8 Best Restaurants in Piedmont and the Valle d'Aosta, Italy

Renowned Italian chef Antonio Cannavacciuolo, who cooks at three-Michelin-star Villa Crespi on Lake Orta, oversees the menu at this refined ode to contemporary Italian cooking just outside the town of Asti. Chef Gianluca Renzi creates playful riffs on Piedmontese classics, such as pigeon with black garlic, salted peanuts, and Nebbiolo crystals or hen-filled stuffed Piedmontese pasta (plin) with mushrooms, gorgonzola, and saffron, in his three tasting menus, ranging from five to eight dishes; the Menù Freehand includes five creative tastes of the chef's choosing.

Inside an enchanting 18th-century palace with arched ceilings, this zero-kilometer restaurant uses products only from the surrounding area, including vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers from its own gardens, in its weekly changing seven-course tasting menus. In the warmer months, don’t miss dining amongst the roses in the romantic courtyard, where a smaller three-course menu with cocktail of the day is also offered.

Tucked away on the third floor of the Green Pea sustainable retail venture (next to Eataly Lingotto), one of Turin's top destinations for fine dining is run by the fourth generation of the Vicina family, with Claudio and wife Anna leading the kitchen and Stefano managing the front of house. Excellent-quality traditional Piedmontese dishes are served with creative style, and the wine list is an encyclopedia, featuring not only the top Barolo producers but also many other small but notable wineries.

Set in a palace dating from 1757, this is one of Europe's most beautiful and historic restaurants, with decorative moldings, mirrors, and hanging lamps contrasted with ultramodern takes on Piedmontese cuisine from young Michelin-starred chef Matteo Baronetto. Order an inventive signature dish such as the Piedmontese salad, with around 24 artfully composed ingredients, and an expertly prepared meat or fish dish, or opt for the eight-course tasting menu to sample more of the chef's innovative cooking.

Inside atmospheric stone-walled ancient cellars, the latest incarnation of Guido—which began in 1961 in Costigliole d’Asti—is now managed by the son of the original owners. It serves excellent preparations of traditional dishes best sampled with one of the three tasting menus (including one vegan option), along with superlative pairings of wine from the surrounding regions.

Delicious regional specialties with tartufo-focused and fixed-price tasting menus are served at this bustling family-run restaurant in the center of Alba. Seasonal recipes emphasize local vegetables, nuts (particularly hazelnuts), and meats like rabbit and venison.

Chef Massimo Camia's restaurant is in an elegant and modern space, with views of the Barolo vineyards that surround the Damilano winery; the service is impeccable and the food is divine. The restaurant is outside the town of La Morra, a 20-minute drive to the southwest of Alba.

The first floor of an elegant town house in the center of Turin makes a fitting location for this sophisticated restaurant. There's an excellent wine list with regional, national, and international vintages well-represented, and tasting menus, including a feast that covers the full range of the restaurant's cuisine and desserts.