The first white truffles of the season

Why we wait for November

White truffle cannot be farmed or hurried. It arrives when the first cold nights settle over Piedmont, and for a few weeks the whole kitchen reorganises around it.

Chef Matteo Rossi buys directly from one family near Alba, who send the best tubers on the morning flight. By lunchtime they are on the pass.

Preparing it is mostly a matter of restraint. The cooks wipe each tuber with a dry brush, never water, and store it wrapped in paper inside a sealed jar. Anything left over after service is shaved into butter, which the team spreads on toast the next morning.

Tagliatelle al tartufo, with fresh egg pasta and butter, remains the simplest way to taste it. Ask your waiter to shave it at the table.

How it is bought

The tubers travel in a small wooden box lined with rice, which keeps the moisture even and the aroma in. Each one is weighed on arrival, smelled twice, and logged in the same notebook the kitchen has used for years.

Price changes by the day. A good week in Alba means a generous supply; a dry autumn can halve it. We adjust the menu rather than the standard.

A single tuber, weighed and logged before service.

The season has its own rhythm in the dining room. Guests who come every November arrive already knowing what they want, while newcomers often ask for advice. Marco keeps a short list of the evenings when the tubers are at their best, and he will tell you which table sees them first.

Shaved over tagliatelle with butter is the classic. A second option is a soft-cooked egg on a bed of potato purée, where the warmth releases the scent. The third is the simplest: a slice of good bread, a little salt, a few shavings.

Shaving at the table.

The pasta, finished with butter.

Pairing the truffle properly takes patience. Elena tastes three or four bottles with the chef before the menu is fixed, and the final choice is rarely the grand name on the list. More often it is a small producer whose wine sits quietly beside the dish.

Elena suggests an aged Barolo for the richer dishes and a young Nebbiolo for the lighter ones. If you prefer white, a mature Gavi works beautifully.

For all the attention it receives, the truffle is only ever a guest at the table. The pasta, the butter, the eggs and the warmth of the room all have to be right first. If they are, a few shavings are enough, and the rest of the evening looks after itself.

The season runs only until early winter, and the best tubers are gone within a few weeks. We recommend booking early and asking for a table near the kitchen, where the aroma reaches you first.

The pass, an hour before the first table.

We will write again when the last box has arrived.