Bistrot Del Campanile - Piverone

Piverone is a small town geographically situated halfway up the hills 3 miles 5 Km to the NE of Lake Viverone in the State of Piemonte, Northern Italy, approx.50 miles 80Km SW of Milan 30 miles 45 Km NNE of Turin, accessible via highways A4 (Connector to Albiano right by exit Santhia or A5 (Exit Albiano along the connector A4 A5 . From the Albiano connector, driving distance is approx. 6 miles 10Km to Piverone. August 15 is a public holiday in Italy Ferragosto and usually The Dog Day of the Summer and the heat. Unfortunately the seasoned visitor to Italy also knows the big cities come to a certain rest when everyone and the Dog in on vacation in August. Plan accordingly! This is not the time to expect to tour all kinds of museums, then find out You have nowhere to have dinner! To offset that, many of the towns and villages in Italy now offer holiday programs, 2016 more than I remember from years past. Piverone lovingly maintains its evergreen week of festivities Festa Patronale di San Lorenzo highlighting local sports contests, a Dance or two and local gastronomy at a gathering in the evenings in the City Square. Neighboring Azeglio even featured a gathering of Vespa motorscooter fans later in August this year, so vacationing out in the countryside is not as dull as you might imagine (and how dull I perceived it in my teenage years past! Italy is not cheap, by any means! But times are changing too and coffee and bread remain relative bargains.Gastronomy is catching on, realizing not everyone is in a position to spend EUR 100 150 for a family of 4... One of the gastronomic cuisiniers for the festival runs the local and only restaurant in town. Three siblings took over what used to be Trattoria del Campanile (Campanile in reverence to the lovingly restored Clock Tower in City Square and created a very respectable eatery. The coffee bar is open all day (and we appreciate the excellent Cappucini following our almost daily pick up freshly baked bread from across the street , but more notably, a very fine lunch and dinner menu (weekdays there 's a prix fixe lunch option . The tagliata di Bovino (sliced steak is simply out of this world served with spinach or vegetable of the day fries (patate fritte and or salag go extra the meat comes standard in medium rare the way Italians appreciate it and is offered as a Product of France (EUR 13 or local Italian beef (EUR 15 it literally melts in Your mouth (how else shall I say .. Come ye from your Turin and Milan visits to try this one You won 't regret the detour! Expect a short 2 week restaurant vacation the second half of August. Other ventures in the area, besides the ubiquitous lake and life around it, is the local wine cooperative, even within walking distance (downhill! of Bistrot del Campanile. The Cantina Sociale della Serra not only features the local white wine Erbaluce but some high quality red wines and Spumante (sparkling wine methode Champenoise, but rather sweeter than Champagne! . The city of Ivrea along the river Dora is 8 miles 15 Km driving distance and many active cyclists take advantage of better than Turin Milans weather patterns.

Really good value fixed price lunch. Excellent and friendly service. 2 courses good sphagetti and tasty sausages for me, with water, wine, coffee and cover, all in for 11€. Really enjoyed lunch here. Seemed popular with plenty of local people. Not surprised as was good food and good lunch. Lovely friendly service

Great spot on the edge of the piazza that served lovely local cuisine at a reasonable price. We would return.