Archive for category: Imperia

On the first hillside of Sanremo, we find a place where you can eat good food, without spending a fortune, with a choice of Ligurian genuine dishes and some Piedmontese contamination. The environment is very cosy and welcoming. Wooden furniture, the stone walls and the rustic wooden menu holder with a slate chalkboard, bring a bit of informal feel to the place. Lucia always cheerful and kind provides an attentive and excellent service. Chef Alessandro varies the menu every day according to market supply. Meat and fish, accompanied by seasonal vegetables and wild herbs and flowers make each dish more delicate and tasty. From appetizers to desserts, the chef uses quality raw materials, proposing unusual combinations, such as beet dumplings with lemon balm pesto or tagliatelle with nettles and lemon. Among the first courses we find a varied selection of homemade pastas, from trofie to tagliatelle noodles and gnocchi dumplings. To try the sought-after Genoese soup, which is much appreciated by tourists. Fresh fish may vary according to market availability. Excellent ratio with quality: first courses between 8 and 10 €, second courses from 9 to 12 €, desserts at 3 €. For a full meal the cost is about 30 €. In the cellar, local wines alternate with those of nearby Piedmont.

Giovanni Senese, although young, has great experience in the art of pizza and in the variegated world of doughs and flours. Born in Naples, after working experiences around the world, he stopped in Sanremo and opened his modern and welcoming restaurant in 2020, one step away from the cycle path and the sea. The attention to raw materials is very high. He personally grows vegetables and aromatic plants in his synergistic garden. Try the special pizzas, such as “il mio orto sinergico” (€ 14), which follows the rhythm of the seasons, or “il carciofo incontra il cacio e il pepe” (artichoke meets cheese and pepper) (€ 18) or “Barbaresca” with velvety purple potatoes and strips of Chianina sirloin (€ 16.5). Those who love traditional flavors can choose the classics of the Neapolitan tradition (from € 5.5 upwards). Not only pizzas, however, you can taste the wonderful Neapolitan whims (salty pastry dough), fried for all tastes, or the “ cono del pizzaiolo”, filled pizza shaped like an ice-cream cone according to Giovanni’s creativity. There is no shortage of creative dishes among first and second courses. To finish, typical sweets such as classic babà or with cream, pastiera and lemon delights. The list of extra virgin olive oils is also interesting. Good selection of craft beers and good choice of wines, with a preference for Ligurian labels.

In the valley floor of the Arroscia Valley, Ranzo is very green with the cultivation of olive trees and vineyards. The restaurant has an ancient tradition that two brothers, Ludovico in the kitchen and Federico in the dining room, have taken up for about three years. The cuisine is based on local products and on seasonality. In the dining room Federico welcomes customers with grace and kindness and always ready to “tell” the dishes with a smile. The environment is elegant and modern, very nice and well furnished. In the à la carte menu we find the appetizers, to taste the morsels with vegetables, made of seasonal herbs, soft and tasty, with tomato sauce with Taggiasca olives, the Genoese top with fried panissa and green sauce, wild boar paté or the octopus carpaccio (from 8 to 9 euro). Home-made ravioli, with pine nuts and thyme or braised gravy (10 euro) or chestnut gnocchi with pumpkin and fontina cheese (9 euro), and chickpea Zemin with pork steaks (8 euro). Following the real specialty of the house is the rabbit with olives and abundant Pigato, as per the grandmother’s recipe, really delicious (10 euro), or braised all’Ormeasco with crispy polenta (15 euros) or the original prawns in crust of coconut (14 euro). Excellent homemade desserts (7 euro). Good choice of local wines and more.

This restaurant is located in the small village of Badalucco up some steps inside a beautiful and inviting stone house. It’s set in a comfortable and family atmosphere with a fireplace, exposed bricks and wooden decor. The cuisine is traditional. Every meal is a special occasion so you’ll have 5 starters: Russian salad, Badalucco white bean salad, the brandacujun, frandura which is a typical dish from nearby Montalto, vitel tonné and vegetable fritters. Two first courses: ravioli stuffed with herbs and if you’re lucky tagliatelle with river shrimp. Among second courses we recommend their Ligurian rabbit, the snails and stockfish with is the star of the show of a festival every September. Exquisite desserts such as creme caramel and the sweet focaccia typical of the area are available. Most of the ingredients used in the kitchen come from the family farm called “Cian de Bià” which means “land on the Biagio plain”. Biagio was the owners Ivo and Franca’s grandfather; they also produce a very good olive oil. Fixed price menu for 30 euro, excluding wines. Good value for your money. Reservations are recommended.

In the Argentina valley at about 400 meters, immersed in the green and small lakes that the streams Argentina and Corte create in their path, with the possibility of having a stroll and excursion for either families or expert walkers, we find the hotel-restaurant Santo Spirito, an institution, that since more than a century offers dishes cooked following ancient recipes and using genuine products and local outstanding items. The vigilant family management has created a hospital environment; in the hall there are various relics and objects from the past, with old photographs and documents. The dishes are traditional, those that were prepared at home by grandmothers and recall to the mind flavours of the past. We find here chickpeas and assorted legumes soups, home made tagliatelle or fresh pasta with chestnuts flour, like the “colpi di dito” or the quadrotti to be dressed with “bruzzo”, the tasty sheep ricotta. Among second course dishes goat with beans, molinese escargots, stewed boar. Delicious homemade desserts like the pudding with eggs and castagnaccio, prepared in the ancient way. Vegetables are almost exclusively produced in the family farm, tank to grandpa Augusto. The selection of wines includes the Ormeasco produced by the family farm and also excellent bottles of Piedmont wines. The menu’s price ranges from € 20 to € 35.