Inside La Gemella: A Welcome Addition To The Dining Scene in Barolo

The town of Barolo is a logical place for tourists to pause for a meal after visiting local wineries during the day. It's a small town, one that's meant for walking and visiting wine shops as well as seeing the Barolo castle. There are several excellent trattorie and osterie in the town, perfect for casual dining, especially when the weather is beautiful and diners can sit outside and watch fellow tourists enjoy their day.

The newest addition to the dining scene in the town of Barolo is a beautifully designed restaurant named Locanda La Gemella. It's only been open since early summer of this year, but it's been a success drawing diners, especially at dinner (it is also open for lunch). What's especially nice about La Gemella is that it is owned by the Viberti family, who are wine producers in the small hamlet of Vergne, a frazione of Barolo, only a few minutes' drive from the restaurant.

Claudio Viberti, winemaker at the his parent's Giovanni Viberti winery, is the proprietor at La Gemella, and the individual who has realized a six year long dream of opening a second restaurant. His family's restaurant in Vergne is Al Buon Padre, an icon of Piemontese cuisine for 121 years. A few changes to the exterior of Buon Padre have been put in place the last few years, including a beautiful outdoors patio and seating area, but one can still enjoy the classic tajarin here, as well as guancia di vitello (veal cheek) and other local specialties.

Viberti has taken a slightly different direction with La Gemella (note that gemella in Italian means "twin" Claudio's mother Maria is herself a twin). "While the Buon Padre remains in its 121 years of operation, a icon in Piedmont cuisine," he comments, "La Gemella will explore 'L'italianità'- an Italian journey with a bit of international breeze in the village of Barolo." He notes that Buon Padre will serve primarily Viberti wines, while La Gemella has a "massive wine list that well represents the Italian peninsula."

There are two menus for lunch, one a la carte and the other for 25 Euro, two courses plus a glass of the wine of the month. For dinner, the restaurant becomes a bit more formal, as the tables are covered with white cloths. There will be two tasting options for dinner, one at 40 and one at 60 Euro.

Here is a link to the menu on the restaurant's website (note that the menu changes frequently).

For my visit at lunch, I enjoyed Ricciola con broccolo, a fish I had never tried before in Italy. Similar to amberjack, this had excellent texture, and is relatively mild, but very flavorful. The brightly colored vegetables certainly added to both the visual and gustatory pleasure of this dish!

So congratulations and bravo to Claudio Viberti and his team - especially in the kitchen - for their hard work in making their dream come true. Locanda La Gemella - is a success after only a few months, and I am certain it will be a favorite among tourists and locals for many years to come.

Locanda La Gemella

Piazza Eraldo Cabutto, 5

12060, Barolo

(This is on the side of the town only a minute from the Marchesi di Barolo winery)

+39 0173 388324