NEWS FLASH: my vitello tonnato research continues this week with an entry on the Milanese version of the dish over on the Tenuta Carretta blog.

The funniest thing happened last week on my way to Boston to have dinner with a good friend and client of mine at Ribelle, one of the city’s super cool new wave restaurants, opened a few years ago.

After said friend/client emailed wine director Theresa Paopao his request to do a pasta tasting menu, she gently advised that the restaurant’s cooking was not traditional Italian.

She was happy to accommodate his request and our party, of course.

But “I just wanted to put this out there,” she wrote, “so that the only surprises are pleasant ones.”

When we sat down to eat and the first pasta arrived, I was reminded of what my friend and client Tony Vallone always says: for food to be authentically Italian, it must also be creative.

Those are the wholewheat canestri (baskets), above, with robiola due latti (sheep’s and cow’s milk) and sunchoke.

In my view, the excellent food at Ribelle had all the hallmarks of great Italian cuisine: wholesome, fresh ingredients; artisanal food products; al dente cooking times for the pasta; and the creativity and playfulness that sets contemporary Italian gastronomy apart from the rest on the world stage today.

Those are the maccheroni, above, with nori goma and uni (my favorite dish of the evening, especially because the heat was appropriately intense).

You could easily have been served this dish on the Amalfi coast (I recently read, btw, that Campania is now the Italian region with the second highest number of Michelin stars).

A poet is someone who takes the elements of a language (a finite set of words and meanings) and combines them in a new and unique way.

In my view of the enogastronomic world, the same holds for great Italian cookery.

As untraditionally Italian as Ribelle may be, this is the true tradition of authentic Italian cuisine today in my view: imaginative combinations of classic and local ingredients that create new aromas and flavors.

Those are the agnolotti (otherwise, a traditional Piedmontese stuffed pasta), above, filled with boar and served with black trumpet mushrooms.

The rigatoni, above, with octopus and fennel, were another favorite of mine.

I was really impressed by the verve and flair of Ribelle’s cooking and I left the restaurant with a belly satiated and content — I loved the food that much.

Is Ribelle a traditional Italian restaurant? No.

Is it an authentic Italian restaurant? I’ll answer that question with a hearty and al dente “yes.”

Above: a classic Langarolo antipasti plate (although insalata russa is missing).

A colleague who’s on his way to the Langhe Hills of Piedmont for vacation asked me about my favorite places to eat in Piedmont. And so I thought I’d share my notes here.

My list is by no means exhaustive and there’s no hierarchy.

I have traveled to Langa (Barolo and Barbaresco country) three times over the last six months and over the years, I can’t remember how many times I’ve been there: these are some of the places I’ve either had a good experience or I’ve heard good things about. There are countless other places worth seeking out.

I know that a lot of folks are headed to Langa in coming months for truffle season. I hope that readers can find this shortlist useful (and again, it’s by no means exhaustive).

If you like, please share your favorite Langa dining destination in the comments and I’ll add it to a future post.

Buon appetito e buona degustazione! Enjoy your meals and enjoy your tastings!

Trattoria Antica Torre in Barbaresco village. 

It’s worth it just for the trip through the Barbaresco appellation. Classic Piedmont cooking with no frills but perfectly executed. Stop in the Produttori del Barbaresco tasting room on your way.

Also, they’ve just opened the newly restored medieval tower with an elevator and viewing platform. No better view of Barbaresco.

La Libera in Alba.

This the cool kids restaurant and it’s where all the winemakers go for dinner. Traditional Piedmontese with a modern flair. Great restaurant. Very cool place to hang.

Above: that’s the view from the Locanda in Cannubi facing west. You can see the Palas Cerequio in the center left of the image and you can see the village of La Morra in the top right.

Locanda in Cannubi atop Cannubi vineyard in Barolo.

I ate there on my last trip. Solid Piedmontese food, classic, well executed. But the thing is it’s at the peak of Cannubi. I really loved this place because of the view and the food was excellent.

Trattoria della Posta in Monforte.

This is one of the classics and one of the greats. I only ate there once with Franco Conterno but the food was spectacular.

Da Cesare in Albaretto Torre (Alba).

I’ve never eaten there but they say this is the holy grail. I’ve heard that this is where the Gajas eat.

Above: my favorite vitello tonnato was at More e Macine in La Morra where I ate in June of this year.

More e Macine in La Morra.

If you want to do something more modest, this place was awesome. It’s where regular folks go to eat. Best vitello tonnato I had this year (in three visits to Langhe). Very casual and inexpensive.

Vinoteca Centro Storico in Serralunga.

Also a more toned-down place but very much on tourist radar. Great, classic food but the thing is the list of sparkling wine. Best place for bubbles in Langhe. Make sure you get the Prosciutto d’Osvaldo (cult prosciutto from Friuli).

There are other places as well. I don’t know if they still do lunch there but the Cascina Cornale is the place made famous by Alice Waters. It’s a very simple kitchen but very pure. I had a great lunch there and it’s one of the best place for food product shopping (honey etc.).

My favorite place to stay in Langa is Felicin, where the rooms have an old-world feel to them and the owner, Nino, always cracks me up. He’s a brilliant guy. That’s the dining room at Felicin below. Nino’s kitchen does traditional Langa food but his greatest strength is his creative cooking, which is always a welcomed break from the standards (as good as they can be). You always get a great night’s sleep at Nino’s place, the breakfast is outstanding and the wifi excellent.

When I reached out to our friend Houston-based travel and food writer for Forbes Mai Pham for her recommendations for Mexico City, she got me on the line with Eduardo García, affectionately known locally as Lalo, one of the country’s rising celebrity chefs and owner of Maximo Bistrot Local.

He’s currently in Rioja, Spain, but he swiftly connected me with Alejandra Soto, owner of a wonderful seafood restaurant in the city’s Zona Rosa called De Mar a Mar, where he consults on the menu.

The dish de rigueur, he told me, was the quesadilla de pescado, the fish quesadilla (above).

I split the quesadilla before photographing it to show the filling, btw.

It was served with a tomatillo salsa, a dollop of creamy guacamole, and lemon wedge.

What a fantastic dish! The creamy texture of cheese and the flakiness of the chunks of fish and they way they combined really took it over the top.

Even though I knew I had a lot more eating in store, I couldn’t resist the ceviche blanco.

Alejandra’s chef uses oregano in this dish, an unusual but truly brilliant ingredient. I loved how it played against the cilantro.

The other thing that I loved about the dish was that it was served over a thin spread of creamy guacamole. Again, it was the way the textures worked together that took the dish to another level.

Another thing that impressed me about this restaurant was how knowledgable my server was in Mexican cookery. My Spanish is good enough to carry on a foodie conversation and as I peppered him with questions, I was rewarded by his insights into the regional origins and ingredient combinations in the platos he delivered at my table.

And on a technical note, just to put this in perspective, my bill, with two beers (Bocanegra, clara) and a generous gratuity, was around $30 (American).

My recommendation: RUN DON’T WALK.

On deck: tacos al Pastor at the classic Borrego Viudo (the Widowed Lamb)…