Piedmont: Birth of Slow Food…and More

Regrettably, Piedmont is not on the destination list of most American tourists.  This may be in part due to Rick Steves, who has yet to include this gem of an area in his popular books and television travel programs.  Grazie, Ricardo!  Even if you’re not a foodie or a wine-lover, Piedmont offers many gems.  If you’re a foodie or oenophile, Piedmont may just be the most exciting region in all of Italy.

Most foodies know about of the Slow Food movement, but how many knew it began in Piedmont?  The opening of a fast food restaurant in the heart of Rome in the mid-1980’s touched a real nerve with a journalist from Piedmont.   Shortly thereafter, the writer began Slow Food.  Today, the organization is in 150 countries and its mission is to preserve traditional and regional cuisine.

                           Wine-Knows will watch the birth of artisinal chocolate at a rock-star producer

Piedmont’s traditional cuisine is a treasure-trove of culinary delights.  Home of the premier white truffle, the world’s most expensive gastronomic item, Piedmont is also the area for some Italy’s finest chocolate and hazelnuts.  In addition to high-end artisanal chocolates, even Nutella and Ferrero Rocher are made here.  The area is also the source of Italy’s most illustrious rice.  Preferred by many Michelin-star chefs throughout Italy for risotto because of its firmer texture, canaroli rice is grown in Piedmont.

                Piedmont's Alps provide the perfect situation for a plethora of cow, sheep & goat cheeses 

Piedmont means the “foot of the mountain.”   The foothills of the Alps shared with France and Switzerland, also produce some outstanding cheeses.  Even in a country recognized for its cheeses, Piedmont is a standout.

                     Eataly offers a cornucopia of the very best food products from all of Italy

The Piedmont district is the birthplace for Italy’s most famous food emporium-kitchen shop, Eataly.  Think Williams-Sonoma meets Whole Foods, with the addition of some mind-boggling dining venues such as a mozzarella-bar, wood-fired pizzeria, seafood eatery, and a pasta-centric restaurant.

Last, but not least, Piedmont is the pinnacle for several of Italy’s most magnificent wines, Barolo and Barbaresco.  These wines are some of the country’s most complex reds…and expensive. 

Wine-Knows will be visiting Piedmont next autumn (2018) at the time of their world-renown Truffle Festival.  One of the highlights will be a private truffle hunt into the forest with a “trifalou” (truffle hunter) and his dog.   Foodies will be thrilled with visits to Piedmont’s super-star chocolate-maker, as well as a producer of canaroli rice.  Naturally, we won’t miss Eataly…and there will be a dance-card sprinkled with the district’s world-class wine producers.  At the moment, there are only 5 open spots on this trip.    www.WineKnowsTravel.com

Italy’s Primo Foodie Emporium

For those of us who dream of eating our way though Italy, I have the perfect place to do so...all under one roof.   Think Oz’s Emerald City meets Whole Foods on steroids.  Eataly (a clever play on words), opened in the city of Torino in 2007, is a mind-blowing food experience. 

It’s not surprising that this gourmand’s utopia is located in Italy’s Piedmont district.  Piedmont is the home of the Slow-Food movement, a kind of Noah’s Ark for the culinary world.  Slow-Food, now an international phenomena, was birthed in the 1980’s in outrage to the opening of the first McDonald’s in Italy.  Eataly exemplifies Slow-Food’s philosophy by showcasing artisanal culinary products from all parts of all of Italy…some of them rarely known outside their region…many were saved from extinction by the Slow-Food movement.

Housed in a former vermouth factory, the mammoth Eataly structure has been altered to 21^st century sleek and sexy.   It’s divided into 8 sections:  pasta, pizza, cheese, meat, fish, wine, beer and gelato.  Each area comes with its own chef and tasting bar, and the well trained staff is more than willing to educate shoppers though a myriad of kock-your-socks-off tastings. 

If you’re joining Wine-Knows on the truffle tour to Piedmont this October, we’ll be stopping at Eataly for lunch.  The Torino store was such a success that branches have opened in Milan and just last month a gigantic one in Rome.  Not going to Italy?  No worries as Eataly has recently opened an outpost in New York City.

Don’t miss Eatly… bring lots of money, but every foodie must go to this gastronomic nirvana.