What a Party!
Last night was the annual summer party at Dante Rivetti, a winery in Neive, Barbaresco. Lots of wine, food, live music and fun fo those lucky enough to be on the invite list. The Rivetti family put on a great party.
Leslie and our friend Primo of First's Filet, speciality cured pork filets and salame. 
As usual at Piedmont parties, the people watching is great.
Party wouldn't be complete without live music, the local band played both kinds of music, country and western.
First stop wine, then we grabbed a plate of mixed cheese and salumi.
Then we found the appetizer table, which later in the night turned into risotto and gnocchi, everything was delicious.
Dante Rivetti greeting friends.
Colored lights were the last thing we saw while leaving, no idea how long the party went on.
Residenza del Lago
Residenza del Lago, we were recommended this restaurant while recently visiting the Cieck winery in Canavese. Our lunch was excellent!
It doesn't look like much from the street, but as you enter you walk into paradise through a lovely flower garden that takes you to the restaurant and hotel.
Frederico, the owner, greeted us and showed us to our table. He is a sommelier and very passionate about food and wine. This was confirmed by the over 400 bottle, well chosen, fair priced, winelist.
We started with a gift from the chef of little crostini topped with a tuna patè, followed by 3 types of delicious homemade bread; nut, sun-dried tomato and olive.
We chose the smaller tasting menu of Tajarin con Coniglio e Sugo di Pepperoni Pasta with a Red Bell Pepper and Rabbit sauce followed by Cosciotto di Maile con Senape e Miele con Spinaci e Patate al Forno Ham with a Mustard and Honey sauce with Braised Spinach and Roasted Potatoes.
Don't forget to save room for their desserts!
Everything we tasted was fresh, seasonal and made in house.
Just a half hour north of Torino in the Canavese wine region, this is a perfect place for a few quiet, relaxing days near Lago di Candia Lake Candia, which is a few minutes drive from the hotel.
The rooms are beautiful with arched red brick ceilings, nicely restored while keeping the style and feeling of an ancient Canavese farm house.
Tajarin with Rabbit and Pepper Sauce
Perfect Pork
Even the bread was homemade
Huge wine list
The Jungle is Back
Looking north on the road from Neive to Barbaresco the vines are growing fast.
This looks like a blast from the past, but is a classroom in are village of Neive. Nice too see that there are still classrooms that focus on the basics without distraction.
From our kitchen balcony we are able to keep tabs on the weekly festivals. Maybe we should start a photo blog called
Italy as seen from the Alexanders Kitchen....