Italy's best eating and drinking destinations

It’s high season for truffles but not for tourists. Time Out travels the length of Italy to harvest the finest foodstuffs.

Dolomites

Where to go?

Rosa Alpina Hotel in Alta Badia valley in South Tyrol, part of the Italian Dolomites. This area has a complex heritage: it was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire until the end of World War I and was forcibly Italianicised under Mussolini.

It retains its individuality and its own language, Ladino, spoken by 30,000 people – sounding like a cross between German, Portugese and a mouthful of tinfoil – and, naturally, its own cuisine. There are three Michelin-starred restaurants in this one titchy valley (population 5,600).

Why go?

Because the cuisine is as spectacular as the mountain scenery. Indulge in pancakes, dumplings, polenta and speck – a delicious ham – as well as terrific Alto Adige wines. Chef Norbert Niederkofler of Rosa Alpina has two Michelin stars and mentored Giorgio Locatelli of Locanda Locatelli (‘he was crazy then, he’s crazy now,’ says the older chef). Produce is seasonal and local: the restaurant has a herb garden and makes its own ice cream, pasta, sourdough bread and pizza, and grinds flour in-house. Niederkofler doesn’t believe in more than three tastes in one dish, but he’s wide-ranging on what those tastes can be: even a close encounter with a tree, while skiing, proved productive. ‘I thought: mmm, this tree tastes good.’ And lo! Risotto with pine needles.

When to go?

The area is famous for its skiing – and there are some world-class runs – but we recommend you go now, before the peaks put on their coat of snow. Once you’ve got over gawping at the beautiful coral-hued peaks, there’s Nordic walking, mountain biking and horseriding as well as the hotel’s pool and spa to work off the delights of all that high-energy food. Anyway, everywhere is uphill, so you’ll need the carbs.

How to get there?

The closest airport is Verona (www.aeroportoverona.it); Alta Badia is 250km but it’s a great drive up into the hills. It’s also accessible from Venice or Innsbruck.

Where to stay?

B&B at Rosa Alpina (+39 0471 849500/www.rosalpina.it) starts at €270 per person per night.

Piedmont

Where to go?

Piedmont, famous for white truffles, chocolate and the nebbiolo grape aka Barolo and Barbaresco wine.

Why go?

Bra is the headquarters of the Slow Food movement, so most of the cuisine is ethical, too; its Eataly (+39 011 1950 6801/www.eatalytorino.it) is a temple to gastronomic anti-globalisation and comprises a food shop, education centre, bookshop and restaurants.

When to go?

Autumn for food, spring for wine. October/November is the optimum time to watch the truffle hunters send their dogs after the musky, hugely expensive and fast-fading white truffle in the area around Alba – and of course, to try the fruits of their labours in the many superb restaurants in the area. There’s also a festival, Fiera Nazionale del Tartufo, which lasts five weeks (October 3 to November 8 this year) and includes donkey races as well as culinary treats.

How to get there?

The closest airport is Turin (www.aeroportoditorino.it). The tourist office, Ente Turismo Alba Bra Langhe Roero (+39 017 335 833/www.langheroero.it), can help with winery visits and truffle hunts.

Where to stay?

If you stay at a savvy agriturismo such as Cascina Barin (+39 0173 615 159/www.campagnaamicacuneo.it), staff there will be able to advise you.

Chianti

Where to go?

Panzano: an overwhelmingly pretty Tuscan village which is set amid hills striped with vines, olive groves and cypresses.

Why go?

Dario Cecchini, the finest butcher in Italy, has three restaurants in the village, as well as his esteemed chop shop Antica Macelleria Cecchini (via XX Luglio 11, +39 055 852020/www.dariocecchini.com). SoloCiccia opposite his butcher’s shop offers six courses that revel in the delights of the flesh. Tables are communal, wine is unlimited and a six-course dinner costs just €30. Above the shop, Officina della Bistecca goes in search of the perfect steak and frequently succeeds with rare T-boned beauties so delicate that a blunt knife could cut through them like a bitchy quip.

The same space hosts the tongue-in-cheek MacDario, a fast food and highly affordable afternoon restaurant that serves up €10 burgers so large they exert a gravitational pull. Alternatively, you can go for the €20 welcome menu which contains the specialties of the shop: Chianti ‘sushi’ (raw beef that dissolves on the tongue), Tuscan tuna (pork in brine, but infinitely more appealing than that sounds), heavenly roast pork and a meatloaf in sauce so addictive it should come with a helpline.

When to go?

Whenever. Autumn brings cheaper accommodation and a slower pace, summer and spring are both glorious and on Christmas Eve Cecchini throws a street party for everyone in town.
 

How to get there?

The nearest airport is Pisa International (www.pisa-airport.com). Panzano is an hour and a half’s drive.

Where to stay?

Stay in working vineyard Il Querceto (and sample their Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Riserva 2004 while you’re there). Charming self-catering villas are managed by Italian specialists Cottage to Castles (01622 775236/www.cottagestocastles.com).

Naples

Where to go?

The city centre. Arthur Hugh Clough, Susan Sontag and Diego Maradona don’t have much in common, but they all fell for downtown Napoli. It is beautiful but damaged, elegant but edgy, showy but dirt poor. You will probably have some of the best pizzas and trattoria fare in your life and a wander through the food market is heavy with pungent tomatoes and superb olive oil. Throw in a few other fascinating factors – Campania wines, Camorra mythology and a short ride on the Circumvenusiano railway line to Pompeii – and you have the recipe for a great weekend break.

Why go?

Orthodoxy is king in Naples, and woe betide the cook who veers too far from the trad and the inspiration of generations of adoring, adored mammas. But, having lunched on the usual pizzas, head to Valù (Vico Lungo del Gelso 80, + 39 081 38 11 39, www.ristovalu.com ) one evening for some New Neapolitan cuisine. Instead of cosy tablecloths and the cursings of a chef you can’t see, you get comfortable red banquettes and an open kitchen. And rather than pasta in the same old sauces or mono-themed pizzas, you get carefully presented bruschette, scrumptious risottos and speciality grilled meat dishes: try the steaks of Chianina beef, from the hefty white oxen raised in the Val di Chiana near Arezzo, or crostini with seasoned lardo di Colonatto. Yes, the menu is pan-Italian, and owners Valentina and Luca won’t bore you with regionalist propaganda. You may reflexively balk at the idea of a non-classic dining experience, as you’re here in Naples – if you’re honest – for a cliché, as well as just one Cornetto, but try Valù and you’ll be surprised – and sybariti-cally sated.

When to go?

Year-round, but July and August can be sickeningly hot.

How to get there?

The closest airport is Naples.

Sicily

Where to go?

The Regaleali Estate, home to legendary cook and early champion of Sicilian cuisine, Anna Tasca Lanza.

Why go?

Anna – La Marchesa, the family is old Sicilian aristocracy – is getting on and has handed over control of the business to her daughter Fabrizia now, but she’s still around, and the estate, with its stone courtyards, sixteenth-century buildings and wine shop – complete with gasoline-style pumps for the cheap stuff – is well worth seeing. Fabrizia is an expert cook in her own right and full of stories about the cuisine of Sicily which, she says, varies drastically from village to village, partly thanks to waves of invaders over the centuries: the Arabs in particular have strewn local dishes with raisins, saffron and other north African delicacies.

Tastings of the family’s Tasca D’Almerita wines can be organized, as can lessons in local cuisine: learn to make panelle (chickpea fritters), caponata (an aubergine and tomato chutney-style dip) or arancine (saffron rice balls) with the rolling vineyards at your back.

Classes start from €150 per person (for a minimum two people) including lunch. You can also stay on the estate – see www.annatascalanza.com or www.tascadalmerita.it for more details. When you get bored with eating and drinking, go north to the beaches, check out the imposing Norman cathedral at Cefalú, or head for Palermo.

When to?

Any time between March and November except August, which is too hot to do anything.

How to get there?

The closest airport is Palermo. The estate is about an hour’s drive away. www.thinksicily.com has villas and can organise excursions.

Time Out guides

Guidebooks

See ‘Time Out Italy: Perfect Places to Stay, Eat and Explore’ for dozens of foodie ideas – available from www.timeout.com/shop for £11.80 (RRP £14.99); Time Out also publishes guidebooks to Turin, Rome, Venice and Naples.

Online city guides

See our online Italian city guides to Rome, Milan and Venice for hundreds of restaurant, bar, hotel and other reviews.