GrapeHops Blog

Last November, while taking a break from beer (yes, it is possible to take a break from beer), we had the pleasure of going truffle hunting with  Luigi Castino of Castino Luigi winery. It was a great afternoon (followed by some tasting in his cantina (aka cellar, aka storage area – but more on all of that later).  Luigi has a specific plot of land he owns, where truffles magically appear (because really, other than the truffle fairy who knows why/how these things really grow).  He took us along with a neighbor and his trusty, truffle hunting dog into the woods (and up some steep hills), to see what we could find.  And boy did we!  I’ve clipped together a bit of video from the experience.  Hope you enjoy.

Cita Biunda is not your average brew pub.  At least not the restaurant in which we ate, let’s get that right out of the way.  They serve some serious gourmet food to go along with some seriously good beer.

But let me back track a bit.

Cita Biunda is located in Neive in Piedmont is under the control of Marco Marengo, brew master.  Marco got his start as a home brewer, then followed that up with some time at Guinness, the oldest brewery in Belgium (sorry the name escapes me) and the leader in the craft brew movement in Italy, Baladin (brainchild of Teo Musso).  About three years ago he ventured on his own and that’s how we arrive at Cita Biunda.

Not a huge operation, our tour consisted of standing in a single room that smells of a cross between a brewery, a bakery and a slice of heaven. This room occupies the middle floor of the building that houses the entire operation.  The bottom floor contains the “pub”, which we didn’t see (so maybe that is your typical brew pub) but a light, airy, colorful restaurant occupies the top floor and that’s where we sat to enjoy a killer lunch and some killer beer (the restaurant and the pub have two separate kitchens accompanied by two separate menus).

Like most of the other breweries we visited, Cita Biunda produces their beer using hops grown in other areas of the world (here mostly from the US and UK).  However, they are one of the few starting to work to produce their own, Italian hops.  They currently produce about 15 thousand bottles a year, and hope to start exporting to the US sometime during 2010 (but of course you could come with us and get a sneak peak).

Like Grado Platto, the restaurant at Cita Biunda (only opened for a few months), not only serves their beer, they cook with it too. Not only that, they keep the menu fresh, and seasonal by changing it every two months or so.  You have a choice though, you can order the “traditional” menu for €28 or you can order the “tasting of beer” for €30.  Lastly, they have a great soundtrack to go along with the meal, as while we were there, we heard Talking Heads, Beatles and Interpol coming out of their old turntable (albums line one part of the wall).

For our tasting, we start with Bianca Nieve, a light (not low cal, light in body) beer of 4.8% alcohol, with a floral, hoppy aroma.  They recommend this as an apperitivo to start the meal, and we enjoy it with a bit of cheese and salami (thought I was going to turn into a salami by the end of that trip but oh, so good). It has a light head and medium body, and I’m thinking good beer to have at the Jersey shore during the summer.

Next up, we had the Senuale Birra d’Abbazia Ambrata at a whopping 7% alcohol this is definitely one to enjoy with food and we had it with our primi and secondi.  This beer has tons of character, though light in color for an “ambrata” (aka amber), it’s really almost orange (think pumpkin ale in looks).  It has a thick head that took a few minutes to dissipate and flavors of caramel, licorice, grapefruit and something bitter (perhaps the hops).

Sorry, I need to take a moment as my mouth is watering remembering this beer.

Ah, let me take a moment to tell you about some of the dishes we enjoyed during this meal.  I can’t remember who ordered what but I do remember it was all good.

There was a baccala alla “Mary” which was tasty, made with their “Mary” beer it’s served with tomatoes and olives.  And a Vitello Tritato e tonnato which was two types of veal, one chopped and raw and the other sliced, cooked with a tonatto sauce underneath.  I believe we shared the two primi.

For secondi, we had Tajarin al ragout di Salsiccia di Bra (pasta with a sauce including sausage that was made from veal not pork), a risotto ai porcini con mousse with “Sensu Ale” – that means the mousse was made with their Sensu Ale and a gorgonzola dolce, very rich, very good and also a Petto d’antatra all’arancia e “bianco Neive” laccato al miele con verdure di stagione (duck made with the first beer we had tried and vegetables of the season). We ate as if it was our last meal.

There were desserts too but we shared a sformatino fondate con spuma “Black Rebel” – the black rebel refers to their stout.  And this is no ordinary stout as we tried that too at the end of our meal, this was a mint stout – think Girl Scout thin mint cookies.  It has 4% alcohol with a thick head that dissipates quickly, smells like chocolate and could be dessert alone.  Yet, Lucca, the brilliant chef behind all of these dishes, serves this stout with oysters.  He swears “the freshness of the mint cuts the greasiness of the oysters.” As oysters are one of the few foods I have yet to try, I’m just going to have to trust him on this one.

Honestly, even if you don’t like beer, this is definitely a place to dine while you’re in Piedmont.

Ah, trying to recreate some of the great experiences we had on our Piedmont tour in November. See that’s what happens when you come home from a trip sick, you put stuff like this on the backburner until your memory grows fuzzy but this is the fun stuff so you (or really I) shouldn’t forget.

Luckily, though I find it hard to forget the people at Birrificio Lambrate and Birrifico Montegiocco. I’m going to start with Lambrate and work my way backward.

Birrificio Lambrate, located in Milan (so yes, not Piedmont but Lombardy), started as a tiny operation in 1996 with three owners Fabio, Davide and Giampaolo. Back then, they located the brewery in what today is their pub, and if you saw the pub, you’d understand what a feat that is. They started production with 50 litre batches and two to three kinds of beers. In April 1997, they opened the brewery to the public with their 150 litre production. In 1998, the pub opened three to four days a week and they moved to a 500 litre brew house. And they’ve been growing since (basically expanding into the ground floor spaces of buildings behind the brewpub, surrounding a common courtyard – they had just finished creating a bottling area in another new section when we visited). In 2008 they were producing 2000 litres per batch and made over 235,000 liters of beer in total.

While, in the past, most of the beer was sold in the pub alone or put into kegs and sold to other pubs in Milano (aka Milan) and Italy, they are now bottling and have expanded ownership to five, producing 13 types of beer (but not all at any single time).

My impressions of Lambrate … this is not only a place I would like to hang out, it’s a place I would like to work. It feels like a large, rollicking, extended family (perhaps because there are family relationships among the owners. Everyone was incredibly friendly and smiling and laughing occurs naturally, yet there was a professionalism and dedicated purpose you don’t necessarily see in large operations. My two regrets with regard to Lambrate? They’re not located closer to where I live and they don’t export to the United States. So if you want the beer, you’re going to have to come with us.

On the brew pub, as I indicated earlier, it’s small. I don’t recall how many tables, maybe a dozen and a bar, so it fills up quickly, especially it seemed at lunch on a Friday afternoon. We sat with one of the owners, Alessandra (aka Ale) as the brew master brought us beer after to beer to try while we enjoyed a delicious lunch started by an assorted meat and cheese antipasti (which would have sufficed) followed by some incredible pasta. As we drank, ate and talked, Ale exuberantly told us the history of the operation as well as described the beers, sometimes taking my notepad and pen so she could make sure I had the names and spelling correctly.

During the meal we started with their Montestello, like a pilsner made with Slovenia hops (they get hops from Germany, the US and some from Slovenia and England), it came in about 5% alcohol. While drinking this beer it clicked that chiarra means light, and that’s a description of this beer but please remember, light doesn’t mean low calorie, or flavorless, not here.

Another beer we enjoyed was the Sant ‘Ambroeus, named for the patron saint of Milan (aka Ambrose). This beer has double malt and comes in at 6.7% alcohol.

Next came the Ortiga Golden Ale at 5% alcohol, this one was very bitter and flavorful, which surprised me for this lighter ale, without a lot of hoppiness.

Last up was the Ligere, an APA (American Pale Ale) at 5% alcohol this very hoppy beer smelled a bit like marijuana according to Shannon; they make it with the hole hops, flower and all.

One of the beers I was hoping to try was a seasonal, Christmas beer, the Brighella but unfortunately that wouldn’t debut until December 8th to coincide with the feast of Milan’s aforementioned patron saint.

We had a great afternoon touring Birrificio Lambrate, meeting the owners, sharing a meal and of course tasting their beer. I can’t wait to return!

So, according to Eataly’s website (on the location page), they’re closed on Mondays.  But on the main page, it says they are open. It was that bit of misinformation that led us to visit Eataly on Sunday (when it was totally crowded) as opposed to Monday.  But since Torino is like many non-touristy Italian cities, many things (museums, stores, etc.) are closed on Monday (at least until late afternoon), so on Monday, we decided to chance that the main page was correct, and headed back to Eataly, catching the #1 bus at Porto Nuovo (and yes, we bought tickets, €1 each, and stamped them).

And yes it was open.

Our plan was to have lunch in the beer section, which is a huge round bar that was too crowded to enjoy on Sunday.

Did I mention the beer section by the way? It’s huge, containing not only Italian artisanal beers, but beers from the UK, Belgium, Germany and the US.

We sat at the counter, and after a bit of discussion, decided on the “plate of the day” as the other four items on the menu (cheese and sausage plates, a hamburger, chili con carne – yes you read that correctly – and a wurtzel didn’t appeal).  Today’s plate contained chicken rollatini (stuffed with ham/prosciutto and wrapped in a bacon), roasted potatoes and a salad.

With it, we opted for two draft beers, though you can order of their beers by the bottle at a nominal charge.  Shannon enjoyed Baladin’s Nora beer, which has some nice hops on the smell, is deep golden in color, a head that dissipates quickly and smells and tastes a bit of apricot and peach with slight carbonation. She really enjoys this beer.

I opted for the Forst Sixtus, though not a microbrewery, it was something different (a dopplebock) and interesting, a brown ale with a quick dissolving head and initial notes of caramel and chocolate, malty and also low on the carbonation.  This time of the year, it’s definitely the type of beer I enjoy.

While there, we had some fun with a mural of Teo Musso, the founder of Baladin.

And enjoyed perusing the incredible selection of beers.

But the best deal of the day may be the bottle of Sambuca for Chris and chocolate eggs I purchased at the supermarket by the bus stop.

Sunday night, Paolo met us at the hotel at 6:30 and we made the trek out to Grado Plato in Chieri. It’s about a thirty minute drive from Torino, in the hills that border the city. Grado Plato started out in 2003 with a bar and beer making operation all in one room. Recently (August/September, I believe) they moved their beer production to a facility five minutes away, which allowed them to open up their dining room (personally, I think this would be a great setting for some live music on the weekends), though they still have some of the copper piping in the room as decoration.

When we entered we first spoke with Giorgio, the manager, going through our concepts and some ideas, then Gabrielle, the son of the brew master, who shared some of his ideas with us too. Both seem enthusiastic about the concept and eager to show off their product. Unfortunately though, their production had been limited of late because of the move, so we were only able to try four of their beers through the course of the meal (they normally have nine to 12 different beers in the works and an affiliation with Piazza Miestieri (which is another story).

When we arrived, while some patrons sat at the bar, we were the only ones in the dining room. However, it soon filled with patrons of all ages, enjoying beer in various size glasses, including a uber-mug that must have been a liter’s worth.

Now Grado Plato has it going on with the beer, in a two pronged attack; not only do they brew beer but they cook with the beer they brew! So for a starter, the chef (another Gabrielle), sent out a tasting plate containing their risotto with beer and speck. I’m going to be honest here, I applaud the initiative but found the risotto a little bitter from the beer. I think, if I were to try this at home, I might leave out the speck, and contrast the bitterness of the risotto with a drizzle of some really good (or some really cheap but reduced) balsamic vinegar. The other half of the plate was a tasty tasting of their tegole (think rough cut tagliatelle), in a simple tomato sauce with small bits of meat. The twist on this dish, is that when they make the pasta, they work a bit of their beer (their Spoon River) into the dough. I could have eaten a huge bowl of this stuff.

Ah, almost forgot, before we had our primi, they served their sveva birra chiara (aka light – not in terms of calories, in terms of color). This beer had a good head, was pale golden in color, left some good lacing on the glass and had a slightly bitter after taste. It did not have a lot of hops in flavor. If I’m hanging out on a hot summer day, this is the type of beer I’d reach for.

While enjoying our primi, they brought out their Spoon River beer, an amber beer that actually reminds me more of an IPA as it’s fruity and hoppy in flavor. It has very little carbonation and accompanies the rich primi rather nicely (probably because it is used as an ingredient in both dishes).

For our secondi, we’re brought out a plate with another two samplings. One is a scallopini of veal with a hops cream sauce. Again, like the risotto, I find the sauce a tad too bitter or off with no contrasting flavor. The other dish though, I could eat every week I think and never get tired of it, it’s a goulash, made with peppers, mushrooms and of course, more of the spoon river beer (Goulash alla birra, spezzatino di vitello picante, con pepperoni, funghi, birra Spoon River). My mouth is watering even now as I think about it.

With our secondi, Gabriele brings us their Sticher (aka Sticke in German) beer. It’s dark and rich, and once I again clarify in my mind the difference between port and stout, I’ll better be able to describe it (though I’m leaning towards stout). It has a gorgeous head, excellent lacing, chocolate undertones, and would stand up well to any dish with which you might pair a big bold red wine. It’s the only one of their beers made entirely of Italy (i.e., their other beers use American hops but this beer uses all ingredients grown/made in Italy, specifically from the area around Chieri). We all agree it’s our favorite.

For dessert, we’re brought another tasting, a chestnut tort with beer gelato (using their Melissa beer). Yes, you read that right, it’s gelato made with beer and before you wrinkle your noses, believe me, it was delicious, almost floral in flavor.

With dessert they served us their chestnut beer, San Felice, a brown beer (think Samuel Smith), named for the San Felice road that connects Torino to Chieri and along which chestnuts grow.

All, in all, another good night, with some really good beer and good food to go along with.

Saturday night, Paolo and his girlfriend, Francesca, met us at the hotel at 7:30 and took us to Birrificio Torino for dinner. Birrificio Torino produces artisanal beers, four or five at a time (including one seasonal, which unfortunately, they didn’t have this evening). When we arrived, the restaurant was rather empty but filled quickly with an eclectic group of people of all ages (from teens, to families, to “mature” adults). It definitely had a micropub vibe, with lots of dark wood, and bar that dominated one end of the multi-level room.

After we sat down, the owner came over and we discussed our concept with him and the tours we hoped to bring through. Once business was concluded, he suggested we order off the menu, and that they would serve us three different beers to accompany our meal. He also suggested we do not order appetizer, primi and secondi because the portions are generous.

So we split a mixed plate of sausage and cheese, and a delicious fried cheese dish called Tomino. Toma is a round cheese (that, like Pecorino, comes in different stages, young to aged), Tomino, is a smaller version. Here, they dredged it in a light coating of polenta, fried it lightly but enough so that when you cut into it, there’s an oozy center. It’s drizzled with a blueberry jam reduction, which contrasts nicely with the cheese. I think I could live off this dish. With it, they served us a pitcher of their Sahara, a Weiss beer that is milky in color, a small or weak head, has hints of citrus and really needs to accommodate light and/or fried foods so it goes well with the antipasti. Their description mentions being brewed with coriander, ginger and orange peel but we all detected only the citrus.

For our secondi, Francessca had a soup, while I had a filet of pork dish that came with sautéed apples, prunes and roasted potatoes – it rocked. Shannon had agnolloti and Paolo roast pork with juniper berries. With this, they served us Torino, a blond beer which appears darker than expected, is rich in body with strong malt flavor and a stiff head. It stands up nicely to our roasted meats.

Though we finished dinner but were too full for dessert, we still enjoyed a final tasting of their Rufus made in homage to the Egyptians who first pioneered the art of beer making (or so some say). The Rufus comes with a good thick head, like the Torino, is deeper than I expect in an amber beer, it’s almost thick brown with a cloudy color, has scents of chocolate and yet is a bit more carbonated than I would expect. I think we all agree the Torino is our favorite followed by the Rufus. As Paolo and Shannon are mostly wine drinkers (though they’re becoming equal opportunity drinkers on this trip as we try more and more beers), it seems we all prefer the richer, more flavorful beers to the light pilsners and/or blondes (Torino being the exception).

When we left Birreficio Torino some three hours later, the place was hopping with twenty and thirty-somethings, scrambling to get our table. All in all a good time, and we’re looking forward to bringing our group there for a tasting of their beers followed by dinner.

How to describe Eataly? I could say it is like Whole Foods on steroids but that doesn’t even begin to describe this Italian gourmet superstore. Located in the southern outskirts of Torino (a 15 minute bus ride from the centro), across from the Gallery 8 mall (which we didn’t check out), it’s definitely worth the trip.

Eataly overwhelms the senses and I found my eyes glazed over as we walked from the section devoted entirely to pasta and its condiments (aka sauces), to the one devoted entirely to wine, or the one to truffles (yes large white truffles sat in a display case; I do not know if they were real), to the one devoted to fish, or yes, what we came for, the one devoted to beer! And each section (there were more, wine, general household items, bakery, gelato, coffee, etc.), had its own restaurant/snack area with a smattering of tables around at which people sat enjoying their Sunday lunches.

We were on two missions though – one to check out the extensive beer department and the other to meeting friends from SlowTrav, Diana and her husband Micha, and spend an afternoon catching up. As we arrived a bit early, we checked out a chunk of the store before settling into the beer area, checking out the selection which includes not only artisanal Italian beers, but beers from the UK, Belgium, Germany, and even the US (yes, that was Brooklyn Lager on the shelves; I felt so proud). As I noted all the different producers, Diana and Micha found Shannon (who went to wait outside because cell service inside was spotty), and joined me in the beer area.

Then the “work” of the day began as we scoured the store looking for a place to sit where we could enjoy each other’s company and some food. Unfortunately, we hit the service hour dead on, and seats were hard to come by. We finally stood outside the wine “restaurant” and waited for a group to leave (took about 15 minutes) and we settled in for some spotty service but good food and wine. We split a mixed plate of cheese and another of sausage and meat, along with some bread, and an incredibly delicious bottle of Timorasso (Masso, I believe). I like the way someone, maybe Diana or Paolo described it, a red wine masquerading as a white, very dry, holds up well to food, and as Shannon said, with hints of honey on the finish. It actually reminded her of a dry Gewurtzraminer . I know, I know, we’re supposed to be on a beer tour but the counter in the beer area was completely full and really not conducive to four people dining together and wanting to talk. We may head down there though Monday to check it out thoroughly.

After enjoying each other’s company at lunch, strolling through the store and spending time together, Diana and Micha headed back to their B&B (the Baur B&B), and Shannon and I proceeded to contribute to the Italian economy by purchasing several beers, some Dolcetto that Micha recommended, chocolate hazel nut spreads, salt, capers, mushrooms, and anything else we thought we could easily (and legally) transport home.

Afterward, it was back to the bus, with laden arms to drop our purchases back at the hotel, before heading out for some more café research and dinner. We spent almost four hours at Eataly, and definitely could have spent more.