The King of the Ignorants is a great character: wise, friendly and expert in the cuisine, oenology and traditions of the area, which he tells with sagacity, an engaging culture of hospitality and great passion.
In San Martino Alfieri, on the hill overlooking the left bank of the Tanaro, the restaurant overlooks the Piazza del Municipio, with the adjoining Municipal Wine Shop and patronal church, with a view of the splendid vineyard hills and perched villages.
It recalls the simplicity and conviviality of the VINERIES, which were all the rage in the 1980s in Astigiano, Monferrato, Roero and Langa: a well-kept, clean, bright, tidy, welcoming environment, enriched by copies of newspapers from the early 1900s, photographs and rural paintings, a large display of bottles, poor art furnishings.
The gastronomic offer is not very broad, but well articulated in the seasonal range of courses, containing the revival of some inevitable dishes (raw meat, Russian salad and tajarin) from the area and with the very appetizing revival of some local goodies (farinata, chickpea soup with ribs) and some innovative elements (crouton with pieces of red onion from Tropea), fabulous desserts (bonet enriched with round gentle hazelnut).
The wines, also served by the glass (!) are an expert and broad reflection of the Monferrato, Roerina and Langhe production, composed with a skilful interweaving of inevitable musts and very interesting discoveries.
To start, I chose the original Merenda a Pranzo: a very well-articulated platter, with 10 elements, where the potato friciulin stood out, 2 vegetable omelettes (wonderful), farinata, crouton with Tropea onion compote (after praising the quality, surprisingly, I was honored with a small and very welcome gift to taste again at home), accompanied by a glass of Dolcetto DOC (€8!)
The raw Piedmontese fassone veal chosen by my partner was also of excellent quality and plentiful; the tajarin with meat ragout are not memorable but certainly above average. My chickpea soup is a real treat, both for the consistency of the chickpea cream and for the abundance of whole chickpeas, cooked to perfection and very tasty.
Among the 6 dessert proposals we chose the bonet: I'm a fan of it! It is certainly one of the best I have tasted in my no longer short life, ideal consistency, for softness and balance of the components, where a covering of gentle, skillfully toasted, round hazelnut pieces stood out.
The owner paired "sua sponte" with a very interesting chardonnay passito from Roero, which paired excellently with dark chocolate.
I'm curious, so I also followed the service on the nearby tables, noting how the jovial waitress spent time discussing all the courses in detail both in the "order" and "service" phases, while the owner illustrated the paired wines to each table, also entertaining them with curiosities about the history and local peasant life, which fascinated both the younger diners and those, the majority, "differently young!"
The final bill was from Vineria, excellent value for money, even more so given the high quality of the food, the wines and the service/welcome provided to us.
VERY GOOD, true BEACHERS of the TERRITORY and of ITS EXCELLENCE
NB to my request about the origin of the name, the owner told me that he was born in the early 80s and that he was in love with his farmer grandfather and a fan of Adriano Celentano, who titled one of his long plays The King of the Ignorant.
However, my attention had focused on the apostrophe in "D'hegli" and I asked for information on this detail, the answer was spontaneous and convincing in its simplicity: "to accentuate that it was an ignorant king, who therefore wrote with spelling errors. Grandfather and Grandson are certainly very rich in culture and passion to offer!
Sandro Chiriotti
.
14 Aprile 2025
10,0
Trovato quasi per caso , si è rivelato un ottima sorpresa. Il locale è arredato in modo particolare ma con molto gusto , il proprietario, ci ha accompagnato per tutta la cena , che si è rivelata veramente buona ed adeguata al conto, se ci passate fermatevi
makabeo
.
27 Gennaio 2025
8,0
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