Chowing Down At Michelin Star Ciau Del Tornavento - Piemonte

The best yet…this Langhe restaurant experience blew my mind!Michelin Star restaurant Ciau del Tornavento is located in an old nursery school in a tiny hilltop village called Treiso (remember our visit to this winery here?) It had been at the top of my dream list of restaurants for quite some time. Miraculously our friend called us the other week, wanting to treat us to just this very place! In disbelief until I finally got there, I felt like a queen and couldn’t wait to see what foodie experience was awaiting us. Although most of the customers were tourists, we went with our friend and a local family who knew the charming and talented chef/owner Maurilio Garola personally, making me feel a lot more comfortable with this fancy location.

After debating about what to choose from the myriad of intriguing menu items, the chef came to the table and simply asked us, “Do you want to have a little fun and let me choose for you?”. Umm hello…, if money wasn’t an issue …well then … facciamolo! Let’s do this! It made the night even more fun because every dish was truly a surprise for its innovation, presentation and most of all its delicate flavors.

A taste of some of what we ate for the antipasti: (can you guess what it was?)

Of course we had an exquisite porcini ravioli dish for our pasta but nothing could outdo the “secondo“. For once, being vegetarian made everyone else drool when they surprisingly served me this…

At this point we were going for it all, cheese platter and desserts…

But the most amazing part of the restaurant was their famed cellar. Reading the wine list (which was like getting through an epic novel) was my entertainment for the night. A walk in the 30,000 bottle cellar with Gaja bottles snaking up and down the walls and ceiling was a site to see. No wonder he had such an impressive and heavy-duty vault down in his caveau.

The evening sadly ended at about 1:30 a.m. While Claudio and friends carried on the night with local grappa, I went to bed happy as a clam with my expectations met. Now, the big question is … which shall be the next Michelin star restaurant to check off my list?