A Turin Walking Tour

After lunch we had some time to kill before our time slot to see the Holy Shroud.  We decided to walk around and enjoy the beautiful spring day.

We started out at the very center, the Piazza Castello, with its elegant and grand palazzi buildings. 

On one side is Palazzo Madama, which also houses the Museo Civica d'Arte Antica.  So if this is the Piazza Castello, then where is the castle you say?

We walked around the Palazzo Madama and saw the castle facade.  It's actually connected to the Palazzo Madama.  I'm not sure how that came about but it is rather interesting.   

We walked along Via Po towards the Po River.  Via Po is one of the most beautiful streets in the ciy, flanked with beautiful baroque style palazzis, and connected with portico walkways.

We made a left turn off of Via Po and to find the Mole Antonelliana, an impressive landmark building that towers over the city of Turin.  It was originally built as a Jewish synagogue when construction started in 1863.  It now houses the National Museum of Cinema and is said to be the tallest museum in the world.  On a side note, Stef says 'mole' means 'big thing'.  Oh.

We came across this interesting looking artwork while wandering around.

Finally we arrived at the huge PiazzaVittorio Veneto, just next to the river.  Across the River Po, we could see the Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio, which resembles the Pantheon in Rome.

On our way back to Piazza Castello on the other side of Via Po, we spotted another beautiful church that we had missed before while passing on the walkway underneath.

We took a peek inside.  It was beautiful for just another 'normal' church.

We stumbled into not one but two galleria style buildings.  They reminded me of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milano with the glass dome arcade that lets in lots of light.

I imagine there must be many more gallerias in this city.  These were just the ones we found by accident.

And that was our walk around Turin on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  So far, we had really enjoyed the culinary and the architecture side of the city.  Next up, the Holy Shroud of Turin.

Ristorante Tre Galline, Turino

The first thing Stefano did after we decided to visit Turino was to find a good place for lunch.  Can you see our what our priorities are?

He called up his friend who is a bank director in Turino to ask for recommendations.  We wanted a good Piemontese meal and he pointed us to Tre Galline. 

We parked in one of the many underground city garages near the Castello and arrived after a 10 minute walk.

We were seated and after studying and ordering from the menu, I looked around the traditionally styled dining room.  The tables were almost full and most were locals.  Always a good sign.  The table nearby had ordered the antipasti misti, and here they roll out a cart with a selection of cured meats and slice it by hand for you on the spot.

For the appetizer, Stefano had the fonduta con cardo or cardi in fontina cheese.  The cardo is a vegetable that translates to 'thistle' in English, but that doesn't sound right, does it?  Anyway, it's a fibrous vegetable that looks similar to celery.  We had seen it before in the supermarket but never knew how to cook it.  It tasted ok, but I don't think I'd put it on my list of favorite vegetables.

Next he had a filleto di maialino con carciofi e castelmagno or piglet fillet with artichoke and local castelmagno cheese sauce.  The meat wasn't the most tender but the overall dish was very tasty.

As for me, I had spied the piatto del giorno or plate of the day on the menu.  It is quite common at the cafeteria type restaurants for workday lunches, but we've never seen offered at restaurants like this.  And surprisingly it is offered also at lunch on Saturday. 

I picked it knowing it would be the perfect portion size for me, and it turned out to be excellent.  The tagliatelle con sugo di cortile or 'backyard' sauce, which is actually meat with bits of liver.  I used to hate it when mum forced us kids to eat liver as kids, but this wasn't the same thing.  It was really good.  And then there was the anatra in acceto balsamico or duck cooked in balsamic vinegar.  That was really delicious and went well with the roasted potatoes.  The portion was huge too and I was throughly satisfied.

We decided to skip dessert but along with our coffees came a chocolate treat and candied orange peel.  I just love when they serve coffee with a little something sweet.

Overall, we enjoyed our experience here.  My piatto del giorno was only 10 euro, and cost a third of Stefano's two dishes - great value for money.  We also shared a half bottle of Barbera wine that was really good. 

This restaurant has been around for a long time and it's a good place to go if you want to sample the traditional Piemontese cuisine of Turin.


Ristorante Tre Galline
Via Belleza, 37
10122 Torino
Tel: 011 436 6553
Closed for lunch on Sundays/Mondays

Eataly in Turin

A couple weekends ago, we decided to make a day trip to Turino, just a 1.5 hour drive from Milan.  I had never been plus I had gotten us tickets to view the mysterious Shroud of Turin.  That deserves a post on its own.  We decided to make a day of it and started early.  Well, early for us on a Saturday anyway.

Our first stop, Eataly, a clever play on the words eat and italy, is a marketplace featuring local artisanal food and wine products from all over Italy.  Something food related?  We definitely wanted to check it out.  It took us a while to get through the city to arrive in an area called Lingotto.  When we walked in our mouths just fell open. 

There were rows and rows of pasta, rice, flour, oils, jars of every variation of tomato sauce you can imagine, and colorful displays of fruits and vegetables.  There was an in-house bakery churning out delicious smelling fresh bread.  The pastry counter had a beautiful selection of cakes and desserts.  The cheese selection was huge, there was a big case just for local cheese from Piemonte.  The selection of meat and fish was just as impressive.

And tucked in between the aisles and food counters, were small restaurants specializing in pasta, meat, vegetables, fish, etc. I glanced at the menus and the prices were reasonable.  You could make a little food tour going from station to station.  It was still early for lunch when we were there but I've heard it gets crowded with locals and tourists alike at lunch and dinner.

Downstairs, we found some climate-controlled cellars showing how cheese and cured meats are traditionally stored.  The smell in the Parmesan Reggiano room was delicious.

In the wine section, in addition to the huge selection of wines, you can also purchase wine by the 2 litre bottles straight from the barrel.

And if you're a lover of beer, you have this whole wall of different beers to choose from.

And of course, a place to sit and have a meal paired with beer.  There's also a similar restaurant in the wine section.

We grabbed a basket and picked up some food stuff that didn't need refrigeration since we had a whole day ahead of us.  We also had fun picking out some items to make up a gourmet food basket for a friend's birthday gift.  My stomach was growling but unfortunately we couldn't stop to eat.  We had reservations for lunch at another place. 

But we will for sure be back with more time for the whole experience.  We had discovered a culinary food lovers dream.  If you're in the area or passing by, it is worth a stop.  It is the only place we've seen in Italy where you can find such a variety of gourmet food products, and they are surprisingly reasonably priced.  They also hold special dinners, cooking lessons and tasting events.  

Eataly 

Via Nizza, 230 / 14
Turin Lingotto