Now it is time for a refreshing lunch and the second day of our visit to Mossio and Piedmont. Refreshing meaning stuffing your stomach with some of the most traditional and old school “cucina piemontese” there is. No “cotoletta alla milanese”, “pasta bolognese” or spaghetti with meatballs will be found here, although there is pasta and lots of tajarin and plin plin - all local and great type of pastas, made with about 20 eggs and some flour.

The restaurant Trattoria dai Bercau is absolutely hidden, away from all the tourists and basically away from everything. Across the hill you can spot an enormous construction, which looks unfinished. It turns out to be a hospital project, as Valerio was explaining, that never got finished. Nothing to do with the restaurant, but maybe worth mentioning as it kind of struck you when you drive to their and a serious sightseeing that can assure you that you are close, the GPS might not be extremely helpful here.

I have been at Trattoria Dai Bercau three times, and every time is just a reminder that good food is found in the most unexpected places, without advertisement, marketing or bullshit. It’s just there, wonderful, hidden, real. A place you fall in love with instantly, as long as food and wine mean something to you.

We are seated and ready for lunch, I am in the lovely company of my wife as well as Valerio. What always fascinates me about this place is the food, warmth and most of all the story behind it.

The restaurant in the past was just a place where a few women from the village were chosen to cook for all the workers in the fields, mostly vineyards, chestnut orchards etc. So a lot of hungry workers ready to eat and immediately something tasty, local and fulfilling without a lot of fuss. So the women who were cooking all day were accommodating the men for lunch and dinner, they were preparing a few dishes that were basically primo, secondo and maybe a dolce (first, second and dessert). They were passing around the tables and everyone was picking what they like, or probably what they were served, I don’t believe they had the same choices we have now. Nowadays the same tradition is kept, strangers are still sitting on big tables together while the servers/cooks/managers are passing by you with hot delicious homemade delicacies in pans and pots straight from the kitchen. There might be a paper menu, but I haven’t seen it, so all is suggested by the staff and trust me go with what they propose inluding the wines, which of course are local.

You definitely start either with a refreshing Alta Langa DOCG spumante or crisp Roero Arneis DOCG or a Gavi di Gavi DOCG which is bit more structured and bodied that is better of with food and not alone. Marco Porello https://www.porellovini.it was our choice and it is splendid, fresh, green fruits, white flowers, perfect acidity to clean your mouth from the pasta sauces. Actually, it is really hard to make a wrong choice as the selection of food and wine is just perfectly aligned and represents the place, the people and everything that is being produced locally.

As a starter we had this cold salmon type of tart/cake with omelette and spinach and it opens your appetite like nothing else alongside with the Arneis. In terms of food, we basically ordered what was written on the black board, all 3 types of pasta dishes (you can see it up on the picture). They were all traditional and fullfilling, tajarin pasta and truffles always a good combination here. For the pasta dishes we went for a quite rare red with the local variety Palaverga Picolo which is produced only in the Comune of Verduno by F.lli Allesandria http://www.fratellialessandria.it/. I highly recommend it as it is quite unique with a lot of red fruits, and distinctive hints of pepper and spices.

It is a lunch that leaves you with a great smile and hope that life is beautiful in the most simple things and unusual places, especially when accompanied by friends and loved ones. Time to head back to the hotel, maybe a quick nap and then a lovely bike tour around the vineyards. At the end we need to get ready for the dinner in our hotel restaurant, which you need to book way in advance if you want to experience it, but for this I will tell you next time…

Cheers for now and stay heathy and thirsty!!!

For further info, please visit the website http://www.bercau.it .

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