Trattoria della Posta. The food is very classic Piemontese and they do a great job executing very high quality versions of these dishes. The country inn has a very warm and cozy atmosphere, and the views of the surrounding region are stunning.
I wish we had time to explore the town of Monfort D’Alba. However, time was running out, and we had to go visit La Morra – one of the highest points with one of the best vistas around – as well as catch other photo-worthy spots before the early autumn sunset.
Up next! Truffle Hunting at Night with a Truffle Dog!
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
[…] 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 Osteria della Arco – last dinner in Alba […]