THE RIGHT TASTES

The suggestions of gourmets and savers
Sometimes you must take important decisions, decisions which will condition your life and your waist line! Here are two typical situations.
Group dinner: for a big and rowdy group.
Objective: plenty of good food, which can satisfy people who are hard to please.
Budget: moderate.

First date: for dinner, or just for a glass of wine.
Objective: making a good impression without spending too much, as you have to pay for two...

What to do? It depends! You can either rely on expert gourmets or on expert savers!

The expert gourmets

Cosimo Torlo and Bruno Boveri are two famous gourmets. The former is a journalist expert in food and wine and runs the column "Il Ghiottone Errante" ("The Wandering Gourmet") on Torino-Sette.The latter is the Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta coordinator of Slow Food, the organization which aims at the safeguard of gastronomic traditions. Here are their "quality" suggestions.

COSIMO TORLO'S SUGGESTION

Small quantities but lots of quality!!!
Young people should get closer to food in a clever way, better to eat less, but well. And this suggestion applies to drinking as well. In Turin there are top level wine bars and wine shops, both in the city centre and in the suburbs. Moreover restaurants should promote wine by the glass:matching a different wine with a different dish is important. If you want to drink well and whet your appetite without spending too much my suggestion is "Al Sorij" in via Matteo Pescatore and "I Tre Galli" in the "Quadrilatero" area. Moreover "Il Cambio" restaurant in piazza Carignano is a must for its cuisine and its historical importance.

BRUNO BOVERI'S SUGGESTION

Slow is better than fast!!!
Traditional food is "slow". In the past, time didn't cost anything.Food was left on the stove, so that it cooked on a slow heat.Warning: good doesn't necessarily mean elaborate. Authentic Piedmontese cooking, for example, wasn't like the Savoys' French-style cooking, but its main ingredients were leftovers, with the only ex-ception of "brasato al barolo" (braised meat cooked with Barolo wine). If you want to rediscover those flavours and that atmosphere, try osteria "Valenza" (a small restaurant) in via Borgo Dora, near the Balôn market.

The expert savers

Young is often synonymous with broke... So, here are some suggestions, given by the students of ITC "Rosa Luxemburg" (a school for business and foreign languages), to have a simple meal without spending too much.

THE STUDENTS' SUGGESTIONS

Pizza, brioche and a stroll out of the city centre
If you are in the city centre and you are terribly hungry, the many pizza and "focaccia" places in via Po and via Garibaldi will serve your purpose: in fact eating here will cost you very little.
Try, in particular,"Focacceria Ligure" in piazza Castello or Piero's in via Principe Amedeo. For a snack in the afternoon we suggest you make a visit to the "piadineria" (a place where they make a "piadina" - a sort of flat bread used for sandwiches) or the "yogurteria". If you go to "Al Passatore", at no. 10 via Barbaroux, you'll spend even less than 5 euros for a "piadina" good for all tastes, while at "Baby Yogurt" in piazza Palazzo di Città you can have a frozen yoghurt and goodies, rich in calories, for only 3 euros. Then don't miss Grom, either in via Garibaldi or in via Accademia delle Scienze: you'll spend a bit more, but its ice-cream is fantastic and it's worthwhile also for savers like us!!! But saving also means coping with the situation by going to the baker's or to a delicatessen shop and buying cheap salami or local cheese for a sandwich, or going to a less central area. In this case the Lingotto district can offer unequalled chances: from "Eataly's" bread or salami tubs to the bakery in piazza Galimberti, open until late if you want to get an exquisite piece of pizza for 1.50 euros.That is: saving and taste are guaranteed from breakfast to a late night snack!