Anniversary Dinner At Boccabuona In Bra

“Bocca Buona” in Italian is an expression used to describe someone who has a “good mouth”, someone who loves to eat (a lot), will try anything, and likes everything. It is also the name of one of the fancier restaurants in Bra, which is why we splurged for our anniversary dinner this month.

An illuminated tunnel leads you to this modern and stylish restaurant. The menu is quite limited which is a good sign and nicely blends traditional foods with some new twists. Like Muri Vecchi down the road, I love that they have gnocchi with pomodoro, but with an interesting addition of Stilton cheese!

We paired a Chardonnay (no oak) by Conterno Fantino with our asparagus, goat cheese and poached egg starter and an octopus potato salad over a fresh pea puree. Then we were excited about the grilled fish platter which can sometimes be hard to find in langhe but unfortunately it came out room temperature! Somewhat embarrassed, we had to ask the owner to take it back and give us a new hot one. However, we forgot about the frustration when they gladly brought us back a new hot plate which was a perfect portion with tender and tasty fish. Since this dinner was a little too “light” for a big night out, we both decided to finish off our meal with some desserts; panna cotta with strawberries and an apple crumble. Everything was well presented, clean and the desserts made it well worth it.

Overall, the service, presentation, menu and ambience at Boccabuona was excellent but we were a little disappointed that the wines were served already opened out of sight and the dishes were lukewarm. But when you spend time with the one you love, everything is all good!