If you read my last post, you’re already familiar with the most famous dishes and ingredients in Ligurian cuisine. Now it’s time to give you some tips on where to eat and what to order if you ever find yourself in the capital of Liguria region.

First thing first is breakfast. Always. If you’re that kind of a tourist that skips the typical continental style of hotel restaurant because you like to do it as the locals, make sure to visit those fry shops under Sottoripa porticoes.

But until those open, there are several other options along the way.

Gran Ristoro in Via di Sottoripa is a small coffee bar that serves coffee, cured meats, cheeses and sandwiches made with focaccia bread. What more do you need? Apperitivo afterwards maybe 🙂

Bar Colombo ’92 up the Sotorippa street serves sandwiches with your own choice of toppings. Euro per topping and they make your own brand sandwich. How cool is that?

Il caffe Barroero is another cozy sandwich caffe bar that can toast your sandwich.

Burrato in Via di Porta Soprana 61r, on the other hand, serves whole grain types of focaccia bread with various toppings.

Extremely light and highly digestible dough is made of stone milled semi-wholegrain flour let risen for 30 hours. The sauce is made with organic tomatoes and all the veggies are carefully selected, fresh and seasonal.

Il Forno di Ghia in Via Galata 39 offer a rich daily selection of all kind of baked products, like bread, focaccias, pizzas, farinatas, salty cakes, etc.

We opted for the most traditional thing; the pesto focaccia and thin dough with ham and salty cake. Great start of the day.

Since we like to take our coffee same time as breakfast we hopped next door to Caffe Ronaldo for some sweet brioches, coffee and dissarono aperitif. It wasn’t yet 9am but we made sure to have our daily dose of aperitif.

And speaking of that, we had many of those.

It’s really hard to say no to them and then with each and every of them you get a small snack. Got us through the day until dinner for the first day 🙂

When planning your food trip in Italy, make sure to plane it carefully as many of the places works split shifts; lunch and then later they open again for dinner.

 

Osteria di Vico Palla in Via Vico Palla 15/r is a classic Italian restaurant situated in the harbour.

The history of the restaurants dates back in 1600 when the patrons of the city, the Doges, were looking for a place where to eat well while spending time in the port area.

At the time, one of the famous clients, was the Flemish painter Van Dyck who visited the osteria while on an educational trip early in 1600.

Nowadays, the regular guests are less famous, but more local. People that just like traditional Ligurian food and good company. We visited the restaurant on Monday, when many of the restaurants take a weekly day off, but Osteria was fully packed, with people who had more plates in front of them than there were chairs around the table. It’s the Italian way of life. Eating and socialising.

We also did that. Over some typical Ligurian, mainly fish dishes.

The most famous fish dish that you’ll have to try while in Genova is cappon magro. Although name reminds of poultry dish, this decadent meal is completely vegetarian.

Made of seafood and vegetables it’s arranged into a decorative pyramid, dressed with a rich sauce and served cold. Goes wonderfully with vermentino, white grapes local wine.

If you like a taste of the sea, you should definitely try the squid braised in greens (chard) or/and deep fried anchovies.

The term in zimino refers to a variety of dishes where the main ingredient (usually seafood) is braised in spinach or swiss chard. The combination might be totally out of space at first but actually the sweetness of green leaves compliments the salty seafood.

But if you like pasta and if you’re not afraid of putting few extra pounds you should definitely go for a primo piatto as well. Basil pesto mandilli and pansotti with nut sauce are a must.

Tiramisu should be on your daily schedule as well as some after meal digestives, like amaro.

Amaros in Italian cuisine are as valuable as pizza or espresso. There are over hundreds of different types of amaros produced in Italy today and each of them has its own unique story and recipe. Generally they’re made of various herbs, roots, flowers and spices, macerated in alcohol sometimes blended with a sweet syrup. Served straight up or on the rocks they make a great ending to a fine meal.

 

Le Rune in Salita Inferiore di Sant’Anna at Piazza del Portello 13r is a fantastic medium size place with good food and great organisation. Their web page is very practical and when booking a table you can choose your own one. Cool, right!

We had dinner at Le Rune so we arrived right on time. Yeah, we were the first one there, while rest of the guests came way later (Italian style), but being alone in a big room gave us enough time to study the menu and choose our dishes.

The chefs use daily selections of seafood from local fish shops and vegetables from Mercato Orientale. They have their own regular suppliers of wines as well as pasta.

So, we started with soup for me and some interesting cheese cake for Debeli.

 

The pasta dish were scialatelli with octopus ragù, again swiss chard, cannellini beans and saffron for me while Debeli opted for meat ravioli with borage.

And since that was not enough we continued with the fish. Fish is light so it wasn’t a big deal eating three courses plus a dessert afterwards. Wine followed religiously the whole time.

After few hours of dining and three course meals there was a bit room for a dessert. Especially when their semifreddo is prepared with the famous Genovese cake.

Pandolce is a fruit cake consisting of sultanas, currants or raisins, glacé cherries, almonds, and candied orange peel or essence, cooked in a batter of flour, eggs, butter and sugar.

When you add a bit of bitter chinotto flavoured caramel to it you get nothing else but a sweet heart attack. But the good one that makes you happy 🙂

 

Il Genovese, the name says it all, is a classical and traditional place, where one should come to try local and fresh food.

The restaurant opened in 1912 when it was called Raggio (the ray). At first it was a small place where farinata was prepared in the same wooden oven that is still in a restaurant. Bit by bit the owners added some tables and restaurant in today’s form and idea became alive around 50ies. Together with the farinatas they started serving classical salty vegetable cakes and deep fried dishes characteristic of the street gastronomy of Genova.

The must try in Il Genovese are definitely chestnuts trofie al pesto and casarecce with fish meat

Goat and rabbit alla ligure with beans and pine nuts

Dessert was a “do it yourself” tiramisu while Debeli went for another plate of pasta ravioli with cabannina (Ligurian cattle breed) al tuccu Genovese (sauce). All in all quite a satisfying dinner 🙂

 

I tre merli in Corso Magenta 3 was our lunch place one day. They have two restaurants in different parts of the city but the offer same traditional Ligurian dishes. When arriving to the restaurant somewhere around 2pm beside a priest and his friend we were the only guests for lunch. The bartender, probably the manager or owner of the restaurant was loudly recommending some movies to another visitor that dropped by just for coffee. The atmosphere was so nice and friendly as well as the food.

I had minestrone to keep me hydrated and warm while Debeli had to go for tripe alla Genovese.

The difference between various regional tripe recipes can be addition of bacon or grated Parmigiano or roux. The Genovese stile of tripe is cooked in tomato sauce with potato and beans.

If you’re a fan of ice creams you should definitely do gelato in Italy. They’re mostly good if not fantastic. I opted for a stracciatella, lavender and mint ice cream later after lunch in Tre Merli in a local gelateria in harbour. Mukke pazze it’s called. Crazy cows. Rather catchy name, don’t you think? 🙂

 

Trattoria dell’Acciughetta is another place to recommend. Extremely! The restaurant was opened five years ago by a young business woman who left her daily work in Milano with a wish to pursue culinary carrier. With a help of even younger colleague who took over the work in the kitchen they have managed to become so successful to open another place as well. The trattoria in Piazza Sant’Elena is a small place with less than 30 seating places, still they were full to the top when we came for lunch. Reservations are a must in most of the restaurants. Don’t forget to do it.

The menu is based on a seasonal local products so the dishes change quite often. Even though the fish is the base once again, Debeli went for a beef tartar with a fondue egg, parmigiano and hazelnuts for a starters. Was not disappointed.

And neither was I with my one and only dish; pastacciu or spaghetti with broccoli sauce, dry tomatoes, anchovies and lemon.

Debeli had Mediterranean pasta or paccheri type of big pasta with yellow cherry tomatoes, sea bass, burrata and tuna bottarga.

Polposition was grilled octopus with turnip greens, ‘nduja (spicy Calabrian sausage), smoked stracciatella and fig must. Interesting and delicious combination at the same time.

 

I cuochi is a fine dining place situated in a heart of the city in Vico del Fieno 18. Two story high restaurant with elegant and stylish design bears interesting stories from the past. Back in the (good old) days the place was actually a bordello where gentlemen would wait for the ladies to get downstairs from the upper area now reserved for smaller groups.

Now the guests are no longer just men but also women, couples, families. It’s always interesting for me to look at the clientele asking myself what`s your story 🙂

It was our last dinner in Genova and we wanted it to be special, and it was. We started with limoncello to open our appetite a bit more and than we paired white vermentino with all of our dishes.

I started with a homemade soup just to prepare my belly for bigger and better to come.

Debeli had salmon tartar cured in Himalayan salt and black tea smoked with guacamole and Dijon mustard cream.

Followed with  potato gnocchi with turnip tops and diced sea bass. dried tomatoes and Bronte pine nuts.

Saffron pappardelle served with mussels, clams, leeks and fresh tomatoes.

Tuna filet with toasted almonds crust with cauliflower cream and caramelised red onions.

Dessert was fruit; a pear covered with Sangiovese wine, cinnamon, orange and coconut krokan. Meraviglioso!

So, if you ever find yourself in Genova, try to do one of many local trattorias with traditional food and setting and maybe get inspired by some of the dishes that we’ve tried. You might be surprised why Ligurian cuisine sits on top of the Italian gastronomical scene.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

GDJE JESTI U ĐENOVI?

Ako ste pročitali zadnji tekst na blogu, već ste pomalo upoznati s najpoznatijim jelima i sastojcima ligurske kuhinje. Sad je vrijeme za neke konkretne naputke o tome gdje i što jesti ako se ikad zateknete u Đenovi.

Prvi obrok u danu je doručak. Uvijek. A ako ste ta vrsta turista da ćete radije izbjeći tipični hotelski doručak i pohrliti negdje van onda svakako posjetite pržionice u Sottoripi.

No, dok se one ne otvore, jer se otvaraju tek oko 11, postoji nekoliko opcija u blizini.

Gran Ristoro u Via di Sottoripa je mali kafe bar koji poslužuje kavu, suhomesnate proizvode, sireve i sendviče napravljene s fokaćom. Što vam drugo treba? Aperitiv, možda?

Bar Colombo ’92 malo više u istoj ulici ima sendviče koje možete sami složiti po vlastitom izboru i želji. Euro za svaki nadjev i imate sendvič iz snova. Stvarno su dobri.

Il caffe Barroero je još jedna sendvič opcija u centru grada

Burrato u Via di Porta Soprana 61r, s druge strane, nudi fokaće od cjelovitog brašna s raznoraznim nadjevima.

Lagano i probavljivo tijesto radi se od poluzrnatog brašna mljevenog kamenom nakon čega se diže 30 sati. Umaci se rade od organskih rajčica, a svo povrće je pažljivo birano, svježe i sezonsko.

Il Forno di Ghia u Via Galata 39 nudi bogatu dnevnu ponudu raznoraznih pekarskih proizvoda poput kruha, fokaća, slanih torti, farinata….

Mi smo uzeli najtradicionalnije moguće. Fokaću s pestom i tanko tijesto, slično korama za štrudlu nadjeveno šunkom. Te slanu tortu. Odličan početak dana.

S obzirom da uz doručak obavezno pijemo kavu, a pekara ju ne nudi, skoknuli smo do susjednih vrata u Caffe Ronaldo na slatko pecivo, kavu i dissarono. Aperitiv inače. Nije bilo ni 9 sati mi smo već dudlali alkohol. Što ćeš kad možeš 🙂

A kad smo kod alkohola i to ovih tipa aperitiva, popili smo zavidnu količinu.

Stvarno im je teško reći ne i usput uz svaki aperitiv, a uzimali smo aperol spritz, posluže vam razne zalogajčiće. Od kojih smo mi živjeli prvi dan do večere 🙂

Kad planirate svoje putovanje u Italiju i obroke u danu, obavezno imajte na umu dvokratno radno vrijeme koje imaju ne samo trgovine nego i restorani. Većina ih radi dva sata za ručak i onda malo duže za večeru. Mnogo restorana zatvoreno je ponedjeljkom, provjerite i to.

Osteria di Vico Palla u Via Vico Palla 15/r jedan je od rijetkih otvoren početkom tjedna što nam je puno značilo kad smo doputovali u Đenovu.

Radi se o klasičnom talijanskom restoranu smještenom u luci. Povijest restorana seže u daleku 1600 kad su gradom vladali Duždevi koju su u restoran navraćali kad bi se zadržali u gradu. U to vrijeme jedan od poznatijih posjetitelja bio je i flamanski slikar Van Dyck koji je u Đenovi boravio početkom 17. stoljeća.

Danas su stalni gosti manje poznati, a više lokalni. Ljudi koji generalno vole dobru ligursku hranu i ugodno društvo. Kad smo mi došli na večeru, a to je bilo ranije navečer, restoran je već bio krcat. Stolovi su bili puni tanjura, čaša i bokala vina što je značilo da ekipa ležerno uživa u sljedovima. Tipičan talijanski način objedovanja.

Pa smo i mi odlučili slijediti običaje. Kako hranom tako i polaganim uživanjem u jelima. A počeli smo jednim od najpoznatijih đenovskih jela – cappon magro. Iako ime nema nikakve veze s kopunom ovo dekadentno jelo u potpunosti je vegetarijansko ali ne i vegansko.

Cappon magro spravlja se isključivo od morskih plodova i povrća dekoriranih u obliku piramide, preliveno bogatim umakom i posluženo hladno. Uz to savršeno paše vino od lokalne sorte bijelog grožđa – vermentino.

Ako volite ribu onda svakako uzmite lignje s blitvom i/ili duboko pržene inćune.

Naziv in zimino odnosi se na raznorazne kombinacija jela gdje je glavni sastojak (uglavnom morski plodovi) dinstano sa zelenim lisnatim povrćem, najčešće blitvom. Kombinacija se, na prvi pogled, može činiti totalno odbojnom, ali slatkoća zelenjave savršeno nadopunjuje slanoću ribe.

Volite li tjesteninu i ako vas nije strah nadobacit koju kilicu na putovanju, svakako uzmite i prvo jelo koje je uglavnom neka vrsta tjestenine s umakom. Pesto od bosiljka s mandillima i pansotti s umakom od lješnjaka je pod obavezno.

A tiramisu bi vam trebao biti na dnevnom meniju barem jednom, baš kao i razni digestivi poput amara.

Amaro je u talijanskoj kuhinji cijenjen baš poput pizze ili espressa. Danas se u Italiji proizvodi preko stotine vrsta amara, a svaki od njih ima svoju priču i recept. Najčešće se rade od raznih biljaka, korijenja, cvijeća i začina namočenog u alkoholu te ponekad zaslađeno slatkim sirupom. Poslužuje se bez ili s ledom na kraju večere kao točka na i.

 

Le Rune u Salita Inferiore di Sant’Anna na Piazza del Portello 13r je fantastični restoran osrednje veličine. Web stranica (za talijane) im je super organizirana, imate i meni na engleskom, a prilikom procesa bukiranja stola možete izabrati svoj vlastiti.

U restoran smo stigli u minutu taman na drugo, večernje, otvaranje i bili smo prvi. Ostatak gostiju stigao je debelo kasnije (tipično talijansko), no sami u prostoriji mogli smo dobro razgledati restoran i proučiti meni.

Kuhari koriste dnevni izbor morskih plodova iz lokalnih ribarnica dok povrće nabavljaju s Mercato Orientale, te imaju svoje stalne dobavljače što se tiče vina i tjestenine.

Večeru smo započeli juhom (za mene) i zanimljivom tortom od sira bez sira za Debelog.

Klasični minestrone na đenoveški s pestom i torta od bakalara s mandarinama i porilukom te kremom od šipka.

Za prvo jelo sam uzela scialatelle s raguom od hobotnice, blitve, graha i šafrana dok je Debeli kušao raviole s mesom i boražinom.

S obzirom da nam ni to nije bilo dovoljno odlučili smo se i za ribu (riba je lagana, ne?) i za desert na kraju. Kad je bal nek je bal.

Nakon nekoliko sati klopanja i tri slijeda jela ipak je ostalo malo mjesta za desert. Posebno kad sam saznala da se semifreddo radi od poznate đenoveške torte.

Pandolce đenoveze je voćni kolač od brašna, šećera, jaja, putra s grožđicama, kandiranim višnjama, bademima i kandiranom korom naranče.

Ako uz to dodate malo gorkog chinotta zaslađenog karamelom dobijete ništa drugo nego lagani šećerni udar.

 

Il Genovese je tipična đenoveška tratorija gdje se dolazi probati sve ono što trebate dok ste u Đenovi.

Otvoren davne 1912 godine restoran je isprva bio pekara gdje se uglavnom posluživala farinata, no malo po malo vlasnici su davali stolove i ideja za posluživanje jela prirodno je uslijedila. Restoran u današnjem smislu zaživio je 50ih godina i odonda stoji na vrhu svih popisa gdje dobro i fino pojesti.

Prvo i osnovno jelo što trebate probati ovdje su trofije od kestena s pestom te casarecce s ribljim mesom.

Kozletina s grahom i kunić na ligurski s grahom i pinjolima.

Desert za mene bio je “složi sam” tiramisu kojeg sam sama trebala složiti kako spada dok se Debeli odlučio za još jednu porciju tjestenine. Ovaj put ravioli s cabannina vrstom ligurske govedine u umaku. Sve u svemu, sjajna večera. Kojih pol litre vina više u dupetu, al dobro nije da si brojim 🙂

 

Tre merli u Corso Magenta 3 bio je izbor za jedan ručak. Postoje dva restorana istog imena na dvije lokacije, no oba nude tradicionalnu ligursku hranu. Kad smo došli negdje oko dva popodne u restoranu nije bilo nikoga osim starog svećenika i njegovog prijatelja. Pričali su i ispijali vino uz ručak. Na šanku je konobar glasno preporučao neki netflix film klijentu koji je nabasao na kavu, a konobarica se lijeno vukla po sali. Tipičan radni dan 🙂

Ja sam pojela minestrone dok je Debeli konačno naručio tripice na đenoveški.

Razlika između regionalnih recepata za tripice su minorne. Mogu se spravljati sa zaprškom ili ne, s rajčicama ili bez, sa slaninom ili ne. U đenoveške se dodaje krumpir i grah dok se kuhaju u umaku od rajčice.

Ako ste ljubitelj slatkača svakako poližite barem jedan dok ste u Italiji. Većina ih je jako dobra, ako ne i fantastična. Ja sam nabasala na jedan od straćatele, lavande i mente u lokalnoj đelateriji u luci. Mukke pazze se zovu. Lude krave u prijevodu 🙂

 

Trattoria dell’Acciughetta je još jedno mjesto koje stavite na popis. Obavezno! Restoran je prije pet godina otvorila mlada poslovna žena kad je napustila svoj posao u Milanu i snage udružila s još mlađim kolegom koji se smjestio u kuhinju. Ubrzo su otvorili restoran na još jednoj lokaciji koji isto tako dobro posluje. Tratorija ima jedva 30ak sjedećih mjesta i redovito je krcata. Rezervacije su obavezne.

Jelovnik se temelji na sezonskim lokalnim namirnicama tako da se jela svakodnevno izmjenjuju. No, baza je i dalje riba, iako se Debeli odlučio za goveđi tartar s jajetom, parmiđanom i lješnjacima. Nije bio razočaran.

A bogami nisam bila ni ja kad sam naručila pastacciu ili  špagete s umakom od brokule, sušenih rajčica, inćuna i limuna.

Debeli je potom uzeo mediteransku tjesteninu u paccheri obliku sa žutom šeri rajčicom, brancinom, buratom i tunom.

Polposition je bila grilana hobotnica s repom, ljutom kalabrijskom kobasicom ‘ndujom, dimljenom straćatelom i moštom od smokve. Zanimljivo, ali jako fino.

 

I cuochi su fini restoran smješten u srcu starog grada u Vico del Fieno 18. Zidovi oba kata restorana mogli bi nam ispričati mnoštvo priča, jer je restoran u davno vrijeme zapravo bio bordel.

Gospoda bi se okupljala u prizemlju, dok dame noći ne bi sišle s prvog kata koji je sad pretvoren u salon za manje grupe.

 

Danas gosti nisu više muškarci željni ljubavi već ljudi željni dobre klope 🙂

Bila je to naša posljednja večera u Đenovi i htjeli smo da bude posebna. I jest.

Započeli smo limonćelom da otvorimo apetit, dok smo grlo cijelo vrijeme namakali bijelim vermentinom.

Meni je stigla juha dobrodošlice, a Debeli se odlučio za tartar od lososa čuvanog u himalajskoj soli i crnom čaju te dimljen s gvakamoleom i dijon senfom.

Njoki od krumpira s repinim stabljikama i brancinom, sušenim rajčicama i pinjolima

Papardele sa šafranom poslužene s dagnjama, vongolama, porilukom i svježim rajčicama

File od tune s koricom od tostiranih badema s kremom od cvjetače i karameliziranim crvenim lukom

Desert je bio voće; kruška u umaku od sangiovese vina, cimeta, naranče i kokos krokanta. Vrhunski!

Uglavnom, ako se ikada odlučite posjetiti Đenovu, obavezno posjetite što više lokalnih malih tratorija koje nude tradicionalnu hranu i svakako se probajte voditi našim vodičem. Ne jedemo mi ovako fino zbog sebe 🙂