Italy trip, Oct 2007 - 'l Birichin

This one Michelin-starred restaurant is a personal recommendation of SP's Italian friend. He was supposed to dine with us that night but due to a change in circumstances, he was unable to join us.

We decided to turn up nevertheless. However, when we arrived, the person couldn't find the booking. There was a booking fr 4 people but the name did not match. It was getting late and I was tired! I tried the puppy-eye look and that eventually worked. He assigned us a nice spacious table overlooking the kitchen. SP thinks it is the best seat in the house because he loves looking at the kitchen at work.

It turns out that the person working at the front is the chef, Batavia Nicola. He was wearing his chef jacket with some very colourful floral pants. He came over and explained the menu very patiently. He recommended the chef's menu, which uses local ingredients. Of course, having the chef's menu also mean that he will be cooking for us. The decision was already made for us! :)

The lights in the restaurant were dimmed so sorry for the poor photo quality.

Bread and grissini (bread sticks). Grissini originates in Turin and the surrounding area in Italy. How fitting it is that we were sitting in a Turin restaurant when we munched on these bread sticks! After some research, I found out that the chef's mother personally makes two kinds of grissini, three kinds of bread, two kinds of focaccia every day.

Potato and lentil soup made with fish stock. It was not too rich so it's a great starter.

Raw veal and strips of rabbit meat. The meat is very lean and flavoursome. The rabbit meat is very tender and it tastes like the good quality chicken we've had at Flipot. We raised the question with the chef and he assured us it is rabbit. The meat is prepared in a special way: the meat is first steamed, then deboned. The meat is then soaked in olive with garlic and sage for a week. The flesh will become white, and it helps that the local bunnies have a light pinkish meat.

We later tried the same dish in another local restaurant. Even though the meat was white, it was not as tender.

All of our dishes were matched with local wine. It saves us from thinking! This one is a Dolcetto from the Langhe region.

Poached egg with herbs on top, cream on the side and some green sauce. SP almost forgot to take photos. There is also a lump of herb souffle on the side. The taste is very simple and the combination works very well. It is very satisfying.

The above dish is served with a great red from Pelissero in the Langhe region

Tagliolini with herbs and cream cheese (Rocherano) from the Olean mountains. The pasta is made with 20 eggs per kilo. The photographer was too excited and he only managed to find time to a photo when we were almost finished! This dish has a home-made feel to it. The pasta is very very good.

Risotto cooked with Babaresco and pumpkin puree, topped with caramelised Barolo and herbs sauce. I think we can confirm here that SP's risotto was way overcooked now. This risotto is still chewy! The sauce is very velvety and smooth. The taste is great. A great combination of sweet and savory.

The sous chef is usually the person cooking....

... while the head chef control the final touches. The head chef is one busy body because he looks after the front desk, the clients as well as the kitchen. In some way, he keeps a very tight reign over the output from the kitchen. We thought he was a bit of a control freak. But later, when we spoke to our B&B host, he thinks it is a good sign because a good chef should also take personal care of what he served the customers.

Beef with caramelised onions and some mashed potato. It comes with some sweet sesame candy. The beef was overcooked for our liking, but then, we weren't even offered the chance to say how we want the beef cooked! Luckily, the beef wasn't too tough. The sauce, the mash and onions were great.

I thought the logo of the restaurant was very cute. The name of the restaurant literally means a 'curious child' (or something like that)

Hazelnut tart and ganache with chocolate sauce, rice puff and a stick! It is made with chocolate from Gobina and the dessert was served with Polifemo wine from Marsala in Sicily. And depending on who you speak to, it may or may not be classified as Italian wine! :P

Then, we were treated to a large tray of chocolate and lollipops. Basically, we can eat as much as we want! Where is the doggy bag?

Another look of our tray of sweets.

The lollipop was made in house and there are no artificial colouring, flavouring or other unnatural stuff. It is a great treat indeed!

Then, as if the chef felt that we weren't being fed properly, we were offered a selection of tiny biscotti.

Petite Four! We had our tea and coffee with the sweets and by the time we left, it was already very late.

I have enjoyed the dining experience at 'l Birichin. Partly because of the great food and partly because of the attentive service. The chef and the waiters were always keen to help or explains things. SP enjoyed watching the kitchen at work. The price is also very reasonable for a Michelin-starred restaurant. I would heartily recommend it, especially if you want to try Piedmonte cooking with a modern twist.


For more information:

http://www.birichin.it/