Locanda del Pilone

Locanda del Pilone sits on the Madonna di Como ridge south of Alba, a fifteen-minute drive through the Langhe vineyards. It is a Relais & Châteaux country inn with eight rooms and a restaurant that has held its Michelin star since 2017 under chef Federico Gallo.

The dining room faces the vineyards directly — a glass wall runs the length of the space, and in October the view is literally the Nebbiolo harvest. The interior is restrained: pale oak floors, handwoven Piedmontese textiles, simple linen-set tables. Thirty seats; a small private room on request.

Gallo's menu is rigorously local — Langhe cheeses, fassona beef, hazelnut from Cortemilia, plin pasta pinched in-house. A signature course of raw fassona is plated with a single shaving of Castelmagno cheese, a drop of Ligurian olive oil, and absolutely nothing else. In season, a nine-course white truffle menu appears at an additional supplement; it is one of the most-discussed truffle menus in Italy.

The tasting menus run €140 (4 courses), €180 (6) and €240 (full). Wine pairings are built around the local estates. The hotel rooms above allow for the drive-home problem to be solved elegantly — many diners stay the night.

Locanda del Pilone is the proposal room of the Langhe. The drive through the vineyards sets the evening apart from everyday dining; the window-table view at sunset is the kind of image that weeks of planning cannot improve; the staff, briefed in advance, handle rings and Champagne with the discretion a Relais property demands; and the option to stay the night in the adjoining suite makes the whole arrangement feel cinematic rather than stressful.