Osteria dell'Arco

Osteria dell'Arco has been on Piazza Savona since 1999 and is the osteria that the Langhe's winemakers. The Produttori, the Giacomos, the independent Barolisti. Quietly rate as the region's best-executed classical kitchen. It is run by Manuela Bonino and chef Danilo Lorusso and has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand for more than a decade.

The room is traditional Piedmontese osteria dressed a degree up. Stone walls, timber beams, white linens, forty seats across a main and small side room. Tables are generously spaced for the style; the lighting warm; the atmosphere that of a serious neighbourhood restaurant that has never needed to try harder.

The menu is uncompromised Langhe. Carne cruda di fassona hand-cut at the table; vitello tonnato with the old-fashioned mayonnaise base rather than the modern cream version; tajarin al burro with astonishing yolk-rich pasta; coniglio al civet with a Nebbiolo reduction. In season, white truffle is grated directly over fried eggs with Langhe butter. The simplest and most moving presentation in the region.

The wine list is a genuine Langhe cellar, with a deliberately fair mark-up. A full dinner for two lands at €90 to 140 per head with a shared bottle of serious Barolo. It is the restaurant Alba recommends to visiting winemakers.

Osteria dell'Arco is the first-date pick for anyone who cares about dining being done well. The scale of the room is intimate; the menu classical enough that nothing challenges; the staff warm but not performative; and the price point. While not cheap. Communicates considered rather than showy. The wine list is deep enough to turn a meal into an education if the conversation naturally drifts that way.