After the three-hour drive through Parma, Piacenza, Alessandria, and Asti, we finally arrived in Alba. It was exactly one year since I last
roamed the streets of Alba and the hills of the Langhe. It felt like a homecoming for me as I began to notice the small changes over the years. New stores have opened and others have closed; some friends have moved on to new places in their lives and other friendships grew stronger. The first whiff of chocolate in the air reminds me of the amazement I first felt when I learned about the Ferraro chocolate factory located at the edge of town. And, the first smell of truffles as we walked down the main drag, reminds me that I am going to eat well! I always visit Alba after the last week of the truffle festival, when all of the tourists have left town. My sleepy, but not-so-sleepy Alba is where I hope to visit every year for the rest of my life.
We arrived at six o’clock in the evening and immediately headed to Vincafe, my favorite enoteca (winebar) for a pre-dinner glass of wine. Our first glass of wine was a Dolcetto D’Abla produced by a legendary winemaker named Gaja. It was a great way to start our first night in Piemonte. After a glass or two at Vincafe, we headed to Osteria Dei Sognatori, my favorite place to eat in all of Italy. Years ago, it was my first meal in Piemonte that I discovered the osteria. I was with my dad and we stumbled upon it within the first few hours after our arrival in Alba. During that first dining experience at Sognatori, the owners invited me into their kitchen to teach me how to make the specific shape of pasta that they were serving that night. On that night, what we didn’t realize was that they were inviting me into their lives and that our relationship would strengthen in the coming years. Each time I step into Sognatori, I experience the same feeling. At first, I wonder if they will remember me, which of course they always do. Then I quickly begin to feel as if I were a guest at Arturo’s. At Sognatori, I experience this unique feeling that I know many of our guests at Arturo’s feel, yet as an owner I am unable to fully experience. It is the warmth of hospitality and the vitality of everyday life that fills both the kitchen and the dining room.
The cooks are busy cooking, but in a fun, social, and group-oriented way, where private jokes and unique personalities bounce around the kitchen. The head chef will be washing dishes one minute and jamming out to Bob Marley the next with friends popping in the backdoor to say hello and to make plans for their post-dinner beer. The guests in the dining room are a wide mix of clientele from families with young children to groups of locals who are there to hang with friends over an impromptu four courses. The only commonality among their guests is that they are all there to eat well and to be taken care of like family. You can feel this in the walls and hear it in the air. It’s loud and lively, obnoxious at times but always fun and exciting.
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